NEST OF LARK FINCH. 



blossoms. When discovered the bird sat 

 quietly on the nest for a time, making close 

 observation possible. Unfortunately the 

 camera was not at hand. The next day a 

 cautious approach sent her flying from the 

 nest. Nor would she return while the nest 

 was watched, although her 2 meagerly 

 clothed fledglings wailed with hunger. Be- 

 cause so difficult to find and so curiously 

 constructed, the discovery of the nest of the 

 meadow lark is always gratifying. The 

 first one of the season I found in a tall 

 tuft of grass near the corner of an unused 

 lot, and but a few steps from the cropped 

 grass of the golf links. What appeared a 

 small collection of withered grass in the 

 green turf proved the beginning of a tun- 

 nel 8 inches long and 3 in diameter, at 

 the inner end of which was the carefully 

 constructed nest containing 5 speckled eggs. 

 This proximity to civilization met with the 

 usual disastrous result of misplaced confi- 

 dence. A day or 2 later eggs and nest had 

 disappeared. Luckily for birds their mourn- 

 ing is of short duration, and the absorbing 

 activity of constructing a new nest soon 

 fills them with a sense of domestic felicity. 

 Early in May the male bobolinks, with 

 black coat splashed with white and buff, and 

 cap of yellow, take possession of our 

 meadow and impatiently await the coming 

 of their modest-colored partners. The 

 nest of the bobolink is on the ground. A 

 slight hollow is made at the root of a bunch 

 of weeds or tall grass and thinly lined 

 with dry grass. In this simple nest are 



255 



placed 6 or more whitish, brown speckled 

 eggs. On being disturbed or warned of 

 danger the female leaves her nest by silent- 

 ly creeping through the grass to a safe dis- 

 tance, then rising abruptly as if for the 

 first time aware of the intruder's approach. 

 Thus to locate the nest a circuit of consid- 

 erable extent must be examined. 



One of the cheeriest and most welcome 

 of the summer visitors is a small, grayish 

 colored bunting whose "Dick-cissel-cissel" 

 resounds on every sHe. The nest is usual- 

 ly secreted in a tall, swaying growth of 

 weeds. It is frequently used by the cow- 

 bird as a repository for one of her eggs, 

 the mottled brown of which contrasts 

 strangely with the delicate blue of the 

 small egg of the dickcissel. Unlike most 

 birds in this vicinity the dickcissel for- 

 sakes her nest if its surroundings are dis- 

 turbed. 



The most delicately constructed ground 

 nest I found was that of a lark finch, snug- 

 ly located close to the root of a bunch of 

 weeds, protected by an overhanging nettle 

 and twist of wild morning-glory vine. 



One of the most improbable places for a 

 nest was that selected by a pair of blue- 

 birds. It was in an erect iron cylinder 

 about 4 feet high and 5 inches in diameter. 

 The young birds remained in the nest until 

 able to fly. Then, one by one, assisted 

 by the mother bird, they scrambled to the 

 top of the cylinder and took refuge in the 

 branches near. 



The familiar call and resounding tap- 



