160 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 



she works it down to the bottom of the nest, imbedding 

 it too deep for incubation. T have found two of these 

 nests and have examined others. One of these that I 

 watched from the foundation till the young had flown is 

 in the collection of the Society of ^Natural Sciences. 



Cuckoos and nearly all the CohimhidcB make very 

 slovenly nests, mostly of coarse sticks with slight lining 

 and of but little depth ; while the whippoorwill makes 

 no nest at all, but deposits two very pretty white and 

 nearly i^ound eggs on a level patch of dry leaves amid 

 thick shrubbery, When the viroes liave nearly com- 

 pleted their finely wrought structures, they ornament 

 the outside with bits of cocoons, wasps' and spiders' 

 nests, fastening these substances on the other materials 

 in a most mysterious manner. Only very sharp eyes 

 could find so much of seemingly scarce materials in the 

 limited radius traversed by birds. 



Chimney swallows gather most of their materials on 

 the mng, snapping the dry twigs from partially dead 

 trees. Barn swallows dip the straws and sticks, to be 

 mixed with clay, in the water, sometimes going a long 

 distance to a pool or brook for this purpose. Some 

 birds have a saliva or gelatinous matter that answers 

 for a cement. 



As with their singing and feeding, many birds are 

 more industrious in nest building in the morning and 

 towards evening. Some carry on their work boldly, 

 with little regard for the presence of man, while others 

 come and go so stealthily that unless you are very 

 watchful you may never see the little architects at 

 work, although the nest grows as if by magic, right 

 before your very eyes. 



