How Animals Work. 



construction it is an example o a nest which may be 

 said to occupy an intermediate position between nests 

 like that of the Long-tailed Tit, which is interwoven 

 between the supporting branches, and the true sus- 

 pended nests shortly to be described. It is generally 

 slung above the surface of a quiet pool, in the middle 

 of a reed-bed. The material used by the Reed Warbler 

 in the construction of the nest consists of long grass, 

 the seed-heads of reeds, and a little cottony wool and 

 moss. The grass stems, which generally form the 

 foundation, are wound horizontally round about the 

 stems of three or four tall reeds, so that they actually 

 pass right through and form parts of the sides of the 

 nest, which, as the work of weaving proceeds, assumes 

 a somewhat conical shape, and is about five or six inches 

 in depth when completed. Into the interstices is 

 worked the cottony material from the catkins of the 

 willows and poplars, while the cavity within, which is 

 some three inches in* depth, is lined with the finest 

 grasses and some hairs. So firmly yet elastically is 

 this nest bound to the supporting reeds, and so great 

 is its depth, that, no matter how the reeds may sway 

 and bend in the wind, the eggs will not roll out, and 

 the little sitting mother bird rests safely brooding them 

 within the rocking cradle. 



For the most striking examples of pensile or hanging 

 nests we shall have to seek the work of birds inhabiting 

 other lands, but among our British birds we have at 

 least one good example in the nest of the Goldcrest, 

 or, to give it its full title, the Golden-crested Wren, 

 the smallest of our native birds. The wee bird selects 

 for its building materials the softest moss and wool it 



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