90 The Building of the Nest 



little nest. It cannot be explained, perhaps, 

 but we have at least a clue to it. One end of 

 the hair is snugly tucked in among stouter 

 materials, and then, I ask the question only, 

 as the bird coils it about the sides of the 

 nest with its beak, does it break or dent it, or 

 is there some chemical effect produced by 

 the bird's saliva ? The hairs do not appear 

 to be merely dry-curled, for in that case 

 they would unroll when taken from the nest, 

 and such as I have tried, when just placed in 

 position, retained the coiled condition when 

 removed. But old hair, curled by long ex- 

 posure to the air and moisture, is often used, 

 and this is far more tradtable. When we 

 come to examine woven nests, such as the 

 Baltimore oriole and the red-eyed vireo, as 

 well as some other small birds, build, there is 

 offered a great deal more to study, for how 

 they accomplish what they do, with their 

 only tools their feet and beak, is not wholly 

 known. That the tropical tailor-bird should 

 run a thread through a leaf and so bring the 

 edges together and make a conical-shaped bag, 

 is not so very strange. It is little more than 

 the piercing of the leaf and then putting the 

 thread through the hole. This is ingenious 



