Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 17.djvu/401

Rh In 1874 I found a pair of these birds occupying a woodpecker's deserted hole, and every new year finds them in their old abode, in spite of the fact that they were once robbed of all their eggs, showing very plainly how attached they become to their old haunts, and that even to a blackbird "there is no place like home." Audubon says that in the South the crow-blackbird frequently makes use of holes in trees, where a few dry weeds and feathers are collected on which the female deposits her eggs; Burroughs, also, notices that this bird, "seized with a fit of indolence, drops its eggs in the cavity of a decayed branch." In New England, however, this is not often the case, and in the instance mentioned indolence was clearly not the cause of their selecting this residence, for the nest was constructed exactly similar to those built in trees. I also found a nest of this species in a low marsh which was occupied by red-winged blackbirds as a nesting-place. This nest was built in low bushes about eighteen inches above the water, and was in structure like the redwing's nests among which it was placed, there being no mud used in the construction. This case, so far as I can learn, stands alone as a peculiar instance of adaptation to surroundings as exhibited by these birds.

Every one in New England probably knows the night-hawk, though persons generally are but little interested in it, and very few indeed become well acquainted with its habits. This may be partly due to the fact that it has no song to recommend it, but is principally owing to its habit of remaining perched along some limb during the daytime, when, on account of the similarity of its coat to the branch on which it rests, it remains unnoticed by the casual observer. At the approach of evening, however, he ascends into the air, and there darting about in every direction he procures his food, which consists of various kinds of insects; now he is by no means silent, but makes the night resound with his shrill cries, varying the entertainment occasionally by diving from a great height with partially closed wings, and making a noise which, as Nuttall says, resembles the sound produced by blowing into the bung-hole of an empty hogshead. Early in June you may perhaps witness their courtship. The male is all attention, strutting around with spread tail and ruffled feathers, for all the world like a miniature turkey-cock; stopping now within a short distance of his charmer, he ducks his head and wags his body from side to side, uttering all the while a growling sound which seems to come from the very depths of his distended throat. During this time the female is apparently regardless of this mass of fuss and feathers, and sits perfectly still—a sweet picture of modesty; this is continued for some time, when off my lady goes sailing through the air, leaving her suitor to follow at his leisure. Audubon says, "The male may be said to court his mate entirely on the wing, strutting as it were through the air." In this statement, however, he is hardly correct, as for the last three years a pair of these birds have used a roof a few feet from my window as a