THE BUILDING OF THE NEST. 



you tramp through them), for there will be Bobolinks in the 

 timothy. Best of all, swing a hammock in the old orchard, 

 and, lying in it, you will see and hear so much that, wonder- 

 ing greatly, you will agree with Burroughs when he says, 

 "I only know that birds have a language which is very 

 expressive and which is easily translatable into the human 

 tongue." 



After watching the skill that builds the nest, it is dif- 

 ficult to overestimate the individual beauty of some of the 

 structures. Comparatively few, outside of the charmed cir- 

 cle, know the diversity of form and materials shown in nest 

 building, and the wonderful adaptability of both, by the 

 bird, to its special needs. 



The length of time which a nest remains in use varies 

 with different birds. Burroughs says in the chapter on 

 Birds' Nests, in his perennial " Wake Eobin," ^ " The birds 

 may be divided, with respect to this and kindred points, into 

 five general classes. Eirst, those that repair or appropriate the 

 last year's nest, as the Wren, Swallow, Bluebird, Great- 

 crested Flycatcher, Owls, Eagles, Fish Hawks, and a few 

 others. Secondly, those that build anew each season, though 

 frequently rearing more than one brood in the same nest. 

 Of these the Phoebe-bird is a well-known example. Thirdly, 

 those that build a new nest for each brood, which includes 

 the greatest number of species. Fourthly, a limited number 

 that make no nest of their own, but appropriate the aban- 

 doned nests of other birds. Finally, those who use no nest 

 at all, but deposit their eggs in the sand, which is the case 

 with a large number of aquatic fowls.'^ 



Birds' nests are often regarded as merely aggregations of 

 sticks and straws twisted together more or less carelessly ; 

 on the whole, rather monotonous, dirty affairs. I know an 

 observant farmer who understands all the weather signs 

 and a great deal of woodcraft, and spends his year in the 

 pasture, field, brush lot, and woods ; but whose ideas of birds' 

 nests are purely conventional. He does not call any structure 



1 " Wake Robin," by John Burroughs, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston 

 .and New York. 



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