244 THE STORY OF THE BIRDS 



are in most cases the preliminaries to the func- 

 tion of Reproduction — the prelude, as it were, to 

 the making of Nests and the laying of Eggs. As 

 in so many other ways, we find birds practically 

 unique in the wonderful and elaborate prepara- 

 tion they make for the reproduction of their kind. 

 Birds' nests are at once the most beautiful and 

 the most curious cradles throughout the animal 

 kingdom. Their production not only requires 

 a great amount of skill, but reflects intelligence 

 of no mean order. We shall find, however, that 

 the nest-building capabilities of birds are subject 

 to a very wide range of variation, and in not a 

 few species are entirely absent. It is not all 

 birds that make nests ; and we find an almost 

 perfect gradation from nestless species through 

 the crudest provision becoming more and more 

 elaborate, until we reach those wonderful struc- 

 tures that excite universal admiration. There are 

 birds, for instance, such as the Guillemot, that 

 lay their eggs on the bare rocks, or on the open 

 ground, like the Goatsucker and the Lapwing ; 

 there are others, like the Ostrich, that make no 

 nest, but bury their eggs in the sand ; whilst 

 many species that breed in holes deposit their 

 eggs upon the powdered wood at the bottom, 

 making no provision in the form of a bed. Then 



