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Bird Masons

Certain of our wild birds are quite expert at handling, and use quantities of mud in the formation of the cradles for their eggs and young. Three good examples of such birds are given in this chapter. The Robin and the Wood Thrush, the home lives of which are given in another chapter, also use much mud for the foundations of their nests. PHOEBE Early each spring, soon after the arrival, in New England, of Bluebirds, Robins and Song Sparrows, friend Phoebe puts in his appearance, a welcome appearance because it means that very soon a vast, kaleidoscopic procession of birds will come trooping from the south. Phoebe is very often known as the "Bridge-Bird," not the kind of "bridge" with which so many people of this day are familiar, but the good, oldfashioned bridge that spans a stream or gully. Such a bridge, with large logs for stringers and planks for a surface, crosses a little brook along which I like to wander. Each year, for as long a time as any living person can remember, Phoebes have nested under this. Of course, new nests are built each season, but they have usually been in the same spot,-above a slight projection on the side of one of the logs. The nest is gradually built up of pellets of mud, held together with grasses and mosses. Sometimes the outside is almost wholly of green moss, giving a most beautiful effect. The inside of the structure may be lined either with grass or feathers. The four or five eggs are a clear, creamy white usually with no markings, although sometimes very faint specks will show on the large end.