CHAPTER X 



NESTS IN TREES 



THERE is far greater variety amongst the nests built in 

 trees than amongst those built on or under the ground. 

 There are great differences of position, in material and, 

 most important from our point of view, in craftsmanship. 

 In size, too, nests vary remarkably, from the nest of the 

 tiny humming-bird, no larger than a thimble, to the six- 

 foot-diameter nest of the hammer-head. In point of size 

 the nests of the humming-birds are the smallest of all by 

 far. Usually they are composed of vegetable down and 

 the finest of fibres, and they are ornamented on the outside 

 with lichen, to render them as inconspicuous as possible. 



The situation in which these nests are placed are as 

 varied as their shapes. A favourite position is the extreme 

 tip of some leaf. Whatever the situation, however, one 

 substance appears to be used by all humming-birds to 

 attach their nests to their supports, and the substance is 

 the web of a spider. Spiders' sheet webs are mingled 

 with moss and other vegetation to form a compact, close- 

 knit felt for the body of the nest, and spiders' orb webs 

 are used to bind the nests to leaves, branches, the faces of 

 rocks, etc., as the case may be. 



One species of these little birds evidently takes a 

 delight in its architectural work ; perhaps they all do so, 

 but they are not given to building more than they can 

 help, as a rule. Well, the humming-bird we were about 

 to mention lays eggs about the size of an ordinary boot- 

 button, yet it builds a nest nearly the size of a football, 

 with a tiny cavity at the top for the eggs. These large 

 though frail nests, suspended from the stem of some 

 climbing plant, are sometimes found to be ill balanced 



123 



