Song Birds and Water Fowl 
forms of nests, and the robin, whose structure, 
usually containing three distinct walls, occa— 
sionally has only two, when the inner lining is 
omitted ; this latter deviation being perhaps due 
to the greater indifference sometimes shown in 
constructing the second nest of the season. 
An extensive observation of nests, in all their 
diversity of form, material, and location, re- 
veals numberless differences which we are not 
as yet competent to explain. Yet it is not all 
a mystery; for we can easily see that the most 
essential differences, both in construction and 
location, are determined by three prime consid- 
erations—safety, durability, and convenience. 
I have no desire to withhold from these wise 
and entertaining creatures a single iota of mer- 
ited praise ; but I see little reason to suppose 
that distinct artistic sense is a moving impulse 
in even the most beautiful and elaborate of their 
constructions ; while, on the other hand, I am 
inclined to believe that the more clumsy exam- 
ples of architecture, hardly worthy of the name 
of nests, prevalent among the water fowl, are no 
convincing proof of a corresponding inherent 
incapacity of those species. As a rule, water 
fowl nest on the ground, and in the most primi- 
tive fashion ; land birds, for the most part, build 
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