454 



ANIMAL LIFE-HISTORIES 



slanting passage in an overhanging river-bank, and enlarges its 

 end much after the fashion of a Sand- Martin. For a considerable 

 time before laying this excavation is used for sleeping and feeding 

 purposes, the result being an evil-smelling heap of fish-bones and 

 other garbage upon which the six to eight pearly eggs are 

 deposited. This has given rise to the erroneous idea that the 

 bones are a special provision for the comfort (!) of the young. The 

 beautiful Hoopoes are even more insanitary in their nesting- 

 habits. The female lays her eggs in a hole in a tree or in rocks, 



and has sometimes been known to 

 select a coffin or decomposing body for 

 the purpose. A sort of lining is pre- 

 viously constructed of twigs, feathers, 

 or hair, to which a liberal amount of 

 filth is added. It is remarkable that 

 the oil-gland of the nesting- female 

 and also of the nestlings secretes an 

 intolerably smelling fluid. This is 

 perhaps a protective arrangement. 

 The hen remains on this undesirable 

 nest for practically the whole time of 

 incubation, and is assiduously fed by 

 her partner. 



Woodpeckers either nest in a 

 ready-made hollow, or dig out a suit- 

 able cavity in the trunk of a tree, work- 

 ing at first horizontally and then vertically downwards (fig. 971). 

 The white eggs are deposited on a layer of chips. The Nuthatch 

 {Sitta ccBsid) generally selects a hole in a decaying branch for its 

 nesting-place, into which dead leaves or thin flakes of bark are 

 taken to serve as a bed. The opening of the cavity is plastered 

 up with clay, leaving only a round hole to serve for entry and 

 exit. 



We next have to consider nests of various degrees of complexity 

 constructed from sticks, twigs, moss, and other plant material, to 

 which feathers, wool, or hairs are frequently added. Many of the 

 most familiar of these rest upon some firm support, and are circular 

 in shape, with no roof except that which the surroundings may 

 provide. Such nests may be of extremely primitive character, as 

 in the Peewit or Lapwing ( Vanellus cristatus), and the Golden 



Fig. 971. — Nest of a Woodpecker, in section 



