356 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



such as the auks, murres and guillemots which nest upon 

 cliffs and rocky islands. These birds lay but a single egg 

 which is pointed at one end to keep it from rolling off 

 the ledge. 



The next stage in the evolution of the nest is shown 

 by many of the terns, plovers and grouse which scratch 

 depressions in the earth to keep the eggs from rolling 

 and to permit of their being better covered by the parent 

 bird, no nesting material at all being used. The sand- 



BLILT WITH PAPER 



Nest of a robin built largely from narrow strips of paper gleaned 

 from the waste pile of a nearby paper factory. This material was 

 selected simply because it was the most convenient, not from an 

 aesthetic sense or desire to make the home beautiful. 



pipers have advanced a step further and usually line 

 the depression with grasses, likewise the ducks which use 

 feathers from their breasts. The bobolink and many 

 sparrows make well-formed nests in the depressions and 

 the meadowlark and ovenbird even roof them over. 

 Some of the thrushes, sparrows, and warblers and many 

 of the marsh birds, which nest upon the ground, raise the 

 nest above the surface by a platform of leaves or other 

 material and perhaps by so doing secure better drain- 

 age. 



Probably the desirability of raising the nest from the 

 ground into the bushes and trees was felt very early for 

 we still find among the tree-nesters those which build 

 very crude nests, birds in which the nesting instinct is 

 still poorly developed. The herons, for example, build 

 crude platforms of sticks hollowed only very slightly to 

 keep the eggs from rolling out and so thin that the eggs 

 can be seen from below. The nests of the mourning 

 dove and the cuckoos show but little advancement. A 

 few rootlets may be added but the whole affair is flimsy 

 and crude. The crows and hawks have progressed 

 further for, although their nests are built of coarse sticks, 

 they are always well hollowed and lined with bark and 

 softer materials. From this stage on, the tendency is 



for the reduction of the coarse material and the increase 

 of the lining, greater choice being exercised in the selec- 

 tion of material and more skill evinced in building. The 

 nest of the catbird would represent the next stage where 

 sticks are still used in the outer layer, but the lining is 

 neatly woven from rootlets. Straws and grasses next re- 

 place the sticks and hairs and strips of soft bark, the 

 coarse rootlets as in the nests of the various sparrows 

 and many of the warblers. The use of feathers and 

 down for a lining might be considered further progress 

 as in the nests of the goldfinch and yellow warbler. 



In addition to the change from coarse to softer ma- 

 terials there has come greater skill in fastening the 

 nest to the branches so that it has been possible to move 

 them further and further from the center of the bush or 

 tree to the outer branches where they are less accessible 

 to the many enemies. And finally we have developed the 

 beautifully woven pendant nests of the orioles and vireos, 



THIS IS PARTLY DISGUISED 



Nest and young of the hummingbird, the nest "decorated" 

 to make it less conspicuous. 



with lichens 



the strange nests of the Indian tailorbird, sewed into a 

 large leaf; the wonderful balanced nests of the Indian 

 and African weaver birds and the deep pockets of the 

 South American cassiques, which are hung from the tip 

 of a branch by a single strand. 



The so-called "ornamentation" of nests we might like- 

 wise consider a recent development although little can 

 be said in support of the idea that it is done from an 

 aesthetic sense or a desire to make the home more 

 beautiful. The nests of robins, thrushes and vireos, 

 "decorated" with bits of paper or ribbon are the result 

 either of the birds utilizing the material nearest at hand 

 and therefore most convenient, or else an attempt, as 

 in the case of the hummingbird and wood pewee where 

 lichens are glued to the outside of the nest, to make it 

 less conspicuous. The materials selected by birds are 



