Birds' Nests and Eggs 



note the different methods employed. The whippoorwill builds 

 no nest, but lays its eggs in a slight depression among the dead 

 leaves. When the parent bird is sitting, her colour, which matches 

 the .leaves and dead wood, saves her from observation. The eggs 

 themselves are much like either stones or the under sides of leaves, 

 so they are difficult to find even when exposed. But if they are 

 discovered, the parent bird carries them' away to a new hiding 

 place. The quail and many other birds, such as the meadow-lark 

 and some of the sparrows, often arch their homes over with either 

 the growing vegetation surrounding the nest, or with dry material 

 brought for the purpose, and in some cases they build covered 

 paths or entrances. The woodpeckers hide their eggs in natural 

 holes in trees, or in holes hollowed out after much tedious labour 

 by the birds themselves ; here the eggs are fairly safe ; squirrels, 

 snakes, and human beings are about the only enemies to be feared. 

 The crested flycatcher often makes use of a snake-skin in the 

 construction of his nest, which occupies a hole in a tree. It is 

 only reasonable to suppose that there is some object for his pref- 

 erence for this strange and apparently useless material. It may 

 be that it frightens away would-be thieves, squirrels, jays, or 

 crows (for the opening to the nest is often large enough to allow a 

 crow to enter without difficulty) ; here is a case where authentic 

 observations might tell us much of the bird's life-history. 



The ruby-throated humming-bird saddles his tiny nest usu- 

 ally on a high branch, and covers it with lichen so that it resembles 

 an excrescence on the branch. Why the long-billed marsh wren 

 builds so many "dummy" nests, most of which are usually near 

 the real nest, is not known, but it is presumably as a matter of 

 safety, and for the purpose of misleading intruders, just as a parent 

 bird will feign a broken wing to lure danger from the young. 



The Baltimore oriole hangs his well-built nest, a masterpiece 

 of bird architecture, on the extreme end of an overhanging branch 

 where nothing but a winged enemy can reach it. To guard against 

 these the nest is made so that it looks something like a hornet's 

 nest — with which the jays, crows, or hawks would not care to 

 interfere. Then, again, after ^all these precautions, the comfort as 

 well as the safety of the young is thought of when the nest is 

 built, the lower part being compactly and strongly made, while 

 the walls are loosely woven so as to admit of free circulation of 

 air. The eggs of the belted kingfisher are placed in a hole often 



12 



