74 Journal of Travel and Natural History 



and perfect nests, are the most highly organised of the class, 

 having powerful and yet delicate grasping feet, a well formed 

 pointed bill, and extreme rapidity of motion. The places where 

 they seek their daily food are those where all the materials used in 

 their nests are abundant ; and their intelligence is shewn by their 

 not unfrequently modifying the position, the form, or the materials 

 of their nests, to suit the changed conditions with which the pre- 

 sence of man surrounds them. 



If we descend more into detail, we find the same principles 

 manifested ; and we are often able to understand the reason of the 

 particular position and material of a nest, by a consideration of 

 the mode of life of the bird that has made it. The kingfisher, 

 seeking his food in rivers and streams, makes his nest in their 

 banks. His strong and sharp-pointed bill, is a weapon which 

 readily pecks away sand or earth; and the disgorged bones of the 

 fishes he has devoured, form a rude nest at the bottom of the hole. 

 The woodpecker, who is daily engaged in boring holes in trees to 

 seek his food, enlarges one of these holes, and makes a cavity 

 within which he can bring up his young in safety. The toucan, 

 whose huge weak bill, imperfect feet, and clumsy motions incapa- 

 citate it from building a nest, makes use of the holes formed by 

 woodpeckers, squirrels, or other animals, which it finds in the trees 

 among which it seeks its daily food. The rook lines its nest with 

 roots and fibres, the crow with wool or rabbits' fur. It is no blind 

 instinct that leads birds so much alike to use such different 

 materials, but simple convenience. The rook hunts for grubs in 

 ploughed fields and pastures, and has continual experience of roots 

 and fibres. The crow frequenting moorlands and warrens, and 

 feeding on dead lambs and rabbits, finds wool and fur continually, 

 and uses them in its nest. The wren constructs its beautiful nest 

 almost entirely of moss, because while hunting about in hedgerows 

 for small insects and molluscs, moss is continually before its eyes.* 



We see, then, that a consideration of the structure, the food, 

 and other specialities of a bird's existence, gives us a clue, and 

 sometimes a very complete one, to the reason why it builds its 

 nest of certain materials, in a definite situation, and in a more or 

 less elaborate manner. There are, however, two other flictors in 

 the problem, whose effect in any particular case we can only 



* For other examples, see "The Philosophy of Birds' Nests;" Intellectual 

 Observer, July, 1867. 



