CHAPTER III. 



CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEST. 



" The daisied lea he loves, where tufts of grass 

 Luxuriant crown the ridge ; there, with his mate 

 He founds their lowly house, of wither'd bents 

 And coarsest spear-grass ; next the inner circle 

 With finer, and still finer fibres lays, 

 Rounding it curious with his speckled breast." 



IT has been well said,* " A bird's nest presents a 

 phenomenon nearly as wonderful as the cell of a 

 bee. This object is so familiar to us, that it ex- 

 cites little or no curiosity. But let it be shown 

 to a person capable of reflection, who had never 

 seen such a structure ; let him examine the mate- 

 rials of which it is composed, their admirable 

 aptitude for the purpose which it answers, the 

 convenience of its form for the shape and the 

 warmth of its inhabitants, the lightness, the 

 firmness, the neatness with which its materials are 

 twisted and interwoven ; and let him be assured 

 * Quarterly Review, vol. li. p. 219. 



