BIRD HOMES. 6 1 



the young. No one, till he reads or learns a great 

 deal about birds, can imagine what an extraordinary 

 variety of nests there are. 



In the first place, a large number of the water birds, 

 ducks, and divers, and all the family to which our hen 

 belongs, do not need a nest in which the young shall 

 stay. For their young come out of the shell warmly 

 clothed in such thick down, that they can either 

 paddle right off in the cool water or run about on the 

 land ; we call them chicks, and the others, who are 

 naked and helpless when hatched, we call nestlings. 

 At night their mother's feathers are their beds; no 

 need of a nursery for them. 



The eggs have to be baked, however, so that often 

 the nests of such birds are w^arm and snug, especially 

 if they are in damp or cold places. If the eggs are 

 laid in sunny places, on the hot sea sand or rocks, for 

 instance, there is no need of walls, and in such places 

 the nest hardly deserves the name ; it is really noth- 

 ing but a hollow in the sand or a shelf on the rocks. 



Many gulls lay their eggs in this careless way. 

 There are certain cunning animals who like raw eggs 

 very much, and they come prowling about, break the 

 shells, and later eat young birds as well. 



Certain birds, to escape these four-legged thieves, 

 have moved up a story and built platforms in the 

 trees. These had to be pretty strong, however, for 



