NATURE AS AN ORGANISM 



the wood often rots, leaving a hollow. Thus, in Brazil the birds that 

 nest in holes do not depend exclusively on the woodpecker, that 

 born carpenter, who in Europe works for mice, doves and owls. 

 The parrots, with their strong beaks, can quickly excavate and 

 enlarge a rotten spot on a bough or tree trunk. They too nest in 

 hollow trees, until we come to the Monk Parroquet or Lory of the 

 Southern Argentine, which builds a great nest of brushwood, like 

 the birds of which I am about to speak. 



As regards the nest-building birds of Brazil, it is a striking fact 

 that many species appear to take no pains to conceal their nests. 

 In a tropical forest this indeed is not absolutely disastrous, for the 

 trees display so many foreign bodies, what with epiphytes, and the 

 nests of ants and termites and other insects, that a nest resting on 

 an exposed bough is not so conspicuous as it would be in Europe. 

 Moreover, many of the Brazilian birds build covered or enclosed 

 nests, in which the eggs and nestlings are concealed from sight. 

 They are egg-shaped or pouch-like, and have the opening at one 

 side. Most of the Tyrannidae build such nests, and so do the Bemtevis. 

 The little Teque teque even builds a gabled roof over the entrance- 

 hole, so that the nest has an artificial appearance. Several of the 

 tree-thrushes too build closed nests, and so does the Sebito (Plate 28), 

 which I was able to observe at work. 



At the same time, the birds are careful to avoid easily accessible 

 positions for their nests. I often found the nest of the brown and 

 white wagtail or Lavandeiras, of which I have often spoken ; a 

 carelessly-made, almost spherical nest, built in a bush rising from 

 the water; it was visible a long way off, but was inaccessible to 

 robbers. When the young birds were first taken abroad the parent 

 birds were very much on the alert, and flew excitedly hither and 

 thither, uttering a lively pleck, pleck if I approached. The starlings — 

 the Checheous, for example — hang their bottle-shaped nests from 

 branches of riverside trees projecting far over the water, so that 

 frequently they almost touch the surface. The black Japus hang their 

 long wallet from the extreme tip of a palm-leaf, and often build 

 in whole colonies ; a tree full of such nests is an astonishing sight. 

 The Japiis are sturdy birds, almost as large as crows; for them 

 combination spells security, all taking the part of each. Of the 

 Anums it is even said that several pairs of these black cuckoos will 

 occupy a single nest, sitting on their eggs in peaceful juxtaposition. 



I saw such a case with my own eyes, the owners of the nest being 

 "Bundle-nesters." These birds, which the Brazilians call Ferreiros 



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