December 
she fills the woods below with singing birds, 
and populates the shore of lake and stream with 
graceful water-fowl. 
More unpromising tools than a bird’s bill 
and feet could hardly be imagined for building 
anything that is to be compact and durable, to 
say nothing of neatness and elegance. Recently, 
in unravelling a nest.a strand was found, some 
feet in length, that was woven in and out thirty- 
four times. In rearing the second brood of the 
same year the parents commonly take much 
less pride in their work, or else are obliged to 
be more expeditious, and the materials are 
thrown together quite hastily. It is very un- 
usual for a nest to be used a second season, ex- 
cept where one species takes the abandoned nest 
of another, like the chickadee ; but one writer 
tells of a pair of ravens in Ohio that occupied 
the same nest for several years, which, from its 
protected situation, required but few alterations 
and additions each year. As a class the song- 
birds are much the finest builders, the nests of 
the larger aérial species, like crows, hawks, etc., 
being quite clumsy, while game- birds and 
water-fowl rarely exert themselves beyond what 
is absolutely necessary. 
The assortment of materials used in nest- 
3°9 
