254 



RECREATION. 



is more discreet, however, after the 

 young are hatched, and avoids discovery 

 by quietly slipping from the nest and 

 stealing away among the leaves and grass. 

 The persistency of the thrush and its lack 

 of discretion were shown by a pair whose 

 domestic joys and discomforts were 

 watched with much interest. The first nest 

 of the pair was lodged in the crotch of a 

 wild plum tree about 6 feet above the 

 ground. The bird when discovered was 

 brooding. A subsequent visit showed the 

 nest robbed and the pair busily building 

 another a few feet from the first and in a 

 more exposed location. By some meddle- 

 some visitor the second nest was destroyed. 

 A third was immediately constructed on 

 the same branch as the second, a little 

 nearer the trunk of the tree, but no less 

 exposed. As a reward of persistency a 

 sturdy brood was graduated from the third 

 nest. 



A nest from which 3 young birds were 

 taken was about 4 feet from the ground, 

 loosely constructed of twigs and grass in 

 a tangle of hazel and wild honeysuckle. 

 The removal of the birds brought both 

 parents screaming and dashing viciously 

 at the intruder. One little fellow was left 

 cowering in the nest. When the 3 were re- 

 turned it was found that the fourth had 

 scrambled from his place of safety and 



disappeared. Although a careful search 

 was made he could not be found. I con- 

 soled myself with the thought that, when 

 quiet was restored and he ventured from 

 his place of hiding, his cries of hunger 

 would bring response from the parent 

 birds. 



Still another thrush's nest was found in 

 a mass of dead branches lying on the 

 ground, canopied by a wild grape vine. 

 It contained 4 pale speckled eggs one day, 

 but on the next an empty nest gave evi- 

 dence of a visit from boy, bird of prey or 

 snake. Another nest of the same bird, 

 built in a gooseberry bush against the trunk 

 of a large tree, met the same fate. 



A familiar friend, and one whose song 

 rivals that of the thrush, is the catbird. 

 In spite of her seeming friendliness at 

 other times, she becomes shy when her nest 

 is approached. 



The yellow-billed cuckoo makes her 

 home in places similar to those selected by 

 the thrush and catbird, although the nest 

 is sometimes higher above the ground and 

 often near a stream. The nest is crude, 

 consisting of coarse twigs, loosely placed on 

 the branch of a tree. The only cuckoo's 

 nest I found last season in the strip of 

 woodland to which my nest hunting was 

 confined was on a low branch of a haw- 

 thorn tree and well concealed by leaves and 



NEST OF DICKCISSEL CONTAINING EGGS OF COWBIRD. 



