MIGRATIONS AND NESTING HABITS. 285 



Sparrows seem to stand off and throw together almost any- 

 thing they can find loose and carry off, and will contentedly 

 rear several broods in such a nest in the course of the year; 

 without making any attempt to mend or clean up. When 

 you attempt to take down their nest, it comes to pieces 

 in your hand. Contrast such nests with the nest built by 

 the Baltimore oriole, or the bluebird, the tailor bird, or 

 the dainty, lichen-covered home of the humming bird. 



Again, nests, aside from their construction, are filthy 

 or cleanly, according to the notions of cleanliness possessed 

 by their pair of owners. The pelicans and the cormorants 

 have disgustingly filthy nests, the offal and garbage and 

 excrementitious matter being allowed to accumulate ; and 

 in the case of the cormorants, its fermentation serves to 

 furnish the heat necessary to incubate the eggs. Crows 

 and jays among our more familiar land birds do hardly 

 any better. In strong contrast with these birds stand 

 the careful robin or the oriole or the dainty cedar bird 

 mothers, who regularly clean their nests of all litter left by 

 the food, or of excrementitious matter; keeping house so 

 excellently that an old nest, with them, usually means 

 a weather-beaten, not a dirty nest. Some birds mend 

 their nests after an accident from a storm or some other 

 happening. Here, too, they exhibit var3dng degrees of 

 success, as human beings measure success in such 

 matters. 



In the matter of personal or bodily cleanliness, birds 

 have var3dng standards. Some insist upon a clean water 

 bath often and thoroughly performed; some can be quite 

 happy if the bath water is muddy or is not indulged in 

 each morning; while some others are content to find a soft 

 spot in the middle of the road and take a dust bath. If 

 you live anywhere near a water course, it will repay you 



