

OUR FEATHERED ENGINEERS. 83 



weighed upwards of half a hundredweight, massive 

 and strong, the accumulation of years. Slighter 

 made,- yet equally interesting, are the wicker-work 

 platforms of sticks made by the Pigeons. Though 

 frail in appearance, they are remarkably strong 

 and well put together, and the cake of excrements 

 that accumulates under the nestlings increases the 

 durability of these nests. 



8. Scaffold-Builders. The birds in this divi- 

 sion really combine with the basket-makers in 

 engineering skill, forming a nest very similar to 

 the other Warblers, but placing it on reeds. The 

 Reed Warbler is the best known of this group. 

 It selects three or four convenient reeds, and 

 using them like scaffold-poles entwines its nest, 

 basket-like, round and round them. This nest is 

 composed of dry grass, broad leaves of the reeds, 

 and rootlets the latter material also forming the 

 lining. 



9. Raft -Makers. In our next division we 

 will briefly glance at those birds which make a 

 floating nest literally a raft on which to hatch 

 their young. The best-known species in the 

 present group is most probably the Moorhen. 

 This bird frequents most ponds and reedy pools 

 where the vegetation round them is sufficiently 

 dense to afford the necessary cover. The Moor- 

 hen sometimes makes its nest on dry land, even 

 on a flat branch of a tree ; but it usually builds 

 among the rushes, iris, and mares'-tails, some 

 distance from the shore. Here a large heap of 



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