BIRDS NESTS. 



183 



in which to locate its children's home. The Magpie, more am- 

 bitious, constructs its nest of branches interlaced with twigs, and 

 lined with fine grass, hair, and other soft materials, in the topmost 

 fork of some tall ash, poplar, or elm. It is a large, and conse- 

 quently a conspicuous fabric, elliptical in form, composed first of 

 rough boughs, on which is laid a quantity of mud, and then a layer 

 of twigs, the whole lined with fibrous roots and other soft material. 

 The Goldfinch builds its nest on trees ; it is composed of grass, moss, 

 and lichens, and lined with the down of various plants and such 

 other soft material as comes in its way, elaborately interwoven with 

 wool and hair (Fig. 74). 



Fig. 74. —Nest of Goldfinch. 



Fig. 75.— Nest of Barn Owl. 



The Barn Owl chooses her nest in some obscure nook of an old 

 tower, the steeple of a church, a dovecot, or the hollow of an aged 

 tree (Fig. 75). It is composed of twigs and straw loosely arranged. 



Some birds form into a sort of coarse tissue of fibres the materials 

 of which they construct their nest — this has procured them the name 

 of Weaver Birds. The nest of the Tailor Bird is placed in a large 

 leaf, the margins of which are sewn together so as to form a bag (Fig. 

 76). The Synalaxine Bird builds its nest with grasses, interlacing 

 them in a firm and inextricable web, and in it are found two apartments, 

 the eggs being placed in the inner one. The Baltimore Orioles and 

 Crested Orioles of the New World cannot be passed without noticing 

 their wonderful skill in nest construction. The nest of the Baltimore 

 Oriole is a perfect pouch, which is suspended from the upper branch 

 of a shrub or tree ; but the nest of the latter consists of dry grasses 



