170 
TENTH REPORT. 
are usually procured there. The nests are built in the thickest bushes, 
generally four or five feet from the ground. The dead twigs, loose grape 
vine bark, and dead leaves found within a few feet of the nesting site, com- 
pose the bulk of the nest. Its lining consists of fibrous roots and grasses 
also picked up in the vicinity. The four eggs are usually laid by the last of 
May, and in warm springs young have been found before the first of June. 
No stomachs of nestlings were examined, but their food as determined by 
Judd consists of ants, beetles, caterpillars and other insects with only a 
little fruit. These insects can be easily procured near the nest and probably 
constitute the principal food of the nestlings here. 
The thick clumps of willows which the Catbird chooses for its home offer 
excellent protection, and if a Catbird is disturbed in the open it immediately 
glides into the depths of one of these thickets where nothing more will be 
seen of it, its plaintive cries being the only indication that it has not entirely 
left us. 
OTHER COMMON BIRDS. 
Ardetta exilis (Gmel.). Least Bittern. Among the birds not common 
enough to be called the characteristic birds, but yet deserving special notice, 
the Least Bittern should be mentioned. They are unusually shy and are 
seldom seen although the nests are found repeatedly. The thick beds of 
sweet flag are the principal nesting sites, a few, however, have been found 
among the reeds and cattails. The foundation is built bv bending down the 
flags and plaiting them together forming a platform from one to three feet 
above the water. Woven together on top of this is a mass of dead flags 
and rushes. The nest is quite shallow, one built among the rushes was 
simply a platform and stood only a foot above the water. No stomachs 
were taken, but the food must be procured entirely in the marsh as they are 
never met with in the other habitats. 
Actitis macularia (Linn.). Spotted Sandpiper. This common sandpiper 
is found along the shore, on the mud flats in the swamp, and beneath the 
high willows where the ground is damp and there is no underbrush. In the 
early spring when the mud flats along the bayou are soft -and covered with 
food left by the retreating water, numbers of these birds may be seen nearly 
any time of day running about picking up snails, insects, and other food. 
As the season advances these mud flats dry up or become overgrown with 
various water plants, thus destroying the feeding grounds of the sandpipers 
and necessitating their migration to a more favorable habitat, the one chosen 
being the arboreal willows (Sta. II.). Under these large trees the ground is 
very damp with little or no underbrush and is nearly as open as the mudflats, 
the dense shade preventing evaporation and low vegetation. 
No nests have been found, but it undoubtedly breeds here as the birds are 
found from early spring to fall and half fledged young have been seen accom- 
panying the parents. 
OTHER BIRDS. 
The following are general observations on some of the remaining birds 
found in the swamp during the spring. A complete list of all birds seen 
in the habitat can be found at the end of this division. In the early spring 
large flocks of Bronzed Grackles come to the swamp, but only remain a few 
days and during this time stay principally in the arboreal wallows (Sta. II.). 
In the dry, grassy spots a few Meadow Larks feed while Brow r n Thrashers 
sometimes join them there. Along the muddy margin of the bayou, Killdeer, 
