58 Bird -Lore 



or less inaccessible locations, in trees or on cliffs, or by frequenting some 

 isolated island not inhabited by predatory animals. 



Habit frequently influences the character of the situation in which the 

 nest is placed. Thus it is customary for arboreal birds to nest in trees, and 

 for terrestrial ones to nest on the ground. There are, how- 

 " ever, exceptions to this rule. For example. Herons, Spoon- 



bills and Ibises are terrestrial, in feeding habits at least, but 

 their nests are usually placed in bushes or trees. Here the helpless con- 

 dition of the young at birth requires a well -formed nest built in a more 

 or less inaccessible situation. Again, the Nighthawk is, in feeding habit, 

 a bird of the air, but the eggs are laid on the ground, the preecocial 

 young apparently not requiring the shelter of a nest. With the Ducks 

 that nest in holes in trees, sometimes forty feet or more from the ground, 

 the reason for departure from the type of site chosen by the larger number 

 of their family is less evident. 



It is to be expected that the character of a bird's haunts should be 

 reflected in its nesting site; and, as a result, we have some most interest- 

 ing variations in site among birds of the same family but of 

 different haunts. Hawks, for example, are usually wood- 

 inhabiting, and the ideal Hawk's-nest is placed in a tree; but 

 the Marsh Hawk builds its nest on the ground, in its marshy haunts. So 

 the Burrowing Owl, of the prairies, nests in holes in the ground; while 

 the wood-haunting members of its family usually select holes in trees. 

 Consequently it follows that, when there is marked variation in the char- 



^. . . acter of a bird's haunts, there is apt to be a correspond- 



Variation . • • • u r • • • -nu r> j 



mg variation in the nature of its nesting site. 1 he Ked- 

 in Haunt • j t»i i u • j r • • i i i • 



„. winged rJlackbirds living in reedy marshes weave their nests 



to the reed-stems, while those birds of the adjoining alder 



swamps place their nests in alder bushes. Mourning Doves nest in trees 



in the east, on the ground in the treeless parts of the west. To one 



who has been accustomed to see Night Herons' nests in swamp maples, 



sometimes seventy feet from the ground, it is not a little surprising to find 



the same species building a nest at water-level among the reeds, as it does 



on the great 'quill-reed' marshes of the west. 



While many species show little or no variation in the character of 



,. . . their nesting sites, others place their nests in many and 



variations • , i i-rr • • i i i- • 



„. widely dirterent situations even under the same conditions. 



Robins, for example, aside from nesting in trees at varying 



heights, place their nests on window-sills, in arbors, summer-houses, 



or barns, on fence-rails, etc. ; and in cases of this kind it is of importance 



to learn whether those birds which depart from the prevailing type succeed 



in rearing their young. 



On Gardiner's Island, L. I., where there are no predatory animals, 



