AVES 2^s 



rapidity and seize a fish which is unseen by a man standing on a clifF 

 above the water. Buzzards see a sleeping man and gather quickly. 

 Many a traveler has when ill been quite disconcerted by the sight 

 of buzzards gathered in his vicinity. Keen eyes enabled one of them 

 to note his quietude and others quickly gathered as the scout circled 

 downward. Whether the buzzard smells decaying flesh of dead 

 animals is a debated question. Experiments seem to indicate that 

 it sometimes does. Many zoologists are of the opinion that sight 

 Is the chief means of locating the buzzards' food. 



Susceptibility of Birds to Poison.— Small doses of morphine 

 produce in birds disturbances of the digestive tract and a light sleep. 



Types of Nests. — Birds' nests vary greatly in structure and in 

 location. Birds may deposit their eggs on the sand, unprotected, 

 or they may build a nest in an excavation in the ground or in a 

 hollow tree. Some forms seek out lofty eyries^ others build colonies 

 on the sides of cliffs, while still others build mounds. The mound- 

 building birds of Australia open the mounds to admit the sun and 

 remove or add debris as the humidity varies. The nests of others 

 float on stagnant pools or are built in the grasses of swamps and 

 meadows. 



There is a great specialization in the material \x^Q.di in constructing 

 the nest. Some warblers line their nests with the seed capsules of a 

 certain species of moss. The tailor bird sews leaves together with 

 plant fibers. The tropical bower-bird includes bits of shell and bone 

 in its nest. The crow and the starling are particularly fond of bright 

 bits of metal. Stories are told of tame crows that successfully stole 

 table silver. 



The chipping sparrow lines its nest with horsehair., while the 

 crested flycatcher usually Includes a portion of the cast skin of a snake. 

 As mentioned before, the South American hornbill male seals his 

 spouse Into her nest in a hollow tree and brings food to her during 

 the nesting period. The chimney swift builds its nest (In a chimney) 

 of twigs stuck together by saliva. 



The edible birds' nests of the Orient are built by swift-like birds 

 {Collocalia) , in rocky caverns along the sea. The first nests built 

 are made up almost entirely of glutinous salivary secretion and are 

 sold for as much as $15.00 per pound. The first quality nests are 

 almost entirely destroyed by native collectors. Later nests con- 

 taining twigs and other foreign matter are not destroyed, or the 

 birds would soon be extinct. 



