s
sometimes do, and as bluebirds and cliff swallows always do. A new nest,
built of material almost identical with that of the old, and in a more
exposed position, was decided upon. It progressed rapidly, and I was
delighted to find that the male assisted in the building. Indeed, he was
fully as active as the female. Very often they were both in the nest
with material at the same moment. They seemed to agree perfectly. At
first I got the impression that the male was not quite as decided as the
female, and hesitated more, once or twice bringing material that he
finally rejected. But he soon warmed up to the work and certainly did
his share.

With most species of our birds the nest is entirely built by the female.
With the robin, the wood thrush, the phoebe, the oriole, the
hummingbird, the pewee, and many others, the male is only an interested
spectator of the proceeding. He usually attends his mate in her quest
for material, but does not lend a hand, or a bill. I think the cock
wren assists in nest-building. I know the male cedar-bird does, and
probably the male woodpeckers do also. The male rose-breasted grosbeak
assists in incubation, and has been seen to sing upon the nest. It seems
fair to infer that he assists in the nest-building also, but I am not
certain that he does, and I have heard another observer state that in a
nest which he watched the female apparently did it all.

My catbirds both worked overtime one afternoon at least, being on their
job as late as seven o'clock. In three days the nest was done, all but
touching up the interior. During the construction I laid out pieces of
twine and bits of white paper on the bushes and wire netting, also some
loose material from the outside of the old nest; all was quickly used.
How much labor the birds would have saved themselves had they pulled the
old nest to pieces and used the material a second time! I have known the
oriole to start a nest, then change her mind, and then detach some of
her strings and fibers and carry them to the new site; and I once saw a
"chebec" whose eggs had been destroyed pull the old nest to pieces and
rebuild it in a tree a hundred feet away.

The male catbird is slightly brighter and fresher-looking than his mate,
but we could easily tell her by her often simulating the actions of a
young bird when she came with material in her beak; she would alight on
a near-by post and slightly spread and quiver her wings in a tender,
beseeching ki