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THE OOLOGIST. 



Devoted to Birds and Birds' Eggs 



THIRD PUBLICATION YEAR. 



S. L. WILLARD, EDITOR, 



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APRIL, 1877. 



THREE PAPERS ON THE BREED- 

 ING HABITS OF BIRDS. 



I. NWIFIGATION. 



NOT less interesting than the study of 

 oology, is the study of the nests of 

 birds aud of the buildei's themselves during 

 the time of nidulatiou. Let one take up 

 the subject of nest-building, inquire into the 

 multifarious designs, positions, and mater- 

 ials of the nests he finds, and make the 

 architects themselves a prominent portion 

 of his study, noting the circumstances and 



stages of building, and he will be surprised 

 at the amount of interest furnished by a sub- 

 ject so much slighted by oologists. 



All birds build nests, but some do not 

 construct such elaborate and iugenius ones 

 as others. It is often said of a bird that it 

 makes no nest, but this term is more figura- 

 tive than literal, for, as we understand it, 

 a nest is not only a receptacle and shelter 

 for the eggs and young, but is an established 

 home during the entire breeding season, and 

 resorted to during a greater part of the year 

 by the parent birds of many species, as a 

 means of protection from the weather. 

 Some birds, therefore, choose places and 

 situations for their nests that are already 

 adapted for occupation ; ethers do not ap- 

 pear to desire any construction Avhatever, 

 and still others make beautiful structures. 

 But those which call our attention most are 

 the odd and fantastic nests we meet with 

 in some species. Birds of temperate cli- 

 mates are not in the habit of building as 

 singular and odd nests as those of tropical 

 climates, nor do they, perhaps, expend as 

 much labor upon them, and the farther north 

 one proceeds the plainer the nests of all spe- 

 cies. This is noticeable to a great extent 

 at the extreme northern breeding limits. 



Birds nidificate in trees, bushes, on high 

 rocks and on the ground. Birds of prey 

 generally build in high trees ; some howev- 

 er, as the Marsh Hawk, Turkey Buzzard, 

 etc., nest on the ground, others on precip- 

 itous rocks. Swimmers and runners build 

 mostly on or near the ground ; waders in 

 trees mainly. Some small birds nest on 

 trees, bushes, or the ground ; others in nat- 

 ural or artificial cavities or on the sides of 

 buildings. Concealment of the nest is the 

 great object with the majority of small 

 birds, but, although Dr. Jasper says, that 

 when nests are built in open places they are 

 constructed so as not to be observed, this 

 cannot be applied to all nests built in expos- 

 ed places, as the passage would infer, for 

 many small birds, such as the Woodpeck- 

 ers, Swallows, Blackbirds, Cuckoos, etc., 

 certainly do not conceal their nests, allow- 

 ing however, that such is their intention. 



