A TENEMENT HOUSE BUILT BY BIRDS. HY 

 A TENEMENT HOUSE BUILT BY BIRDS. 



HOW THEY BUILD IT. 



An oriole's nest, hanging over the httle bracket 

 upon which is placed my miniature bust of Audubon, 

 is an unfailing source of interest and delight to me. 

 With what a wise provision the birds have suspended 

 their home on the frail and flexible branchlets at the 

 extreme end of a bough, out of harm's way ; and with 

 what untaught skill have they woven the most re- 

 fractory and unpromisiag substances into a beautiful 

 and compact tissue, while their unerring instinct has 

 determined the proper size of the structure, with just 

 enough for its needs, and not a fraction of an inch to 

 spare ! 



"What selection and adaptation of material are here 

 represented ! Everything has had to be found and 

 fitted. The twig that is so deftly carried about the 

 nest to frame and strengthen it is perhaps the only 

 one among a thousand that has exactly the needed 

 shape and curvature. The bit of birch bark with 

 just the proper warp to protect the lower part of the 

 nest has been chosen with as much care as that be- 

 stowed by an Indian in the selection of a piece of the 

 same bark for his canoe; and, indeed, every small 

 fiber, straw, and hair, or bit of moss, has been made 

 the subject of such serious and painstaking delibera- 

 tion that I can find no imperfection in the wonderful 

 economy of space and material used. 



