FROGS AND BIRDS 



103 



tection and housing of the young, although the parents, 

 may, and during the rearing of the young, naturally do, 

 largely live in them themselves. As an example of an ani- 

 mal home, we may observe the construction of a bird's 

 nest, together with the egg-laying and incubation and the 

 care of the fledglings. 



A bird's nest. — In spring 

 and early summer, the nesting- 

 times, find close to the school- 

 room a pair of birds that have 

 begun a nest. By keeping 

 sharp watch in trees and 

 bushes they will surely be 

 found, though most birds hide 

 their nests as effectively as 

 possible. Robins are especially 

 good birds to watch, because 

 they are not easily frightened 

 from their work,- because they 

 build a large nest, and be- 

 cause they gather their nesting 

 materials mostly in the near 

 vicinity of the nest. Because 

 the robin's nest is in a tree, fig. 44. Nest of humming-bird, 



it may not be so easy to watch ™a-de of sycamore down, 



as the nest of some bird that (O^^-haK natural size.) 



builds in hedges or bushes. Find a robin or other bird 

 carrying a straw in its bill and trace it "home." 



In observing the nest-building, egg-laying, and incu- 

 bation try to answer the following questions: Do both 

 birds take active part in building, or but one, and if one, 

 which one, the male or female, and what does the other do ? 

 What materials are used? Is the nest composed chiefly of 

 one kind of material, or nearly equally of several? What 

 "tools" of the bird are used in building? When does build- 



