^l)t xCubulJou J>ofieticsi 



SCHOOL DEPARTMENT 



Kititrd by A. A. ALLEN, PhD. 

 .\ddress all coiui\iunio!Uions relative to tlie work of tliis 

 department tot lie Plditor, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y 



THE HOME-LIFE OF BIRDS 



NEST-BUILDINi; AND 1<X5G-LAYJNG 



Al uo time oi" the year mo birtls nu>ie inloroslinu, than timing the nesting 

 period. The thn>ngs til" migrating birds bring out their htists t>t" admirers 

 during April and Ma\-; the morning and miMu'ng ehoitises of eimrting birds 

 (h"a\v a response trom others (hiring May anil June; bvit the nesting biids are 

 the nu>st taseinating to the tiuiet i^bserver. 1'he hunting for the nests and the 

 watrhing of iht- dail\- lifi- about llu> birds' hounds hold thrills that are iu^\er 

 known b\ thosi- who ptit away their glasses when the migration is over. In 

 the last mimber of Uikiv-Lokk wo diseussed the courtship of birds; this lime 

 let us begin with tlu> mated birds and \\\c building of the nest. 



In the beginning it might be mentioned that most birds are numogamous, 

 that is, iliev ha\e the same males thri>ughout the peritnl o{ the tlependeney 

 ol {\\c \ou\\'.\. ^^'ith birds the iMitire eyele from bii ih lo malurit\- oeiurs within 

 a eomixiratively few weeks. The home is built, the eggs are laiil. tiie yt)ung 

 are earetl for until they become entirely self-supporting, with manv birds, 

 all within tlu' pcM ii>d oi a month or six weeks. With tlu" human simhIcs this 

 cycle of exents retiuires anywhere from twenty-one to forty years tlepentling 

 upon the number oi chiUlren. It is fair, then to sav that birtls are nuMiogamous. 

 even though they ma\' change mates from \ (\u lo \ear. or even between 

 broiids, as is sometimes the case, so long as they tio nol maintain two mates 

 at the same lime. Some birds, particularly those that dt^ not migrate, probabh- 

 retain the sanu> mates yt\\r after \ear and, e\iai among migratory birds, the 

 same two biriis may resort to the same nesting-spitt year after year and remate. 

 \\'e have very little detinite inl"ormation upon this subject, however, and it 

 is one of the problems which "bird b;uiding' should lluow much light upi>n. 

 In this, as in most aspects o\ the homedife oi birds, there is as much indix idual 

 ditTereiH~e as tliere is with the human sjiecies. which makes it difhcult lo general- 

 i/.e upon but most fascinating ti^ observe. Intleed the similaritx- of their lives 

 and actions and resptMvses tt^ our own is so striking thai il has let! soiue nature 

 writers to endow theiu with at\ intelligence anti power of thought that is not 

 justified by the tacts. Some biinls arc K-markabb faithful to om^ another 

 while others ha\e nmch greater attachment for the nesting-site than they 

 ha\ e for their irates. If one of a pair of Tana^la Ticcsc is killetl or jiermanentlv 



