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Department of Ornithology 
Under the Direction of the Committees on Bird Preservation and Propagation. 
| National Association of Gardeners, L. H. Jensen, St. Louis, Mo., Chairman. 
American Association of Park Superintendents, Hermann Merkel, New York, Chairman. 
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THE NESTING SEASON 
By Paul B. Riis, Illinois. 
TL'XE is the month when the periodical reproduction 
takes place among most birds in the northern tem- 
perate zone. It is true that some already have hatched 
their first brood, the notable ones being the song- 
sparrow, meadowlark, robin, bluebird and bronzed 
grackle. But there are hordes of summer residents which 
arrive at a later date and which are barely settled for 
their household cares in the early part of June. The best 
examples of these are found among the orioles, wood- 
thrush, indigo bunting, scarlet tanager, swallows, rose- 
breasted grosbeak, bobolink, yellow warbler and humming 
bird. 
Most of these birds have traveled great distances to 
their breeding grounds, in fact, the entire migration re- 
solves itself into a flight to the breeding ground, and. 
later on into a departure from it to their winter homes. 
The well-being and future hope of existence is, therefore, 
largely dependent on the successful culmination of their 
period of reproduction. 
The many dangers attending these annual flights to the 
breeding grounds increase as the birds near their actual 
homes. Worn and fatigued from the great distances 
traveled, they often arrive just in time to become the vic- 
tims of our arbitrary springs when March weather is the 
order of the day for months until early June, when down- 
pours and torrents claim further lives. The young fledg- 
lings, too, often fall prey to these conditions and robins 
have been observed, who have built a fourth nest before 
they finally succeeded in raising a partial brood. June. 
too, is the month of blithesomeness among the birds. 
Their notes, recognized as a secondary sexual character, 
now attain their fullest expression. But aside from the 
sexual impulse, which actuates song, one may be pardoned 
for assuming that the song also comes from a happy 
heart. Weather also has a depressing influence on birds, 
especially blustry, disagreeable days, when little song can 
be heard, while any balm)-, sunny spring morning, nature's 
own musicians are at their best. 
As a rule birds are mature and mate when they are a 
year old, although the song and plumage of several species 
is still that of the immature bird. Apparently most birds 
choose a new mate every year, excepting swan-, ostrich, 
owls, hawks and some other large birds. Birds also are 
content with one mate, with the exception, perhaps, of 
the wild turkey, prairie hen. some members of the grouse 
family, the great tailed grackle and red winged blackbird. 
The male cowbirds. on the other hand, outnumber the 
female of their species, which live in a state of polyandry. 
Many of our birds, too, are one-brooded, notable ex- 
amples among these being quail, bronzed grackle, blue 
jays, flickers, nuthatches, chicadees, the woodpeckers, 
goldfinches and others. Scientists like to assign this fact 
in a measure to an all-wise provision of nature, which 
singles out the many winter residents of the northern tem- 
perate zone, where natural food for many months is at a 
premium and insufficient to support great numbers. To 
offset these single hatches, one often finds a greater num- 
ber of young to a single brood than is found among the 
birds of several broods. These latter as a rule have a 
full complement of eggs numbering four or five eggs to 
283 
each setting, while the one-brooded birds may lay as 
many as nine. 
Another wise provision of nature is found in the fact 
that the earlier broods are largely composed of male 
birds. It is (luring the earlier part of the season that 
fledglings suffer greatly from inclement weather and birds 
of pre)-, among which, at this season at least, may be in- 
cluded the crow, blue jay and bronzed grackle. These 
three are notorious egg thieves and will feed fledglings of 
small birds to their own fledglings, which, at this stage, 
are constantly demanding enormous quantities of food. 
Many of the birds which nest in boxes or hollow trees 
escape these enemies, but are exposed to some extent to 
depredations of cat, squirrel, chipmunk, flying squirrel, 
white-footed mice and snakes. On top of this comes the 
birds' worst enemy, mere man, who through a well meant 
purpose, converts everything into a serviceable condition, 
cuts down underbrush and forests, fills decayed tree cavi- 
ties with cement and cultivates the ground so thoroughly 
that little is left for nesting sites. All of these operation- 
are reducing the safety of nest life, and a little fore- 
thought by each and everyone in providing suitable thick- 
ets and nesting boxes, would, in a measure, offset the 
harm done. 
Xot so many years ago farmers encircled their acres 
with dense hedges of sage orange, and, others, more 
thrift}-, planted willows, which furnished ample fuel for 
the home fireside. It is true that the roots of these trees 
reached out into the plowed land and reduced the tillable 
acreage, but they returned many times the amount the 
crop lost by harboring feathered allies in such number 
that they kept in check hordes of insects and made crops 
possible at all. 
Birds are also divided into two groups: those whose 
young leave the nest shortly after being hatched, which 
are called praecocials, and those which require the pro- 
tection of the nest after hatching, the altricials. In the 
case of the former, the nest served the mere purpose of a 
receptacle for the eggs ; while in the case of the latter its 
usefulness is prolonged many days beyond the day of 
hatching, in fact, until the young are able to fly. The 
old nests in many instances serve their owner repeatedly, 
notablv the eagles, osprey, phoebe, morning dove and. 
sometimes, the robin. If one is observant, one may note 
that wrens often will avail themselves of the shelter of 
an abandoned nest for their young or other small birds 
will occupy them occasionally as a roost for the night. 
The architecture of bird nests is an absorbing study. 
Here we find some nests which are no nests at all, a mere 
depositing of th«» eggs on a slightly depressed gravelly 
surface, the mud and reed structure of grebe and loon, 
the subterranean burrows of bank swallow and kingfisher, 
also the pecked out hollow limb or trunk of the wood- 
pecker, the crude cradle of the herons and morning doves, 
which are but a few loose sticks thrown together care- 
lessly and barely dense enough to keep the eggs from fil- 
tering through. Further on we find nests composed of 
more staple material, such as leaves and sticks and paper, 
fairly well constructed as those of the brown thrasher 
and catbird, also the arched-over nest of the ovenbird 
and others. Then we find the many fine examples of 
nests composed of grass or moss; often lined with hair 
