76 OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS. 
not many people have them. Birds do not have to 
think about the cost of anything. There must be 
downy quilts in every nursery. These crib blankets 
are always on hand. Sometimes they are soft gray or 
brown in color, and sometimes they are “crazy quilts.” 
It all depends upon what sort of a breast the mother 
bird has. 
At first thought one might fear that such a quilt 
might be too heavy. You see the old bird fly to the 
nest and settle quickly down above her young, as if 
she took her seat right on their frail little backs. She 
does not take the trouble to explain to you that her 
feet are below and between the young birds, and that 
she lifts her feathers gently. She is really a very fluffy 
“comfortable,” soothing and warm, covering the deli- 
cate birds, or the still more delicate eggs. 
Some birds, like the hummers, build their cradles of 
material which is just the color of the branch or the 
rockers upon which they rest. We have seen hum- 
mer’s nests on orange trees covered on the outside with 
the black scales which are so frequent on these trees. 
We have seen them on the sycamore trees all covered 
with the light yellow wool which grows on the backs 
of the sycamore leaves. The birds do this that the 
nests may look like a part of the branch on which they 
rest. In this way these shrewd little creatures hope 
to deceive the shrikes and owls and hawks and boys. 
It is not easy to find a nest that looks just like every- 
thing about it. 
