BIRDS AS ARCHITECTS 



" Behold, within the leafy shade, 

 Those bright blue eggs together laid! 

 On me the chance-discovered sight 

 Gleamed like a vision of delight." 



WORDSWORTH. 



A VERAGE canons of architecture the case of the wren, who loathes 

 do not appeal to the feathered ostentation of either situation, aspect 

 designer, be they canons of beauty, or material. But amongst all these 

 economy or advertisement. One com- dissimilar artificers, the one strong 

 mon motive underlies the design of instinct of self-preservation stands out 

 every nest that was ever made the clearly as the builder's first and fore- 

 motive of self-protection ; pride of most consideration, 

 workmanship may be present surely In spite of this single similarity and 

 the longtailed tit is an honest work- these numerous diversities of taste, 

 man and takes a real pride in his it is fairly clear that all the birds 

 three weeks' task or economy, as in began their nest-building with tolerably 

 the case of the nightjar, who furnishes similar ideals. The nest was to be 

 a home for his mate by bestowing a soft ; it was to be screened from the 

 simple blessing on some unobtrusive weather ; it was to be near the favour- 

 corner in the undergrowth of a wood ; ite haunts, whether of pastime or hunt- 

 or comfort, as with the nuthatch, who ing ; it was to be either inaccessible 

 screens his mate from excess of draught to enemies, or calculated to escape 

 by plastering up the orifice in his their careless search. It is almost 

 chosen tree trunk till it will just allow conceivable, for instance, that the 

 ingress to his slender body and no woodpecker once made a round, un- 

 more ; or defiance, as with the rook, tidy saucer nest stuck loosely in low 

 who knits a bunch of the topmost trees like the blackbird's, until pro- 

 twigs into strongly braced girders for longed seeking of insects in the bark 

 his brood's support ; or impertinence, caused it to dawn on him that he 

 as with the robin, who delights to might as well live nearer his work, 

 seize on some deserted utensil of The robin, we know, is still very 

 man's discarding ; or modesty, as in liberal in his tastes, and utilizes almost 



