OOLLB riNQ NESTS AM- r.doa 31 



A collection of bird*' nesU i* a telling object lesson in the study 

 of ornithology. Familiar as I am with them. I never HOC the ne*t of 

 some binls without feeling tin- most, intense admiration tr tin- rnur- 

 velmis skill which has aided tin-in in forming u Mrueiurc man would 

 flnil it ilitlii-nlt. if nut impossible. t<> duplicate. A I ml'- nest in its 

 original site is a concrete expreioii of tin- intelligence of it.- maker; 

 for tin- fun-i^'ht displayed in the choice of u Mtuation. and the ingo- 

 nuity shown in the construction nf the not. even if largely instinctive 

 now, originated in the intelligence of a line of ancestnr>. 



Nests may be collected before they have been UM-I!. when tin- binls 

 will generally build again ; or you may wait and take them after the 

 lunl- have left them, labeling each nest with what you have ! 

 of the hi.-tnry of its owners. For example: Time required for it- r..n- 

 st ruction ; whether made by one or both sexr< ; imti-s on the laying ol 

 the eggs; j>eriiMl of incubatinn; whether both x-xe- ui>trd in incu- 

 bation; can* of tlte young; number of days they were in the neM. etc. 



Some nests, for example the |M-ndent "Imskets" of Vireos or such 

 as are placed in crotches. >hoiild U> taken with the crotch or branch 

 to which they are attached. 



With others it is obviously impossible to do this. They should 

 therefore be placed in a frame of wire and wrap|ed atout with fine 

 wire thread. To make this frame. tvNt two pieces of annealed wire, 

 painted brown, into the !>ha|M- of a letter X. About midway from tin- 

 point of intersection and the end of the arm, bend the win-- upward 

 at right angles. Now take the fine hair or thread wire and wind it 

 about the four horizontal arms of the frame until its bottom looks 

 like a spider's web; place the nest in this half-formed Ixasket, U-nd 

 the upright wires inward or outward as the case requires, and continue 

 winding until th.- m-M is bound firmly. The size of the frame and 

 the wire used in its construction may be varied to >uit the nest. 



