468 HOMES WITHOOT BAUDS. 



for instance, usurps the deserted hole of a water-shrew ; and the 

 humble-hee and wasp usually take advantage of the deserted 

 burrow of some rat or mouse. In the account of the sociable 

 weaver-bird, mention is also made of certain little green parrots, 

 which are apt to take possession of the great nest, and use it for 

 their own purpose. And in the last chapter an example was 

 mentioned where a carder-bee established herself in the deserted 

 nest of a wren, and so saved herself the trouble of fetching 

 materials and building a dome. 



BiBDS of various kinds are notorious parasites, the Cuckoos 

 ranking as chief among them, inasmuch as they make no nest at 

 all, but simply lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, and 

 foist upon them a supposititious offspring, which occupies the 

 entire nest and monopolises all the care of its foster-parents. 



All Cuckoos, however, do not possess this habit ; for some of 

 the group bmld nests which are remarkable for their beauty, and 

 tend their young as careftdly as do any birds. The celebrated 

 Honey-finders, for example, which are found in most hot portions 

 of the globe, are notable for their skill in architecture. The 

 nests of these birds are pensile, and not unlike those of the 

 Afncaii weaver-birds, which have already been described. They 

 are made of tough bark, torn into filaments, and are flask-like in 

 shape, hung from the branches of trees, and having their entrance 

 from below. 



Then there is the well-known Cow-bird of America {Coecygus 

 Amerieanus), which is closely allied to the common cuckoo, and 

 yet which builds its own nest, and rears its own young. " Early 

 in May,'' writes Wilson, "they begin to pair, when obstinate 

 battles take place among the males. About the 10th of that 

 month they commence building. The nest is usually fixed 

 among the horizontal branches of an apple-tree ; sometimes in a 

 solitary thorn, crab, or cedar, in some retired part of the woods. 

 It is constructed with little art, and scarcely any concavity, of 

 small sticks and twigs, intermixed, with green weeds and blos- 

 soms of the common maple. On this almost flat bed the eggs, 

 usually three or four in number, are placed ; these are of an 

 uniform greenish blue colour, and of a size proportionate to that 

 of the bird. 



" While the female is sitting, the male is generally not very 



