Birds’ Nests and Eggs 
note the different methods employed. The whippoorwill builds 
no nest, but lays its eggs in a slight depression among the dead 
leaves. When the parent bird is sitting, her colour, which matches 
the leaves and dead wood, saves her from observation. The eggs 
themselves are much like either stones or the under sides of leaves, 
so they are difficult to find even when exposed. But if they are 
discovered, the parent bird carries them away to a new hiding 
place. The quail and many other birds, such as the meadow-lark 
and some of the sparrows, often arch their homes over with either 
the growing vegetation surrounding the nest, or with dry material 
brought for the purpose, and in some cases they build covered 
paths or entrances. The woodpeckers hide their eggs in natural 
holes in trees, or in holes hollowed out after much tedious labour 
by the birds themselves ; here the eggs are fairly safe ; squirrels, 
snakes, and human beings are about the only enemies to be feared. 
The crested flycatcher often makes use of a snake-skin in the 
construction of his nest, which occupies a hole ina tree. It is 
only reasonable to suppose that there is some object for his pref- 
erence for this strange and apparently useless material. It may 
be that it frightens away would-be thieves, squirrels, jays, or 
crows (for the opening to the nest is often large enough to allowa 
crow to enter without difficulty) ; here is a case where authentic 
observations might tell us much of the bird’s life-history. 
The ruby-throated humming-bird saddles his tiny nest usu- 
ally on a high branch, and covers it with lichen so that it resembles 
an excrescence on the branch. Why the long-billed marsh wren 
builds so many ‘‘dummy ” nests, most of which are usually near 
the real nest, is not known, but it is presumably as a matter of 
safety, and for the purpose of misleading intruders, just as a parent 
bird will feign a broken wing to lure danger from the young. 
_ The Baltimore oriole hangs his well-built nest, a masterpiece 
of bird architecture, on the extreme end of an overhanging branch 
where nothing but a winged enemy can reach it. To guard against 
these the nest is made so that it looks something like a hornet’s 
nest—with which the jays, crows, or hawks would not care to 
interfere. Then, again, after all these precautions, the comfort as 
well as the safety of the young is thought of when the nest is 
built, the lower part being compactly and strongly made, while 
the walls are loosely woven so as to admit of free circulation of 
air. The eggs of the belted kingfisher are placed in a hole often 
12 
* 
