154 BIRDS' NESTS 



structure — placed amongst grain or grass or on the 

 rocky banks of rivers — a mere hollow trodden in the 

 ground and scantily lined with bits of vegetation ; but 

 there may be a more elaborate type constructed if the 

 nature of the ground demands such. Cranes, in some 

 cases at least, return to the old nest each season, 

 adding to and renovating it as required. The 

 more aberrant Limpkins (Aramidae) and Trumpeters 

 (Psophiid^) build open nests upon the ground. 



The nests of the somewhat nearly allied Rails and 

 Finfoots (Ralliformes) come next for consideration. 

 Some of these birds are said to breed in burrows, 

 and hence fall naturally in a previous chapter; 

 others make spherical nests and must be reserved 

 for a future one ; but the majority of species in- 

 cubate their eggs in open structures and therefore 

 come into the present division. There is a remark- 

 able similarity between the nests of the various 

 groups — such as Rails, Crakes, Moorhens, Gallinules, 

 Coots, and so forth — into which the order may be 

 naturally sub-divided, due unquestionably to the same- 

 ness of the conditions of reproduction and the haunts 

 affected. There are, however, many indications of 

 great intelligence in the architectural efforts of these 

 birds — their skill in sub-aquatic building, in the con- 

 struction of floating nests, and their wonderful 

 adaptiveness in seeking to evade the perils surround- 

 ing such a method of reproduction being of great 

 interest, not only to the professed caliologist but to 



