BIRD 



740 



BIRD 



Nests of Special Interest. The different 

 varieties of nests are too numerous even for 

 listing there are burrowed nests, ground nests, 

 carpenter nests, basket nests, mud nests, woven 

 nests and ever so many more; but a few of 

 the more interesting kinds may be described 

 here. Hunting and studying birds'-nests is a 

 fascinating pursuit, but it should not be in- 

 dulged in while the nests are still in use. The 

 bird-lover may discover the whereabouts of the 

 nests of various birds, and later, when the 

 young have flown, may examine them at his 

 leisure; but it is not safe to bring nests into 

 the house until they have been carefully looked 

 over, as they are likely to be swarming with 

 vermin. 



Beginning at the very bottom, there is the 

 king-penquin, which simply deposits its eggs on 

 the bare rock and pays little further attention 

 to them. Then there are the burrowing birds, 

 such as the sand-martin and the kingfisher, 

 which dig deep tunnels into a bank, usually 

 facing the water, and lay their eggs at the 

 end; and the ground-nesters, as the turkey or 

 the goose, which scrape together on the ground 

 shelters of leaves and grass. Very curious is 

 the habit of the tropic mound-birds, which 

 build up great heaps of vegetable matter, lay 

 their eggs therein and trust to the heat of the 

 decaying pile to hatch them. Somewhat higher 

 in the scale are the mud or clay nests, made 

 by some of the commonest American birds. 

 The swallows' nests are entirely of clay, and 

 are of varying shapes, some looking much like 

 gourds with their bent necks, in the end of 

 which is the "door," but the robin uses mud 

 merely as a cement to hold together a nest of 

 twigs and leaves, which it lines with cotton or 

 wool or hair any soft substance it can find. 



Then there are the carpenter nests, which 

 are in reality but holes in stumps or trees, with 

 a very little soft material laid down for a bed. 

 Of the birds with such wooden nests the com- 

 monest examples are the woodpeckers, which 



for the most part choose dead trees, though 

 the ivory-billed species can cut its nest into 

 a living hardwood tree. A number of song-birds 

 make their nests on the ground, blending them 

 in with the surrounding vegetation so cleverly 

 that only the practiced eye can find them, but 

 by far the larger number choose shrubs or 

 trees, and the majority of them build what are 

 known as basket nests loosely woven struc- 

 tures of twigs, stems, grass or any other mate- 

 rial that may be near at hand. Not all of these 

 are equally well made, the crows and eagles, 

 for example, constructing very rough, coarse 

 nests, while the thrushes and the warblers are 

 very neat and skilful. 



Probably the most beautiful and interesting 

 of the comparatively common bird homes are 

 the woven nests of the humming birds, the 

 orioles and a few other species. To do their 

 best work these birds must live near dwellings 

 where they can get wool or hair or twine; and 

 their eyes are very sharp in spying any bit 

 which may have been left about for them. 

 The humming bird's nest is so closely and 

 smoothly woven that it looks like felt, and so 

 tiny that it may swing from the top of a 

 branch, almost hidden from the eyes of the 

 curious by the greenish lichens with which its 

 little makers have adorned it; the oriole's 

 nest, larger but no less exquisite in structure, 

 usually hangs as a pouch from the tip of a 

 long, drooping elm branch (see ORIOLE, for 

 illustration) . 



A few birds, as the cowbird, are too lazy 

 or too stupid to build nests for themselves, and 

 lay their eggs in the nests of other birds; but 

 for the most part, no trouble is too great for 

 the parent-birds to take for the suitable hous- 

 ing of their eggs and young, and the heroism 

 which they show in defending their nests from 

 enemies far larger and stronger than them- 

 selves entitles them to rank among the bravest 

 of all the animals. We usually fail to credit 

 them with this noble characteristic. A.MC c. 



Migration of Birds 



This is one of the great marvels of nature 

 the advance and retreat of an army of birds, 

 so great that one might imagine the sky at 

 times would be dark with them. But few 

 people ever see them in their flight. Astron- 

 omers, viewing the full moon through their 

 large telescopes in August and September, fre- 

 quently see the small migrating birds, high in 

 air, cross their field of vision, and are often 



able to distinguish the finches, thrushes and 

 others. The Canada geese, in their honking, 

 orderly ranks, are a familiar enough sight in 

 the fall to those who live in Central North . 

 America, and hunters can predict very closely 

 when the "duck season" will begin. But why 

 does no one ever see bobolinks and the plov- 

 ers, the swallows, the sparrows and the war- 

 blers sweeping over the hills and valleys and 



