242 Bird - Lore 



16. Why do birds incubate their eggs? When does incubation begin? How long does 



it last with different birds? 



17. What is meant by 'warm-blooded' and 'cold-blooded' and what changes must have 



taken place in the birds' habits when the change from one condition to the other 

 evolved? 



18. How iong does it take a bird to build its nest? Have you any original observation 

 upon this? 



19. What is meant by the 'brood-spot' and what is its function? 



20. What is the 'egg tooth' and what is its function? 



FROM YOUNG OBSERVERS 



AN EAGLE'S NEST 



I am at some lakes and my Daddy and I were paddling in a canoe when 

 we heard a noise from a bird which afterwards I found was an Eagle, and it 

 flew to a big nest which an Indian said was about twenty-five years old. We 

 saw the Eagle in another place, too. Once when I was wandering through the 

 woods I saw a Red-headed Woodpecker pecking on a drooping dead branch, 

 and he pecked and pecked till the limb broke. The Woodpecker was on the 

 under side and it fell and fell till within about 4 feet from the ground, when 

 he fluttered and got away. He had cut off the limb he was sitting on. — 

 Griscom Morgan (age, 9 years), Englewood, Ohio. 



A TENANT FOR OUR BOAT 



One sunny day in April I was lying on the grass reading when suddenly I 

 heard a sweet twittering song. Looking up I saw a small bird. It had a brown 

 back and tail. Its breast was a sort of gray and brown mixed. It was about 

 the size of a female Sparrow and it twisted its tail in a comical fashion, singing 

 a short song over and over again. For about a week I saw it either in an 

 apple tree or an old brush-heap, always near a large skiff which we had taken 

 out of the river and turned over before the ice formed last fall. In about two 

 more days another bird came which was about the same size and color as the 

 first. I began looking around but could not find the nest which I knew was 

 somewhere near. The next day as I was going past the skiff I tapped it with 

 a stick which I had in my hand. Almost instantly a small form glided noise- 

 lessly out from under the boat. I peeped under and there, on the front seat 

 was the nest. It was of rough structure on the outside but the center, which 

 was about the size of a hen's egg, was lined with feathers as soft as down. 

 This little House Wren is a very busy worker, eating bugs and insects that 

 destroy crops. It also makes everybody cheerful by its singing. — Forrest 

 Leeson (age, 14 years), Belpre, Ohio. 



