New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1880-12-22
SOME CURIOUS NESTS.

-CQiTtc W. THOMPSON, M ". I. IHQGHpoQe1lI
SOME CURIOUS NESTS.
You all have noticed, on some spring
day, bird picking up twigs or strawS
with which to build its nest, and if you
ever have seen the tiny home when
finished, you must have wondered al
its beauty and completeness. For the
nests OF even our cOmmOnest birds are
often marveIs Of skillful workman.
ship.
But it happens that, within the last
year. ST. Nicholas has received accounts
of some unusually interesting nests
real curiosities Or accidents in nest
building, such as you would hardly find
by searching whole acres Of meadow
and orchard. Some of these oddities
are peculiar or remarkable in them.
selves, and others are merely common
nests, but have been found in very
queer places. You shall have the de.
scription of them just as they came to
US in the letters OF correspondents.
Here, to begin with, is an account by
d. b., of a nest in a scarecrow:
elm a grain field near Hampstead, l..
l., found an old coat and hat set up
as a scarecrow, the sleeves being
stretched out on crOsswise stick.
However dreadful this may have seem
ed to the person who set it up, the lit
tie creatures it was meant to frighten
away were not in the least scared by it;
for in one of the side pockets of the
coat, pair of cedar-birds had built a
coy nest. When | saw the scarecrow,
the little home was filled with I'M
tedged birds, cheeping and crying,
their crests raised, while the mother,
perched on small branch which stuck
out above the scarccrow's hat, was
gently twittering good-byes to her
noisy brood, before going to forage for
their breakfast"
Strange place that for a bird s-nest!
And yet not so strange. nor dangerous,
if the bird was small, and Mr.. Scare
crow did his duty well by frightening
the hawks and other winged enemies
away. Perhaps the little parents
"builded better than they knew;'' but
it may be they had found out in some
strange way that the ugly looking gen
tleman standing always in that one
place in the field was no enemy, and
would even protect them. At any rate,
this does not seem to be the first in
stance of bird s nest in q scarecrow,
for in the same letter D. 3. sends this
record of another:
"When telling about this strange
discovery to some friends, one of them
recalled similar incident which he had
once read about, and after searching
some time, among old papers, we finally
found the account in a number OF ON
Young Folks. Here it IS:
"lt was in the bosom of stuffed
effigy, which had been set up to scare
away the crows from our corn. A
bunch of pea-sticks and little hay
dressed up in most artistic fashion with
suit of Johns old clothes-trousers
vest and coat, topped out with an ole
hat, which soon blew away-forme(
this awful scare. And funny enough i
was to see a pair of little pewees max
ing it's acquaintance; looking up it,
legs of sticks, and looking down upo1
it from the apple-trees; picking at thu
rags streaming from it's coat-tails, ant
then perching most audaciously upo1
it's wide shoulders; prying into the Sc
crets of it's heart of clover, and pulling
the long hay out of the stump of it's ole
broken-Otf neck.
"What they meant to do was hard tt
tell for several days; but finally there
was no longer any doubt--they were
building nest in it's bosom! And why
not? The old clothes had been wei
washed in the rains, the hay was a
sweet as any other hay, and the pea
brush just the same as any other pea
brush; besides, the thing was wei
fastened to the ground by its feet
which were only the ends of the point
ed pea-sticks. Those the pewees coulc
see as well as we, or any other wees-
as Cousin Sammy suggested-and tht
crows were evidently afraid of it, a.
somebody else suggested, making i
safer for the wise little birds. So, whe1
the work was done Cor rather q<ndone
for the process of building consisted
more in pulling out the stuffing IF oul
scarecrow and making hole into it
than in putting sticks together as mos
pewees do), and when the hole wa
we'll lined with the soft little nothing
which the pewees find, we hardly know
| where, and the little brown hen settled
herself down into her hiding-place ane
pater famitfas sat upon the headles
| peal brush neck, and caroled forth hi
song of triumph to his mate and hi
note of defiance to all crows that Nigh
dare to scale his castle walls, and thu
rags of the sleeves fluttered merrill,
in the breeze, we doubted whether tina
suit of clothes was ever happier than i
was then; and John doubted, too.
| 1.-The nest was carefully observed
from {, distance, for no birds like to b.
scrutinized too closely; and, in du
course Of time, a family of little pewee
we're taking their first lessons in flying
Some OF them tried to fly too soon, an
Of all. Our little ones were quit
distressed that the poor little bird
should be dispersed upon the ground
from which they were unable to rise
and so Charlie caught them all an,
tried to put them back into the nest
but he could not reach it; so, wha
must he do but stow them all CAREFUL,
away into one of the side-pockets o
the old coat, into which he had frs
stuffed some hay. to keep the poke
open; and how delighted were he AM
his sisters to see the old birds com
there and feed the young and care 70
them several days, until their wing
were more fully grown, and they wer
able once more, and with better sue
cess, to take start into the world!'
But now hear this wonderful ittl
story from S. G.. T., of how bird-pai
seemed actually to read-for how coul
they possibly have chosen better word
for motto for their little home tina
the two which we're found upon it?
.sIn certain country place, not yer