BIRDS 295 



her nest. The entrance to the nest is tlien sealed up with 

 niiKl Ijy the male with the exception of a small hole through 

 which the female presents her bill to be fed by her faithful 

 consort. Finally, those wonderful Uttle tailor birds of India 

 select two or three leaves near each other and actually 



Fig. 200. — Nest of a blackbird. 



stitch the edges together, thus forming a neat receptacle 

 in which to build their nest. 



But we do not need to travel to foreign countries to find 

 interesting birds and nests. The habits and nest buikhng 

 of our own birds are always a source of wonderful interest 

 and pleasui-e to those who study them. Figure 200 shows 

 the nest of a black bir(L 



Migrations of birds. — A great majority of the birds that 

 spend the sunnner in the colder portions of the earth go 



