Page:Birdcraft-1897.djvu/46

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THE BUILDING OF THE NEST.

  • Flicker: Sassafras and hickory.
  • Hairy Woodpecker: Hickory.
  • Mourning Dove: White pines.
  • Quail: Under a thick, wild hedge.
  • Screech Oil: Hollow sassafras.
  • Barred Out (only once): In a sycamore.
  • Cedar-bird: Old cherry tree.

You may add to these, as nests perfectly possible to find, those of the birds of marshy-edged meadows, — the Bobolink, Meadowlark, and the Red-winged Blackbird; the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, nesting in bushy pastures; the White-bellied Swallow of bird-boxes and hollow trees; the Bank Swallow, who burrows holes in railroad cuts, river and other sand-banks, where you may also discover the Kingfisher's home. In the river and creek marshes you will find the torch-shaped nests of the Long-billed Marsh-wren and the tussock nests of the Sharp-tailed Finch and the Seaside Sparrow. In swampy woods you may discover a heronry, or at least some single nests of the Green Heron, or the familiar Black-crowned Night Heron; and, perhaps, in some great tree leaning over the water you will see the huge platform-nest of the Osprey. The Marsh Hawks, Least Bittern, and Marsh Owls choose similar locations, and in the heart of the fresh-water marshes the Clapper and Virginia Rails, the Spotted Sandpiper and Woodcock, breed, though the latter more frequently nests in dry woods near a swamp.

Inland woods, especially if traversed by a stream, will yield countless nests: on the ground, the Veery's, the Ovenbird's hat, and the Ruffed Grouse's heap of leaves; above, in the trees, nests of the Blue Jay, Yellow-throated and Warbling Vireo, and the White-breasted Nuthatch. In drier woods the Blue-winged Warbler builds upon the ground; and the Black-throated Green Warbler nests in the hem-locks; while in high rocky woods you will see the eggs of the Whip-poor-will and Nighthawk, lying in depressions of the ground, and with your glass discern the nests of Hawks and Owls in the tree tops.

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