1869. | 
In a certain locality in the interior 
of New York, I know, every season, 
where I am sure to find a nest or two 
of the slate-colored snowbird. It is 
under the brink of a low, mossy bank, 
so near the highway that it could be 
reached from a passing vehicle with a 
whip. Every horse or wagon or foot 
passenger disturbs the sitting bird. 
But she waits the near approach of the 
sound of feet or wheels, and then darts 
quickly across the road, barely clearing 
the ground, and disappears amid the 
bushes on the opposite side. 
In the trees that line one of the main 
streets and fashionable drives leading 
out of Washington City, and less than 
half a mile from the boundary, I have 
counted the nests of five different spe- 
cies at one time, and that without any 
very close scrutiny of the foliage, while 
in many acres of woodland, half a mile 
off, I searched in vain for a single nest. 
Among the five, the nest that interested 
me most was that of the blue gross- 
beak. Here this bird, which, according 
to Audubon’s observations in Louisi- 
ana, is shy and recluse, affecting re- 
mote marshes and the borders of large 
ponds of stagnant water, had placed its 
nest in the lowest twig of the lowest 
branch of a large sycamore, immediate- 
ly over a great thoroughfare, and so 
near the ground that a person standing 
in a cart or sitting on a horse could 
have reached it with his hand. The 
nest was composed mainly of fragments 
of newspaper and stalks of grass, and 
though so low, was remarkably well 
concealed by one of the peculiar clus- 
ters of twigs and leaves which char- 
acterize this tree. The nest contained 
young when I discovered it, and though 
the parent birds were much annoyed 
by my loitering about beneath the tree, 
they paid little attention to the stream 
of vehicles that was constantly passing. 
It was a wonder to me when the birds 
could have built it, for they are much 
shyer when building than at other 
times. No doubt they worked mostly 
in the morning, having the early hours 
all to themselves. 
Another pair of blue grossbeaks built 
Bira's-Nests. 
797 
in a graveyard within the city limits. 
The nest was placed in a low bush, and 
the male continued to sing at intervals 
till the young were ready to fly. The 
song of this bird is a rapid, intricate 
warble, like that of the indigo-bird, 
though stronger and louder. Indeed, 
these two birds so much resemble each 
other in color, form, manner, voice, and 
general habits that, were it not for the 
difference in size, — the grossbeak being 
nearly as large again as the Indigo-bird, 
— it would be a hard matter to tell them 
apart. The females of both species are 
clad in the same reddish-brown suits. 
So are the young the first season. 
Of course in the deep, primitive 
woods also are nests; but how rare- 
ly we find them! The simple art of 
the bird consists in choosing common, 
neutral-tinted material, as moss, dry 
leaves, twigs, and various odds and 
ends, and placing the structure on a 
convenient branch, where it blends in 
color with its surroundings; but how 
consummate is this art, and how skil- 
fully is the nest concealed! We occa- 
sionally light upon it, but who, unaided 
by the movements of the bird, could 
findit out? During the present season 
I went to the woods nearly every day for 
a fortnight, without making any discov- 
eries of this kind; till one day, paying 
them a farewell visit, I chanced to come 
upon several nests. A black and white . 
creeping warbler suddenl became much 
alarmed as I approached a crumbling old 
stump in adense part of the forest. He 
alighted upon it, chirped sharply, ran up 
and down its sides, and finally left it with 
much reluctance. The nest, which con- 
tained three young birds nearly fledged, 
was placed upon the ground at the foot 
of the stump, and in such a position 
that the color of the young harmo- 
nized perfectly with the bits of bark, 
sticks, &c., lying about. My eye rested 
upon them for the second time before 
I made them out. They hugged the 
nest very closely, but, as I put down 
my hand, they all scampered off with 
loud cries for help, which caused the 
parent birds to place themselves al- 
most within my reach. The nest was 
