MOORLAND IDYLLS. 



remoter ancestry of the other to the tits and 

 sparrows. 



How does their manner of life affect their 

 mode of nesting, however ? Indirectly, in 

 this way. Birds that live largely off seeds 

 and fruits and hard-shelled beetles, have 

 hard short beaks to grind their food with, 

 and sit much in thickets, scrub, or hedge- 

 rows. But birds that hawk on the wing 

 after small soft flies must have wide soft 

 bills, and a gaping mouth ; they can hardly 

 perch at all on trees or bushes, and their 

 feet are too weak to be of much use for 

 walking. Indeed, if a swift once alights 

 on the ground, he can scarcely get up again, 

 so difficult is it for the long wings to work 

 in a narrow space, and so slight a power of 

 jumping have the feeble little legs. Hence 

 it follows that birds of the hedgerow type 

 can readily build nests of twigs and straws, 

 which they gather as they perch, or seek on 

 the ground ; and they are enabled to weave 

 them with their hard bills and active feet ; 

 172 



