BIRDS'-NESTS. 109 



cessity. The accumulation of the excrement in the 

 nest would prove most fatal to the young. 



But even among birds that neither bore nor mine, 

 but which build a shallow nest on the branch of a tree 

 or upon the ground, as the robin, the finches, the bunt- 

 ings, etc., the ordure of the young is removed to a dis- 

 tance by the parent bird. When the robin is seen 

 going away from its brood with a slow heavy flight, 

 entirely different from its manner a moment before on 

 approaching the nest with a cherry or worm, it is cer- 

 tain to be engaged in this office. One may observe the 

 social sparrow, when feeding its young, pause a mo- 

 ment after the worm has been given, and hop around 

 on the brink of the nest, observing the movements 

 within. 



The instinct of cleanliness no doubt prompts the 

 action in all cases, though the disposition to secrecy 

 or concealment may not be unmixed with it. 



The swallows form an exception to the rule, the ex- 

 crement being voided by the young over the brink of 

 the nest. They form an exception, also, to the rule of 

 secrecy, aiming not so much to conceal the nest as to 

 render it inaccessible. 



Other exceptions are the pigeons, hawks, and water- 

 fowls. 



But to return. Having a good chance to note the 

 color and markings of the woodpeckers as they passed 

 in and out at the opening of the nest, I saw that Audu- 

 bon had made a mistake in figuring or describing the 



