go The Building of the Nest 



little nest. It cannot be explained, perhaps, 

 but we have at least a clue to it. One end of 

 the hair is snugly tucked in among stouter 

 materials, and then, — I ask the question only, 

 — as the bird coils it about the sides of the 

 nest with its beak, does it break or dent it, or 

 is there some chemical effect produced by 

 the bird's saliva ? The hairs do not appear 

 to be merely dry-curled, for in that case 

 they would unroll when taken from the nest, 

 and such as I have tried, when just placed in 

 position, retained the coiled condition when 

 removed. But old hair, curled by long ex- 

 posure to the air and moisture, is often used, 

 and this is far more traftable. When we 

 come to examine woven nests, such as the 

 Baltimore oriole and the red-eyed vireo, as 

 well as some other small birds, build, there is 

 offered a great deal more to study, for how 

 they accomplish what they do, with their 

 only tools their feet and beak, is not wholly 

 known. That the tropical tailor-bird should 

 run a thread through a leaf and so bring the 

 edges together and make a conical-shaped bag, 

 is not so very strange. It is little more than 

 the piercing of the leaf and then putting the 

 thread through the hole. This is ingenious 



