272 HOMING WITH THE BIRDS 



but it is the female that makes the final choice, 

 and drops the first twig on or coils a hair in 

 the place selected. How far she has been influ- 

 enced by the male in her selection, no one knows 

 certainly. 



On this point my experience differs from some 

 nature writers'. I have photographed hundreds 

 of nests ; many of them I have watched in the course 

 of construction; while by the hundred I have care- 

 fully picked them to pieces after the birds have 

 finished with them to see exactly what they contain 

 and how they are woven; so I know I am right in 

 the cases with which I am familiar, and to which I 

 confine myself. 



The female of tree, bush and some ground 

 builders constructs her nest, by laying a founda- 

 tion of mud, if she is of the turdidae family, 

 omitting the mud if she is a sparrow, finch or 

 warbler. Then she holds her breast as a model, 

 around which she packs her chosen material as she 

 turns while building the walls; but the male almost 

 always helps carry material. He brings his con- 

 tributions and drops them on the nest, while the 

 female places and builds them in. On a few occa- 

 sions, in the absence of the female, I have seen a 

 male enter a half -completed nest and try to place 

 material. He was always picked and chased away 

 immediately on her return, as if he were doing 

 something improper, except in the case of orioles. 

 Their nests are so large, so intricate, that the fe- 



