9 8 



STARLIGHT AND SUNSHINE. 



abandoned nest of the 

 solitary vireo, distin- 

 guished mainly from 

 the others by the 



hairy lining and the employment of moss 

 and lichen within the interior; one nest 

 being plentifully lined with sheep wool from 

 a neighboring pasture. The snow-bunting would be at a loss in 

 its boreal nest without the fur of the arctic fox. Various of these 

 cradle-building ingredients readily recommend their utility in the 

 qualities of strength, pliability, warmth, etc., while others again 

 are only to be accounted for on the hypothesis of the passing 

 whim or humor of the builder. Twigs, strips of tough bark, 

 string, wiry roots, grass, spider silk, cocoons, vegetable strands 

 of one kind and another, all appeal to our sense of the fitness of 

 things, but what special advantage is indicated in the following 

 instances of caprice ? Here is the worm-eating warbler, for in- 

 stance, whose nest is seldom free from dried hickory and chestnut 



