A very pretty nest is sometimes built within a Woodpecker's hole in a
stump of a tree, not more than three feet high. Where this occurs the
nest is not shaped round, but is made to conform to the irregular cavity
of the stump. This cavity is deepest at one end, and the nest is closely
packed with dried leaves, broken bits of grasses, stems, mosses, decayed
wood, and other material, the upper part interwoven with fine roots,
varying in size, but all strong, wiry, and slender, and lined with hair.
Other nests have been discovered which were circular in shape. In one
instance the nest was built in a brace hole in a mill, where the birds
could be watched closely as they carried in the materials. They were not
alarmed by the presence of the observer but seemed quite tame.
So far from being noisy and vociferous, Mr. Ridgway describes it as one
of the most silent of all the warblers, while Mr. W. Brewster maintains
that in restlessness few birds equal this species. Not a nook or corner
of his domain but is repeatedly visited during the day. "Now he sings a
few times from the top of some tall willow that leans out over the
stream, sitting motionless among the marsh foliage, fully aware,
perhaps, of the protection afforded by his harmonizing tints. The next
moment he descends to the cool shadows beneath, where dark,
coffee-colored waters, the overflow of a pond or river, stretch back
among the trees. Here he loves to hop about the floating drift-wood, wet
by the lapping of pulsating wavelets, now following up some long,
inclining, half submerged log, peeping into every crevice and
occasionally dragging forth from its concealment a spider or small
beetle, turning alternately its bright yellow breast and olive back
towards the light; now jetting his beautiful tail, or quivering his
wings tremulously, he darts off into some thicket in response to a call
from his mate; or, flying to a neighboring tree trunk, clings for a
moment against the mossy hole to pipe his little strain, or look up the
exact whereabouts of some suspected insect prize."
THE INDIGO BUNTING.
The Indigo Bunting's arrival at its summer home is usually in the early
part of May, where it remains until about the middle of September. It is
numerous in the eastern and middle states, inhabiting the continent and
seacoast islands from Mexico, where they winter, to Nova Scotia. It is
one of the very smallest of our birds, and also one of the most
attractive. Its favorite haunts are gardens, fields of deep clover, the
borders of woods, and roadsides, where, like the Woodpecker, it is
frequently seen perched on the fences.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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