84 The Building of the Nest 



before the unfortunate blunder of introducing 

 the English sparrow. But it is in the country 

 only that we find boys really posted in the 

 matter of nests, and I wish I could add that 

 they always adopt the rules of " hands 

 off" when these nests come under their 

 notice. It means far more mischief than 

 most people think to disturb a nest, and so 

 let every boy decide that he will not be 

 guilty of such wanton cruelty. This, how- 

 ever, does not shut off every boy and girl in 

 the land from studying these nests, and a 

 more delightful subjeft can never come under 

 youthful investigation. 



What is a bird's nest ? Every one knows, 

 after a fashion, and yet few have ever con- 

 sidered how much that bunch of twigs, hol- 

 low in a tree, or hole in the ground really 

 means. Like so much that is familiar, we 

 glance at it in a careless way and never stop 

 to consider its full significance. Except in a 

 very few instances, a bird's nest is never the 

 result of a single individual's labor. Even 

 if but one bird does all the work, there has 

 previously been a decision reached by two 

 birds as to where the nest shall be placed, and 

 how much this means ! At once we are 



