90 



Bird- Lore 



decoration," if it have any significance, is assuredly not designed to make 

 the nest conspicuous through display, but inconspicuous by bringing it 

 into harmony with its surroundings. Nests of the Wood Pewee, Blue- 

 gray Gnatcatcher and Hummingbirds are examples of this class. The 

 Verdin makes its soft, upholstered nests impenetrable by so thickly cover- 

 ing it with spines and thorns that it can be handled with difficulty. 



A too liberal interpretation of habit, in the case of the Crested Fly- 

 catcher, credits this bird with intentionally introducing a cast snakeskin 

 into its nest, to serve as a scarecrow, frightening would-be intruders. 

 The explanation is important, if true, but there is no evidence to support 

 it. A cast, bleached, everted snakeskin is soft and pliable, and makes 

 good nesting material. As a matter of fact, it bears small resemblance 

 to a snake, and there is no reason to believe it protects a nest a bit 

 more effectively than fragments of wasps' nests or a lining of hairs. It is 

 the habit of the members of the genus Myiarchus, so far as they are 

 known, to use snakeskins in nest -building, just as it is the habit of 

 certain Vireos to employ wasps' nests, but how the habit originated will, 

 doubtless, never be known. So far, however, as the Flycatchers and 

 Vireos of to-day are concerned, the fact that snakes' skins and wasps' 

 nests can be used to advantage in nest-building is, doubtless, sufficient 

 cause for the selection of these objects. 



The nest may be built by both sexes; by the female alone, or by the 



female with a limited amount of assistance from her mate, 

 Buildins of . . . , , . . , , , . 



-^ who may be permitted to brmg material but not to place it 



the i\ est 



in position. A nest may be completed within a few days 



and occupied at once, or even before it is finished. Again, weeks and 

 in some few cases, for example, the Oven-birds {Furnarius) of South 

 America, the nest is begun two or three months before it is to be 

 occupied. 



Even when finished a nest may not please its maker, who will then 

 demolish it and use the material in the construction of another home. 

 In other species, a nest may be completed and abandoned; while some 

 species. Long-billed Marsh Wrens, for instance, build a number of nests 

 and use but one. 



The care required to observe closely nest -building birds without 

 causing them to abandon operations, as well as the locality, doubtless 

 accounts for the comparatively limited amount of correct information on 

 this subject, and creates a correspondingly wide field for investigation. 



The character of birds' nests, from the architectural point of view, 



„, ^ may differ greatly even when the material of which they 



Lharacter of ' , ■ , -m r i i • i 



, ,_ are composed is the same. i he structure of the bird, or 



the JN ests 



in other words, the tools with which it is provided, does not 



often govern the type of home which it will build. A Swallow, it is true, 



