THE NATURALIST AND COLLECTOR 
59 
flits about, in and out of the nooks and 
crannies of the brush piles, with its 
tail thrown up in the manner of a 
wren. It frequently calls out chcwiTih 
or towhee with a metallic accent. It 
builds a compact nest on or near the 
ground. and lays from three to five 
roundish eggs of a whitish ground 
color, spotted with reddish brown and 
purple. 
The Indigo Bird is an associate of 
the Yellow-Breasted Chat and Towhee., 
It is very inappropriately named the 
Indigo Bird, for its plumage is not 
indigo at all, but the richest 'cerulean 
blue. During" 1 the sultry days of sum¬ 
mer its song is frequently the only one 
to be heard. Its song is somewhat 
harsh, though sprightly and vigorous, 
and is often uttered as the bird sits 
perched in some tall tree or on a tel¬ 
egraph wire along a railroad. 
The Field Sparrow inhabits brushy 
localities, as old fields grown up in 
weeds, borders of thickets, etc. While 
it is as common as the Chipping Spar¬ 
row, and many times even more abund¬ 
ant, it is far less known on account of 
its secluded habits. It does not seek 
such localities on account of its fear, 
but only because that in such places 
are found the surroundings essential 
to its presence. It possesses a song 
remarkable for its plaintiveness, and 
did it possess more power, it \vould 
rank as ,one of our most accomplished 
vocalists. It builds its nest on the 
ground or a few feet above it, of hair, 
twigs, etc. The eggs are greenish- 
white, speckled with reddish-brown. 
The White-eyed Vireo is an abund¬ 
ant species in such places as are 
inhabited by the Chat, Towhee, etc., 
but as this bird has been described in 
a former article in this magazine, I 
will not tire my readers by a lengthy 
description of its habits. 
No other bird of North America has 
so extensive a range as the Yellow 
Warbler. It shares with the Gold¬ 
finch, as well as other warblers, the 
popular name of “Wild Canary.” He 
is one of our best known birds and is 
a welcome friend to everyone on ac¬ 
count of his song. It is one of our 
most confiding birds and frequently 
ventures to construct its nest among 
the trees in the towns. It builds its 
nest at various heights from the ground 
of plant fibres, strips of bark, etc., the 
whole formed into a cup-like structure 
and lined with soft cotton. The eggs 
are usually four or five in number and 
have a light green ground color, 
spotted with dots of purple and brown. 
In size they average .55 x.60. When 
the Cowbird lays an egg in the nest, 
the Warbler builds the nest up hig^h 
enough to completely cover the par¬ 
asitical egg. Two or three storied 
nests of this species are common. 
Bijorn O. Scott. 
The Camel Outdone. 
I T APPEARS that the camel’s endur¬ 
ance of thirst is much surpassed by 
that of some other animals. Mr. 
S. M. Gorman, of Cambridge, Mass., 
has pointed out that a number of 
small rodents, inhabiting the arid 
plains near the Rocky mountains live 
for months at a time without even a 
single drop of water. The sand if tor¬ 
rid, the vegetation is burned up, yet 
these creatures survive. The observa¬ 
tion has been confirmed by experiment, 
common mice having beenkepti cages 
entirely unsupplied with water or 
other liquid from October first till Jan¬ 
uary seventeenth, without seeming to 
suffer inconvience. Their food during 
this long period was perfectly dry, 
such as Indian corn and grass seeds. 
