DO BIRDS IMPROVE AS ARCHITECTS? 71 



after the fashion of a domestic hen, where they reared 

 their young without any accident. When nearly full- 

 fledged they sprawled about on the ground, all sem- 

 blance of a nest having disappeared. 



Only a few rods from this careless, improvident fam- 

 ily resided another family of thrushes, in quite an elab- 

 orately designed structure. A peck measure would 

 hardly have contained the sticks used in the construc- 

 tion of their domicile. It was built upon a rail fence 

 adjoining a gate, through which cows were driven to 

 and from pasture every morning and evening. Horses 

 were also kept in this field, so that the gate was iised 

 more or less during every day ; yet the family was 

 reared in perfect safety, and became quite tame. 



Were these poor, hastily constructed tenements the 

 work of inexperienced architects, or the work of thrift- 

 less, improvident individuals ? In either case it looks 

 as if birds were capable of improving in architecture, 

 or the nests of the same species would all be of one 

 pattern. 



With the robin (Tiirdus migmtorius, Linn.) the curi- 

 ous will find every form of architecture, from the rude 

 mud nest up to quite an elaborately constructed domi- 

 cile. These mud nests compare favorably with the log- 

 cabins of the early settlers. 



I had a table standing in the grove, on which were 

 a number of pots of the Venus's fly-trap (Dioncea 

 .muscipula). A robin espied them, and made up her 

 mind that the moist, black, mucky earth in which 



