342 NOKTII AMKUICAN IflRDS. 



tiiiiilly Lei'ii waniily liiiod witli soft dry ji;rii.sse.s ami tin; loiitliurs iukI down 

 of ducks and ^'I'u.st'. Tliis tiustlul ]iair seoiiiiMl to know no Icar. Tlio 

 narrator often stood on a loi,' to watdi tlicni, witli liis face ko near that 

 tliL'ir foatliurs fri'ijiicntly lini.slicd against it as tlicy toikul at tlaur work. 

 Soon the nest was completed. Five ej^'j^s were laid, wiucli were never left 

 oneo uncovered until they were hateheil, the female sitting the j,'reater i)art 

 of the time. They were fed witli great assiduity by the ])arents, and grew 

 ra]>idly. In leaving tlie nest, two of tlie young hirds fell to the ground, hut 

 were jiicked u\) by the hlacksnuth, and jdaced with tiie others on tlieir 

 roosting-i)lace. A few ilay.s' training taught them the use of their wings, 

 and they soon after took their de]>arture. 



Professor Keinliardt records its occurrence in (Jreenland, at Fiskemussct 

 and at Xenontalik. 



The natural l>reeding-]>laees of ihese lards, before the settlement of the 

 country, were eaves, overhanging rocky elill's, and similar localities. Swal- 

 low Cave, at Xahant, was once a favorite place of resort, and in the unsettled 

 portions of llu^ country they are only I'ound in such situations. As the 

 country is settled they I'orsake these places i'or the buildings of the farm, 

 and tlieir nninliers rajiidly increase. In the fur countries and in all the 

 Pacific coast, they still breed in and inhabit caves, chiefly among limestone 

 rocks. 



Wlien^ the op])ortunity oflers, they ]>refer to iilace their nests on the hori- 

 zontal rafttds of barns. P)uilt in this situation, flie nests have an average 

 height and a breadtli of aiuiut fi\e inches. The cavity is fwo inches deep 

 ami three! inches wide, at the rim. TIk; nests arc. constructed of distinct 

 layers of mud, from ten to twelve in number, and each .sejiarated by strata 

 of fine dry grasses, 'i'liese layers are each made up of small jiellets of mud, 

 that have been worked over by the birils and jilaced one by one in ju.xtaposi- 

 tiiai until eacli layer is complete. The.se mud walls are an inch in thickness. 

 When (hey are com]ileted, they are warmly .stuffed with fine soft grasses 

 and lined with downy featliers. \\'lien iaiilt against the side of a Ikjusc, a 

 strong foundation of mud is tii'.st constructed, up(ai which the nest is erected. 

 In this case the nest is much more elongate in shape and more strongly 

 made. 



A striking peculiarity of tlie.st! nests is freciuently an extra jdatform, built 

 against, but distinct from tlie nest itself, designed as a roosting-place for 

 the parents, used liy one during incubation at night or wiien not engaged in 

 procuring food, and by liofli \\lieM th(i young aiv; large enougli to occupy the 

 wliolc nest. One of thi'se I found to be a separiile structiin; from tlu; iiest, 

 but of similar materials, tliree inches in length and one and a half in breadth. 

 This nest had been for several years occupied by the same pair, tiiough ntaie 

 of their ofl'spring ever returned to the same roof to breed in tlieir turn. Yet 

 in some instances a.-< many as fifty i)airs have been known to occujiy the 

 rafters of the same barn. 



