14 THER (ALU DU BON BU irises 
June 11. The young were covered with white down. June 17 the immature 
feathers began to appear. July 14 the young were fully developed and 
left the nest to fiy with the parents. These parents were very solicitous 
of their young and attacked me every time I approached their nest, circling, 
screaming and diving. Sometimes they came so close to me in their dives 
that I could feel the breeze from their wings and plummeting bodies, and 
their outstretched talons missed me by inches. On one occasion one’s talon 
actually grazed my head as it slapped me with its wing tip at the same 
time. The second nest had the eggs destroyed by crows on June 4, The 
third nest had the young hatch on June 25, and on August 3 they left 
the nest. These parents were not as concerned about their young and 
generally after a few scoldings and circlings would withdraw to some other 
part of the marsh. 
In this same area nested red-winged blackbirds, song sparrows, 
pheasants, swamp sparrows, and Maryland or northern yellow-throats. In 
the meadows west and south of the shelter nested bobolinks, meadowlarks, 
one pair of western meadowlarks, bobwhite, grasshopper sparrows, prairie 
horned larks, goldfinches, savannah sparrows, Henslow’s sparrows, vesper 
sparrows and field sparrows. In the open woods bordering this area many 
other species were found. In the tall grass along a hedgerow I found a 
bobwhite’s nest on May 24. It was well concealed at the base of a little 
hawthorn, being arched over with long grasses, the tops being attached to 
the nest proper, which was made of fine grasses lined with a few feathers. 
There were 14 pear-shaped white eggs in the nest. The hen flushed when 
I almost stepped on her and called plaintively from a nearby thicket. 
Several pairs of scarlet tanagers nested in the open woods. One nest 
was placed 23 feet up in a red oak tree. It was about six feet from the 
trunk on a flat horizontal crotch. The shallow nest was made of thin strips 
of bark and rootlets, lined with fine rootlets. Three bluish-green eggs 
marked with brown and black were in the nest. Both male and female 
scolded nervously, uttering their chip-chery from nearby trees. 
Wood pewees also nested on horizontal crotches of trees, oaks, maples, 
and occasional elms being favorites. The flat, shallow nests were placed 
well out toward the end of the branches on a flat crotch. They were made 
of rootlets, plant fibres, lined with fine rootlets and covered with plant 
downs and lichens, saddled to the crotch. They looked like little bumps 
of moss and were almost impossible to see. I located all my nests by 
watching the birds. Most of the nests contained three buff-colored eggs, a 
few four, wreathed around the large end with dark brown. 
Indigo buntings seemed to prefer placing their nests in the tall weeds 
and bushes along the edge of the open woods. Made of weed stems, grass 
and leaves, lined with fine grasses and hair, they were attached to upright 
branches or stems generally about a foot from the ground. In damp or 
wet ground they were placed higher. 
Along Salt Creek and in the adjoining low ground other species nested: 
red-winged blackbirds, spotted sandpipers, woodcock, alder fly-catchers, 
often killdeers and green herons. The most interesting and exciting find 
