196 



THE OOLOGIST. 



a hereditary habit in its style; while the 

 egg is an aiitouiatic production, vary- 

 ing, if at all, only as the whc^le organiz- 

 ation of the bird undergoes change. 

 Don't neglect the nests then I In them 

 more than anywhere else lies the key to 

 the mind and thoughts of a bird, the 

 spirit which inhabits that beautiful 

 frame and bubbles out of that golden 

 mouth. And is it not this inner life, 

 this human significance in bird nature, 

 this soul of ornithology', that we are 

 aiming to discover." 



After describing, in his charming 

 way some of the beautiful masterpieces 



of bird architecture, he concludes his 

 plea with the following remarks: 



"We want to know by what sort of 

 skill the many nests are woven together 

 that we find it so hard even to distan- 

 gle; we want to know how long they 

 are in being built; whether there is any 

 particular choice in respect to location, 

 whether it be a rule, as is supposed, 

 that tlie female bird is the architect, to 

 the exclusion of her mate's efforts fur- 

 ther than his supplying a part of the 

 materials. Many such points remain 

 to be cleaned up. Then there is the 

 question of variation, and its extent in 



NEST AND EGGS OF RED-HE At) DUCK. 



the architect of the same species in dif- 

 ferent quarters of a rangino- area. 

 How far is this carried, and how many 

 varieties can be recorded from a single 

 district, where the same list of nviter- 

 ials is open to all the birds equally?" 



In the nests of birds there is evident- 

 ly a great difference manifested in 

 those placed in various situations and 

 constructed under apparently diverse 

 conditions, in fact a great variation in 

 noticeable in a single district where the 

 same materials and the same induce- 



ments "ai-e open to all tlie birds equal- 

 l3%" but when you come to compare 

 with those found in remote localities, 

 (which is comparatively an easy mat- 

 ter with the aid of a series of pictures) 

 you Avill find the difference so great in 

 some cases that you would hardly rec- 

 ognize the nest as being of the same 

 species. 



Undoubtedly young birds are less 

 jiulicous than older ones which are bet- 

 ter qualified, and more experienced, 

 and enabled to foresee some of the per- 



