148 AETISTS AND ARtlSANS IN THE FEATHERED WOELD. 



to exert all ingenuity in conveying them safely from 

 their loftly cradle to the ground or to the water. 



Other birds are rather particular in selecting sites for 

 their nests and show admirable skill in hiding them so 

 ingeniously that, even when they are watched to their 

 homes, the discovery of the nest is a matter of great 

 difficulty, and should it be discovered, the work of get- 

 ting near it or obtaining it is very severe. The wheat- 

 ear's (Saxicola oenanthe) nest is so deeply buried in the 

 rocky crevices of the cliff-bound sea-coast that the only 

 mode of obtaining the eggs is to hook out the nest by 

 means of a bent wire at the end of a long stick. 



No wonder that we find statements, of course originat- 

 ing in superstition, that the nests of some birds are 

 actually invisible. There is no trouble in being con- 

 vinced of such a belief, as even experienced hunters often- 

 times find themselves at a loss to locate the abode of a 

 bird, for instance that of the green-finch (Ligurinus 

 chloris), even after they have watched its flight to the 

 same spot for some time and are sure that its nest must 

 be in the immediate neighborhood. 



Next, I should like to say a few words about the ma- 

 terial for such building purposes. Here, too, many 

 rather interesting and curious things can be recorded. 

 Each bird uses, as a rule, always the same things for his 

 nest ; many, however, accustom themselves easily to al- 

 tered circumstances and are sometimes capricious with- 

 out reason. Mud and dirt picked up from the streets 

 and high roads is employed by swallows ; lichens, moss, 

 dry grass, straw, twigs, branches, sticks, etc., all are 

 welcome for this one purpose, to construct a shelter for 

 the family and the young. Not seldom do birds adapt 

 themselves to modern views and use material which" their 

 forefathers could not possibly have known, for instance 

 products of human industries. 



A writer in Marri's Horn tells of a clockmaker who 



86 



