INTRODUCTION vii 



introduced, have accquired the habit of building their nests 

 in trees and in other situations inaccessible to their 

 enemies ; and thus have they been preserved from exter- 

 mination. That birds do not follow a fixed routine in 

 the construction of their nests is evidenced by their using 

 new materials that could not have been accessible to their 

 ancestors. The nest of the domestic Pigeon has been 

 known to be constructed of waste nails in places where 

 these were abundant, and near the officers' camps in India 

 the wires of soda-water bottles have been largely utilised 

 in nest-building. Even birds of prey have acquired the 

 practice of using artificial materials, as rags, for their nests ; 

 and as keen an observer as Shakespeare remarks : 



" When the kites build, look out for the lesser linen." 



The study of the wondrous adaptation of nests and 

 eggs to the surroundings amidst which they are placed is one 

 which cannot be regarded in the same light as the collection 

 of book-plates and old postage stamps. 



As has been justly said by one of the most eminent of 

 American naturalists, Dr. Elliott Cones, " Ornithology and 

 Oology are twin studies, or rather one includes the other. 

 A collection of nests and eggs is indispensable for any 

 thorough study of birds, and many persons find peculiar 

 pleasure in forming one." There are, however, two very 

 distinct methods of proceeding. That which is followed by 

 many persons of collecting the eggs, piercing them at both 

 ends and threading them on a string, is scarcely justifiable. 

 It is robbing the birds for no purpose whatever except for 

 mere aggrandisement. The eggs so collected and treated 

 are perfectly worthless. There is a right and a wrong way 



