Nest-Builders 



paper nest to be built and the young to be born all in 

 the space of thirty-six hours ! 



The man-like apes are all crude nest-builders, but in no 

 case can they be considered as permanent structures ; in 

 fact, when the food supply of the district is running short 

 a move is usually made to another district and a new nest 

 is built. The chimpanzee builds his nest of branches, 

 which he bends and breaks to suit his purpose and inter- 

 twines them so that they form a fairly substantial platform, 

 usually about twenty-five feet from the ground. Report has 

 it that the male does not share the nest with his mate, but 

 that he rests on a branch below, where, at anyrate, he 

 finds shelter from the tropical rains. 



Another kind of chimpanzee builds a more elaborate 

 nest, if it can be called a nest, by tying twigs and branches 

 to the trunk of a tree by means of the stems of creepers. 

 This structure merely forms a shelter from the inclement 

 weather and the apes themselves rest on a branch beneath 

 their building. Males and females have separate shelters, 

 and in neither case will they build in a tree which has 

 any branches near the ground, their choice of tree being 

 prompted no doubt by the probability or otherwise of 

 some enemy ascending. Immediately the shelter fails to 

 keep out the rain another is built. 



The orang-outang is no better nest-builder than his 

 cousins. He simply makes a platform of small branches, 

 laid side by side, after having been bent double in the middle. 

 To make his nest more comfortable he gathers leaves to 

 upholster his couch. Not so very long ago the orang- 

 outang in the London Zoo escaped from his cage. He 

 promptly took up his abode in the nearest tree and all 

 attempts to dislodge him failed. While enjoying his 

 temporary freedom he was by no means idle, for he 

 tore the branches from the tree and, bending them 

 in characteristic manner, built for himself a nest on 

 which he took his ease and from which he surveyed 

 the world at large, till hunger forced him to come to 



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