108 THE STORY OF THE BIRDS. 
mechanical form of ornament. One bird in India 
studs the outside of its nest with fireflies that glow at 
night. It has been claimed, however, that this orna- 
mentation is purely to make the nest conform to the 
color of its surroundings, or that the purpose of the 
fireflies is to frighten away some enemy. But it can 
not be denied that a love of beauty and skill enters 
into nest building in the higher birds. Nevertheless 
the modern nest is often shaped by the builder’s at- 
tempts at concealing it. Nest concealing, we shall see 
later, is a large factor in bird life, perhaps affecting 
migration. We can not enter into details. Every 
boy knows how snugly a bird’s home can be tucked 
away. 
There is no doubt but that in the past, at least, 
there has been an intimate relation between the style 
or shape (and location) of the nest and the color of 
the sitting bird in order to conceal her. The style of 
nest that she has used may have affected her color, or 
she, having the color first, may have built her nest to 
suit her complexion—more likely the latter, when we 
know all the facts. It is an interesting question which 
has developed a real philosophy of bird’s nests. The 
naturalists were for a while “cheek by jowl” over it, 
but we can not discuss it further. 
