SOMETHING ABOUT BIRDS [7] 



vary in design from the Mourning Dove's flimsy platform of twigs, which 

 in some miraculous manner holds the eggs and the young squabs, to the 

 neatly woven pensile nests of the orioles. There are many different types 

 of tree nests. Doves and herons build flimsy platforms of twigs. Crows, 

 jays, and hawks build substantial nests of sticks that are more or less 

 completely lined with vegetable fibers, leaves, or rootlets. Sparrows, 

 vireos, and warblers build neat nests of finer vegetation, often mixed with 

 wool, hair, cotton, string, or other similar material. The Chipping 

 Sparrow, for example, is widely known among small boys as the "horse- 

 hair bird" because it lines its nest with horsehair, while the small fly- 

 catchers' nests are frequently so covered with lichen as to resemble from 

 below a lichen-clad knot. Others, including robins and the varied 

 thrushes, build nests of vegetable matter lined with mud. These struc- 

 tures are described in more detail under each species. The object of this 

 short discussion is to call attention to the great variation in nesting 

 habits and behavior of the common birds of the State. 



CARE OF THE YOUNG 



YOUNG BIRDS are generally divided into two classes: precocial, those with 

 the ability to feed and care for themselves from the time of hatching; and 

 altricial, those requiring feeding by the parents. 



Precocial birds, represented by the grouse, shore birds, and waterfowl, 

 are able to run about and gather their own food within a few hours after 

 kicking themselves from the shell. In proportion to the size of the bird, 

 the eggs in this group are large and the period of incubation long, so that 

 the young are comparatively well developed when they emerge from the 

 shells. Young waterfowl and shore birds immediately take to the water 

 or the water's edge. Those that swim are very skillful in concealing 

 themselves in the aquatic vegetation or by submerging with just the tip 

 of the bill showing. Small sandpipers match so perfectly the surround- 

 ings of their shore-line habitat that as long as they remain motionless 

 they are invisible to human eyes. Young grouse have the same advantage, 

 but in addition their wing quills grow with such amazing rapidity that 

 they are able to fly by the time they are ten days old. 



Altricial birds, born helpless and unable to move about, are fed for 

 varying periods of time by the parents. Small songbirds are normally fed 

 in the nest for approximately two weeks and are frequently provided for 

 by the parents for a few days after they begin to try their wings. Many 

 varied groups of birds carry food to their young. Among songbirds it is 

 the common practice of the parents to gather insects or seeds and feed 

 them directly to the young birds by inserting them into the open mouths 

 and pushing them well down the throat, so that the nestlings swallow 

 them almost automatically. Young of this class are helpless, homely bits 



