BIRD HOMES. 59 



that a bird lacks feathers. In the moulting season ? 

 Hardly ; few fall at a time, so that he is never wholly 

 without covering. When the bird leaves the shell ? 

 That is the time, surely, when he needs protection, 

 and the wise and loving bird-mother goes to work, long 

 before even her eggs are laid, to build the home for her 

 young. This we call a nest ; it is really a nursery, is 

 it not, a home, not for the parents, but for the young 

 birds ? 



THE NEST AS AN OVEN. 



The nest is first used as an oven. What does the 

 bird bake in this oven ? Where does she get the 

 heat ? The last question is the easier and you can 

 answer it yourself by holding your pussy cat agaiftst 

 your cheek. Where does the warmth come from? 

 Not all from the fur, but from the warm blood running 

 through her veins. 



So the bird's little body is warm, warmer even than 

 your cat's. To keep the warmtii of the fire an oven is 

 made with walls and a door; so a nest is often built 

 with walls ; the mother herself is the door. When 

 she snuggles down on the eggs very little warmth can 

 escape. 



But what is she baking? The eggs themselves. 

 As the little seeds grow or develop when the earth is 



