n's
observations in Louisiana, is shy and recluse, affecting remote
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,
immediately 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 clusters of twigs and leaves which characterize
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 any other
times. No doubt they worked mostly in the morning, having the early
hours all to themselves.

Another pair of blue grosbeaks built 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 grosbeak 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 rarely
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 skillfully is the nest concealed! We occasionally light upon
it, but who, unaided by the movements of the bird, could find it out?
During the present season I went to the woods nearly every day for a
fortnight without making any discoveries of this kind, till one day,
paying them a farewell visit, I chanced to come upon several nests. A
black and white creeping warbler suddenly became much alarmed as I was
approaching a crumbing old stump in a