440 The Outline of Science 



feature. Few nests reach such a high development as that of 

 the Tailor-bird of India, so called from its habit of "sewing" 

 leaves together to make a beautiful pouch, a very triumph of 

 the nest-builder's art. 



Burrowers 



From nesting in holes in trees to nesting in holes in the 

 ground is an easy transition, and the gap is bridged by birds 

 like the Stock-Dove, which use either site according to the oppor- 

 tunities which a particular district may happen to afford; this 

 bird gets its name from the habit of nesting in holes in the 

 "stocks" of old trees, but among the sand-dunes on many parts 

 of the British coastline it uses rabbit-burrows instead. In similar 

 haunts we may also find another burrow-nester the bird which 

 Mr. W. H. Hudson calls "the strange and beautiful Sheldrake." 

 Unlike most of the duck family the male Sheldrake is not subject 

 to an "eclipse" moult in the midst of the breeding season, and 

 he is therefore able to stand by his mate, who, furthermore, has 

 a bright plumage similar to his own. 



Other birds which nest in burrows are the Petrels, some 

 Penguins, the Kingfisher, and the Sand-Martin. The last-named 

 nests in colonies, and each pair tunnels many feet into the chosen 

 bank and hollows a little chamber at the end ; the Bee-eater makes 

 a similar tunnel, which may be as much as ten feet long. As 

 with holes in trees, a lining may be added, say of grass or other 

 vegetation; the Shelduck, like others of its kind, uses a plentiful 

 supply of down plucked from its own breast, while the King- 

 fisher lines its nest with an unsavory collection of fishbones and 

 other remains of its prey. The Megapodes go to the extreme 

 of completely burying their eggs either in pits or under specially 

 constructed mounds. 



Ground-N esting 



Very many other birds nest either on the open ground or 

 among the long grass and herbage. Sometimes there is a well- 



