Song Birds and Water Fowl 



forms of nests, and the robin, whose structure, 

 usually containing three distinct walls, occa- 

 sionally has only two, when the inner lining is 

 omitted ; this latter deviation being perhaps due 

 to the greater indifference sometimes shown in 

 constructing the second nest of the season. 



An extensive observation of nests, in all their 

 diversity of form, material, and location, re- 

 veals numberless differences which we are not 

 as yet competent to explain. Yet it is not all 

 a mystery ; for we can easily see that the most 

 essential differences, both in construction and 

 location, are determined by three prime consid- 

 erations — safety, durability, and convenience. 

 I have no desire to withhold from these wise 

 and entertaining creatures a single iota of mer- 

 ited praise ; but I see little reason to suppose 

 that distinct artistic sense is a moving impulse 

 in even the most beautiful and elaborate of their 

 constructions ; while, on the other hand, I am 

 inclined to believe that the more clumsy exam- 

 ples of architecture, hardly worthy of the name 

 of nests, prevalent among the water fowl, are no 

 convincing proof of a corresponding inherent 

 incapacity of those species. As a rule, water 

 fowl nest on the ground, and in the most primi- 

 tive fashion ; land birds, for the most part, build 



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