NESTING TIME. 



253 



meadow larks arrived. The delight of find- 

 ing those early visitors amply rewarded a 

 tramp through the snow-covered fields and 

 made the results of an unlucky venture on 

 thin ice seem of little consequence. 



During the last week of April and the 

 first week of May the warblers arrived. 

 After 2 to 3 weeks most of them sped 

 Northward. Before the middle of June we 

 had with us for the summer the 3 early 

 comers already mentioned and the horned 

 lark, brown thrush, wood thrush, catbird, 

 redheaded woodpecker, golden-winged 

 woodpecker, yellow-billed cuckoo, red- 

 winged blackbird, purple grackle, cowbird, 



for added to the destroyers of eggs are the 

 birds of prey and the prowling cat. 



The robin, the most numerous and fa- 

 miliar of the birds in this vicinity, the Eng- 

 lish sparrow excepted, builds too high for 

 the amateur who is not an expert climber. 

 While the bird is brooding the telephoto 

 may be used to advantage. Any active lad 

 will gladly lend his aid in removing the 

 fledglings from the nest just before they 

 are ready for flight. They may be allowed 

 to run on the ground until weary, and with 

 their awkward gait and untried muscles 

 they soon tire. Then perched on a branch or 

 a stick they may be photographed. The par- 



NEST OF MEADOW LARK. 



tanager, oriole, kingfisher, flycatcher, shrike, 

 indigo, bunting, dickcissel, phoebe, blue- 

 bird, lark finch, goldfinch, pewee, rose- 

 breasted grosbeak, humming bird, turtle 

 dove, upland plover, woodcock, sandpiper 

 and numerous species of the bunting, spar- 

 row and finch families. 



Even desultory observation convinces one 

 that the hardship endured by birds in their 

 domestic aspirations is great. Only a small 

 per cent, of eggs laid are hatched; the 

 greater number falling a prey to snakes, 

 birds and boys. Of the small number 

 hatched comparatively few reach maturity, 



ent birds will, of course, manifest much un- 

 easiness during the process, but on the 

 young birds being safely returned to the 

 nest, the distressed cries of the parents 

 cease, and the confidence of the robin in her 

 big human brothers is doubtless augmented. 

 The nests of the thrush and the catbird, 

 being built in low trees and shrubs, are eas- 

 ily accessible. Little difficulty is experi- 

 enced in finding the nest of a thrush, as 

 before or while she is brooding a slight 

 alarm causes her to leave the nest and 

 hover near its place of concealment, re- 

 peating her sharp cry of warning. She 



