Identifier: birdlore17nati (find matches)
Title: Bird-lore
Year: 1899 (1890s)
Authors: National Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals
Subjects: Birds -- Periodicals Birds -- Conservation Periodicals
Publisher: New York, National Association of Audubon Societies
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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PLUMBEOUS GNATCATCHERS AT THEIR NEST IN A CHOLLA-CACTUS thought we had been too curious, and hadbuilt a little roof and porch, sloping it outand straight down, so that I had to getdown on my hands and knees and look upto see the doorway, for the entrance wasnow in the bottom. The Verdins home is an accomplish-ment in nest-building. It has both secrecj learned to choose trees and bushes thatare studded with thorns. More than that,it selects and weaves thorns with the websand fibers of the walls of his home, whichthus becomes a fortified house, with a door-way in the bottom so that lizards andsnakes cannot enter. The Verdin makesuse of his home not only during the sum-
Text Appearing After Image:
A MOCKINGBIRDS NEST IN A THORN-BL>H (340) The Audubon Societies 341 mer to raise a family, but often in winteras a sleeping-place. The enemies of thenight are many, and he needs a protectedplace for sleeping. It is very amusing to watch this pair ofVerdins. The mother was quite confiding,but her mate was afraid of the two bigcreatures who stayed near the nest. Atfirst, he would not enter the house andhelp feed the bantlings. But she scoldedand chided him, and stayed near by untilfinally he bobbed into the doorway. Theyhunted together continualh, the femalefearless and trustful, the male scared andacting as if solely from a sense of duty. The Cactus Wren, like the Verdin,builds a well-protected, covered home. Heselects the thorniest place in a cholla-cactus, as a general rule, although some-times he nests in a mesquite or a palo-verde. The Cactus Wren, like the TuleWren and the Winter Wren, often buildsnests besides the one used, which arecalled cock nests. We examined fifteenor twe

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