234 THE INDUSTRIES OF ANIMALS. 



flying, but always on foot, concealing itself along tufts 

 of reeds. De Homeyer even reports that the female 

 at the time of laying covers her wings and back with 

 mud. When dried this gives the animal a red tone, 

 which causes it to be confused with neighbouring 

 objects ; this is intentional mimicry. 



The Linnet (Fig. 41) again, wrongly accused of 

 wanting judgment, is well aware that a pile of excre- 

 ment at the foot of a tree announces a nest in the 

 branches. It is careful to suppress this revealing 

 sign, and every day takes it away in its beak to 

 disperse it afar. 



Birds will sometimes take the trouble to remove 

 the eggs or the nest altogether, when the latter has 

 been discovered, in order to avoid further risks of 

 danger. The American Sparrow Hawk has been 

 observed to do this, and the following incident is 

 quoted by Bendire, from MacFarlane's Manuscript 

 Notes on Birds Nesting in British America, concern- 

 ing the Pigeon Hawk {Falco columbarius) : — " On 

 May 25, 1864, a trusty Indian in my employ found 

 a nest placed in a thick branch of a pine tree at a 

 height of about six feet from the ground. It was 

 rather loosely constructed of a few dry sticks and a 

 small quantity of coarse hay; it then contained two 

 eggs; both parents were seen, fired at, and missed. 

 On the 31st he revisited the nest, which still held but 

 two eggs, and again missed the birds. Several days 

 later he made another visit thereto, and, to his sur- 

 prise, the eggs and parents had disappeared. His 

 first impression was that some other person had 

 taken them ; but after looking carefully around he 

 perceived both birds at a short distance, and this led 

 him to institute a search which soon resulted in find- 



