NATURE-STUDY 



tril-la-rah," repeated. She says that little German children 

 think the bobolink says, "Oncle-dey, dunkle-dey," while the 

 farmer's boy believes he says, "Dig a hole, dig a hole, put 

 it in, put it in, cover't up, cover't up, stamp on't, step along," 

 and therefore calls him the "corn-planting bird." 



Nests and Nestlings 



There is a great difference in the kinds of nests and in the 



skill shown by different 

 species in nest construction. 

 Some birds build no nest at 

 all. There are many sea 

 fowl which lay their eggs on 

 the bare rock. The whip- 

 poorwill lays hers among the 

 dead leaves on the forest 

 floor. Her cousin, the night- 

 hawk, lays hers on the flat 

 roofs of city buildings. Many 

 ground birds, such as quail, 

 chicken, and " partridge," 

 make hardly any pretence at 

 nest building, but lay the 

 eggs in a shallow depression 

 hollowed out by the breast among the leaves or in the 

 ground. A'lany ground-nesting birds lay eggs that are 

 colored like the leaves and earth, and are therefore 

 more likely to escape notice. The ground nest is usually 

 more or less concealed by a clump of grass, weeds, a bush, 

 log, or base of a tree. Being made of leaves or grass, the 

 nests are hard to distinguish from the background. The 



Fig. 17. Robin's Nest. 



(Showing method of mountiiifr- Materials— ^rass 

 twig 



iiud.) 



