THE DANDELION BURGLAR 173 
variety, but the materials are selected with a defi- 
nite purpose, a soft, warm bed for the young fledg- 
lings being the object sought by the parent birds. 
To this end we find many nests lined with what 
the ornithologists call " soft downy substances." 
Examination with a magnifying glass will some- 
times show us precisely the nature of this down; 
whether it consists of wool from a sheep or hair 
from the deer, 'coon, goat, or horse ; whether it is 
composed of fuzz from downy leaves or spider- 
webs, caterpillar hairs, or cottony seeds of plants. 
These last form a favorite nest lining with a num- 
ber of birds. 
I remember once finding a beautiful nest of a 
warbler whose outer wall was strongly woven with 
strands of milk-weed bark, but the whole interior 
filled with a felt composed of dandelion seeds, and 
barely anything else. The nest was old and 
weather-beaten, and the mass had been reduced 
to a consistency resembling thick brown paper, 
with an occasional seed protruding. Originally 
this soft mass must have been at least a quarter 
of an inch in thickness. The dandelion seed is 
an occasional ingredient in many nests. We can 
readily understand how a bird with an eye to a 
downy snuggery for her young might be tempted 
to gather an occasional seed, but it takes a host of 
dandelion seeds to make a thick cushion such as 
this which I have mentioned, and we might well 
