92 The Building of the Nest 



secure cable that gives strength to the fin- 

 ished nest. In examining nests, I have seen 

 such knots as might have been tied by the 

 birds, but there was no way to prove it. 

 That they do wrap a string several times 

 about a twig and then tie it, just as a boy ties 

 his fishing-line to a pole, is certain. With 

 my field-glass I have followed the bird far 

 enough to be sure of this. When at work, 

 the bird, from necessity, is in a reversed po- 

 sition, that is, tail up and head down. This 

 has an obvious advantage, in that the builder 

 can see what is going on beneath him, and 

 shows, too, how near the ground the nest will 

 come when finished ; but it sometimes hap- 

 pens that he gets so absorbed in his work 

 that a person can approach quite near, but I 

 never knew him to become entangled in the 

 loose ends that hang about him. 



The oriole at times offers us a wonder- 

 ful example of ingenuity. It occasionally 

 happens that too slight a twig is selefted, 

 and when the nest is finished, or, later, when 

 the young are nearly grown, the structure 

 hangs down too low for safety or sways too 

 violently when the parent birds alight on it. 

 This is a difficulty the bird has to contend with, 



