CHAPTER XIX 



NEST-BUILDERS 



QUADRUPEDS are not, generally speaking, proficient nest- 

 builders. Perhaps we unconsciously compare their efforts 

 with those of the birds, who, as architects, are beyond 

 compare. Frequently the four-footed nest-builders are 

 more interesting in the methods they employ for building 

 their nests than in the results they obtain. A builder of 

 this type is the pencilled bettong or brush-tailed rat 

 kangaroo, a native of Australia. About the size of a 

 hare, with a tail nearly a foot in length and tufted at the 

 end, this pretty brown kangaroo rat is an ingenious 

 architect. 



Let us not run away with the idea that quadrupeds or 

 birds, when about to build, select a site at haphazard. 

 We have mentioned the diligent search of the reed- 

 warbler in its attempts to find a suitable clump of reeds 

 for the foundation of its nest, also we noted the anxiety of 

 the golden oriole that all should be well. Probably all 

 builders, furred and feathered, give more thought to the 

 matter than we might surmise ; certainly the brush-tailed 

 rat kangaroo hunts high and low to find a hollow in the 

 ground near a high tuft of vegetation, for this is the kind 

 of spot it loves so well. A suitable depression having 

 been found, the little animal proceeds to roof it over with 

 grass and leaves, which it is often compelled to carry from 

 a distance. Having wandered from her home to collect 

 nest-building material, the little animal gathers together 

 what she requires, rolls it into a bundle with her tail and, 

 wrapping it tightly round her burden, hops away with it 

 to her nesting site. 



Now this crude nest may be used for a dual purpose, as 



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