BIRDS' NESTS 



passing on to the more elaborate structures. First 

 of all, however, as nests are such an avine charac- 

 teristic, it seems desirable to glance at those birds 

 that do not make a nest at all. 



Before doing so, and in order better to understand 

 the study of our subject, it becomes necessary to 

 enter at some length upon the more philosophical side 

 of it. There are, perhaps, few things in nature more 

 exquisitely pretty than the nests of certain birds; 

 not only do these structures appeal to us through 

 their beauty, but still more so through the creative 

 mind of the little architects that build them. But 

 mere admiration of these complex structures can lead 

 to nothing more; their beauty, great as it is, is by 

 no means the end and purpose for which they were 

 so deftly woven ; we must discard their attractiveness 

 in this direction and ever keep prominently in view 

 their utilitarian purpose, should we desire to gain an 

 insight into their philosophy. We may almost safely 

 say that birds are not influenced by any sense of the 

 beautiful in making their nests. If they are we have 

 no direct proof of it, and the evidence that we at 

 present possess is purely of a negative kind. Apparent 

 instances of nest decoration from motives of beauty 

 rather than utility are presented by such nests as 

 the Chaffinch and the Long-tailed Titmouse, the 

 outer walls of which are generally garnished with 

 showy lichens, scraps of paper, bits of decayed wood, 

 and so forth. Gould, with a totally erroneous con- 



