264 



Life and Immortality. 



NEST OF THE ROBIN. 

 Built Upon a Railroad Cutting. 



But the most curious nest I have ever met with was built 

 upon a railroad cutting, where the ground had a slope of more 

 than forty-five degrees. Such a position for a dwelling of 

 the kind the Robin is known to build, to one not conversant 

 with the facts, must appear incredible. But that it was ac- 

 complished, the nest itself was the monument of the build- 

 ers' thoughtful skill and labor. A semicircular wall of mud, 

 eight inches in diameter and five inches in height, constituted 

 the groundwork, and within the cavity thus formed was 

 reared a coarse, substantial, bulky fabric, that was entirely 

 composed of the stems of grasses, leaves and roots, loaded 

 down and held in place by pellets of mud. 



A more remarkable position, and one that seemed as diffi- 

 cult to manage, I shall now relate. Few birds care so little 

 for position as the common House Wren. Almost any place 



