THE BIRDS 



What curious ways insects and animals have of 

 making their homes and of taking care of them- 

 selves. Ants, earthworms, toads, spiders and bees 

 all build tunnels, houses or cities in different ways 

 and for different purposes. 



The birds build houses, also, but they are quite 

 different from the houses that these other creatures 

 build. They are nests, all woven from material that 

 the birds find, not from material that the}^ make them- 

 selves. And these nests are really cradles, meant for 

 the eggs and for the baby birds, not as homes for the 

 father and mother, for after the little birds have grown 

 large enough to fly, the nest is seldom used again. 



In the spring, when the birds have come back to 

 us, they choose a place for the nest, and begin to hunt 

 about for the material with which to build it. The 

 chipping sparrows find horse-hairs ; the crows get small 

 sticks; the humming-birds strip off fr(3m the baby 

 ferns their soft brown winter blankets; the robins 

 use dry grass and mud; and the orioles find string. 



What sharp eyes the chipping-sparrow must have 

 to be able to find the horse-hairs which it weaves 

 into its small, well-made nest. You would need 

 sharper eyes than the chipping-sparrow 's and the 

 greatest of patience to see the nest made. For the 

 chipping-sparrows are very shy and would not let 



IIG 



