WINGED ROBBERS AND NEST-BUILDERS. 1 53 



isfied his cat-like love of torturing his helpless 

 prey for torture's sake, he gave it the fatal blow, 

 seized it in his strong gape and bore it away to his 

 shambles. 



It is interesting also to consider the breeding 

 habits of the different birds, the various styles of 

 their houses and the crafts and trades that Nature 

 has taught the many species. The little auks, the 

 stormy petrels, kingfishers and bank swallows are 

 miners. The nut-hatches, woodpeckers, and many 

 of the titmice, with their sharp chisels, hammer 

 away on some decayed trunk in the woods for days 

 together, till their log cabin is finished. With few 

 exceptions the swallows are masons and plasterers, 

 and fix their adobe houses in the most dexterous 

 manner on projecting cliffs and eaves of barns. 

 The vireos and orioles are bag and basket makers. 

 The grebes and water-hens are raft-builders and 

 moor their floating homes to some strong-rooted 

 aquatic plant. There are also tailors, and weavers, 

 and platform-makers among these feathered archi- 

 tects. A few of the birds, however, such as the 

 foolish guillemots, night-hawks, and some of the 

 wise owls, have lived from generation to genera- 

 tion without learning the art of nest-building. 



Wherever a rock is found that simulates the 



