SEC. IX COLLECTION OF NESTS AND EGGS 8i 



cannot be traced on the shell are written in full. Such trays should 

 all be of the same depth, — half an inch is a convenient depth for 

 general purposes ; and of ass9rted sizes, say from one inch by one 

 and one-half inches up to three by six inches ; it is convenient to 

 have the dimensions regularly graduated by a constant factor of, 

 say half an inch, so that the little boxes may be set side by side, either 

 lengthwise or crosswise, without interference. Eggs may also be 

 kept safely, advantageously, and with attractive effect, in the nests 

 themselves, in which a fluff of cotton may be placed to steady them. 

 When not too bulky, too loosely constructed, or of material unsuit- 

 able for preservation, nests should always be collected.^ Those 

 that are very closely attached to twigs should not be torn off. 

 Nests threatening to come to pieces, or too frail to be handled with- 

 out injury, may be secured by sewing through and through with 



1 "A Plea for the Study of Nests," made by Mr. Ernest IngersoU in his excellent 

 Birds' -Nesting, suits me so well that I will transcribe it. " Whether or not it is 

 worth while to collect nests — for there are many persons who never do so — is, it 

 seems to me, only a question of room iu the cabinet. As a scientific study there is 

 far more advantage to be obtained from a series of nests than from a series of eggs. 

 The nest is something with which the will and energies of the bird are concerned. It 

 expresses the character of the workman ; is to a certain extent an index of its rank 

 among birds, — for in general those of the highest organisation are the best architects, 

 — and give us a glimpse of the bird's mind and power to understand and adapt itself 

 to changed conditions of life. Over the shape and ornamentation of an egg the bird 

 has no control, being no more able to govern the matter than it can the growth of its 

 beak. There is as much difference to me, in the interest inspired, between the nest 

 and the egg of a bird, as between its brain and its skull, — using the word brain to 

 mean the seat of intellect. The nest is always more or less the result of conscious 

 planning and intelligent work, even though it does follow a hereditary habit in its 

 style ; while the egg is an automatic production varying, if at all, only as the whole 

 organisation of the bird undergoes change. Don't neglect the nests then. In them 

 more than anywhere else lies the key to the mind and thoughts of a bird, — the spirit 

 which inhabits that beautiful frame and bubbles out of that golden mouth. And is 

 it not this inner life, — this human significance in bird nature, — this soul of ornitho- 

 logy, that we are all aiming to discover ? Nests are beautiful, too. What can sur- 

 pass the delicacy of the humming-bird's home glued to the surface of a mossy branch 

 or nestling in the warped point of a pendent leaf ; the vireo's silken hammock ; the 

 oriole's gracefully swaying purse ; the blackbird's model basket in the flags ; the snug 

 little caves of the marsh wrens ; the hermitage-huts of the shy wagtails and ground 

 warblers, the stout fortresses of the sociable swallows ! Moreover, there is much that 

 is highly interesting which remains to be learned about nests, and which can only be 

 known by paying close attention to these artistic masterpieces of animal art. We 

 want to know by what sort of skill the many nests are woven together that we find 

 it so hard even to disentangle ; we want to know how long they are in being built ; 

 whether there is any particular choice in respect to location ; whether it be a rule, 

 as is supposed, that the female bird is the architect, to the exclusion of her mate's 

 efforts further than his supplying a part of the materials. Many such points remain to 

 be cleared up. Then there is the question of variation, and its extent iu the archi- 

 tect of the same species in different quarters of its ranging area. How far is this 

 carried, and how many varieties can be recorded from a single district, where the same 

 list of materials is open to all the birds equally ? Variation shows individual opinion 

 or taste among the builders as to the suitability of this or that sort of timber or fur- 

 niture for their dwellings, and observations upon it thus increase our acquaintance 

 with the scope of ideas and habits characteristic of each species of bird." 



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