150 ARTISTS AND AETISANS IN THE FEATHERED WORLD. 



task ? Many of these must, of course, be answered indi- 

 vidually, yet a few general remarks may not be out of 

 place. 



As a usual thing, the female is the builder ; the male 

 looks for the material and brings it. This is the rule, but 

 it has many exceptions, as with the weaver-birds, where 

 the male alone does the building, while the female con- 

 descends at the mosft to look after the furnishing of the 

 interior. Still others take part equally in the construc- 

 tion, as is the case with the swallows. But even when 

 the female alone is busy with this work, the male tries to 

 make himself useful or to furnish pleasure in different 

 ways, by singing or talking to the diligent wife, or by 

 entertaining her by his skill in flying in long, elegant 

 curves and performing all kinds of tricks. On the other 

 hand it may happen that the husband will resort to force, 

 to cries of indignation and anger and to blows with his 

 bill in order to bring back the faithless or lazy wife to 

 duty and diligence. 



There is no doubt that the construction of the nest re- 

 quires a very large amount of diligence, devotion and 

 self-sacrifice. It is in most cases pushed with the utmost 

 speed and carried through in a very short time. Often 

 the work is abandoned and begun over again, as the birds 

 may have discovered a more favorable site for the nest 

 or a better way of building it. 



The material is brought in their bills and claws, often 

 even on their back ; cut, twisted, made pliable, plucked 

 to pieces ; j)ressed, wound around the twigs of the plant 

 where the nest is going to be. Careless birds simply 

 throw the materials down on the place where they want 

 to build the nest, others, more careful, carry them with 

 their beaks and put them where they will do most 

 good. Then they grasp these with their feet, divide 

 and spread them skillfully and press them on. The 

 lower part of the nest is shaped by the breast of the 



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