io8 



Wild Birds. 



solitude on or near the ground to remove every particle of litter which would whiten 

 the grass or foliage and thus advertise the nest to their enemies, even to those who 

 prowl at night. 



When a Red-eyed Vireo whose actions I was watching at close range dropped one 

 of the sacs by accident, she would dart after it and snap it up before it reached the 

 ground not four feet from the nest. I have also witnessed the same performance in the 



Kingbirds. Not a trace of defilement 

 is ever seen about the dwellings of 

 any bird possessed of the cleaning 

 instinct. 



On the other hand predaceous 

 birds like Eagles and Hawks pay no 

 attention to such matters. The ex- 

 creta of the young as of the adult is 

 voided in a semi-fluid state and in 

 a peculiar manner. With tail up- 

 turned over the edge of the nest it 

 is shot to a distance of several feet, 

 and may strike the ground two or 

 more yards from the nesting tree. 

 In this way the eyry at least is kept 

 clean. These bold and persistent 

 robbers have few enemies to reckon 

 with, and their nests may be as open 

 to view as a castle on a hill. 



Owls, which breed in holes in 

 trees, are reported to have filthy 

 nests, especially when the cavity has 

 been occupied for several successive 

 years, but this seems to be due mainly 

 to the remains of their quarry or to 

 the accumulation of the rejected 

 food-pellets. The haunts of certain 

 sea fowl are often reeking with filth 



Fig. 104. Baltimore Oriole hurriedly feeding her young before during the breeding SCaSOtt, and the 

 all fear has been subdued and behavior is free. 



guano-beds of the South American 



coast mark the breeding grounds of myriads of sea fowl. However, the birds themselves 

 both old and young seem to manage to keep clean, and any other condition would soon 

 become intolerable. 



The Turkey Buzzard seems to have touched the lowest depths of squalor to which 

 any bird can descend and live. In speaking of their abodes, Audubon says that before 

 the final departure of the young, a person, if forced to remain in their vicinity for half an 

 hour, would be in danger of suffocation. 1 



The cleaning of the young and nest is instinctive in a very large number of birds, 



1 Ornithological Biography, vol. ii., p. 43. 



