258 Bird-Lore 



the Woodpeckers, while a large number of the Birds of Prey put together a clumsy nest 

 of sticks in the upper branches of tall trees. We may say that the holes selected by cer- 

 tain of these species are more like retreats than nests, being especially preferred by 

 Owls, whose nocturnal feeding-habit causes them to shrink from the light of day. Cer- 

 tain Birds of Prey select hollow stumps or logs, depressions beneath rocks, bushes or 

 palmettos, secluded places in bushes among reeds or tall grasses, or in marshes, small 

 trees or chaparral growth; others choose rocky ledges and inaccessible cliffs for a nest- 

 ing-site; and still others nest in the cabbage palmetto, tops of dense bushes, in towers 

 or steeples, holes in banks, or even in old Hawks', Crows', or Squirrels' nests. Often a 

 deserted Woodpecker's hole is used, when the less skilful raptorial bird profits by the 

 workmanship of the bird carpenter of the woods. 



XIII. The nesting-habits of our few Parrots and Paroquets are still largely 

 unknown, although they are thought to prefer hollow cypress or sycamore trees as 

 sites for their nests. 



XIV. Strangely diverse in all of their habits, the Cuckoos and Kingfishers show 

 little if any resemblance in either nesting-sites or materials. The former build plat- 

 forms of sticks, lined with a few grasses or catkins, on low trees or bushes, often vine- 

 covered bushes, while the latter excavate deep holes in banks, strewing them with fish- 

 bones as the young are fed. 



XV. The symmetrical holes of the Woodpeckers are found in orchard trees, living 

 pine trees, in dead trees, in cypresses over 40 feet above the ground, or in other trees 

 from 15 to 80 feet up. One cannot but admire the precision and rapidity with which 

 Woodpeckers work, and the snug cradles which they fashion. 



XVI. Again, in the Macrochires, or Nighthawks, Whip-poor-wills, Swifts and 

 Hummingbirds, there is very great diversity in the nesting-habit. The first two are con- 

 tent with a hollow on the ground or on leaves in thickets or woods, or even with a slight 

 depression on a flat rooftop or rock in the open field. 



The Swifts build remarkable baskets of dead twigs, glued neatly together and 

 fastened against the walls of . a chimney or, in times past, in hollow trees; while the 

 Hummingbirds fashion an exquisite lichen-covered cup of the true statant type, placed 

 on the limb of a tree. Plant-down and plant-fibers are used in these dainty cradles, 

 which shelter the tiniest bird-babies we have. 



XVII. It would take some space to catalogue all of the nesting-sites and materials 

 selected by the Passeres, our largest Order of birds. We find these perching birds mak- 

 ing their nests not only on the ground, in bushes and on trees, but also in crevices of 

 rock, on rafters and beams, in holes, in banks or trees, behind the loose bark of trees, 

 in reeds, beneath cliffs or eaves, at the base of stumps, in mossy banks under roots, in 

 cane-brake, gourds and bird-houses, in weeds and beneath scrub palmetto, in or 

 about logs, salt marshes — in short, in almost every place on land that other orders 

 frequent. 



As to nesting-materials, the Perching Birds use a great variety in a highly skilful 

 manner to make their shapely cradles, certain species preferring certain materials if it is 

 possible to obtain them. Green mosses, coarse twigs, weed-stalks, pine needles, coarse 

 and fine grasses, moss, mud, hempen fibers, leaves, straw, vegetable fibers, blossoms, 

 coarse down, fine strips of bark, birch-bark and grape-vine, pieces of string, paper or 

 cloth, reed-stalks, sticks, seaweed, decaying vegetation, etc., enter imo the construction 

 of the outer part of different nests. For lining their nests, these birds procure horsehair, 

 wool, thistledown, felted fur, feathers, soft moss, rootlets, plant-down, cotton, the soft 

 inner bark of trees, sometimes tucking in a cast-off snake's skin and weaving all with 

 great nicety,*using the webs of spiders, long hairs, blossom stems, vine tendrils and 

 fine grasses, in the process of construction. 



Thus, from the merest suggestion of a nest, a hollow in the ground, to the intricate 



