54 
Tin-: CONDOR 
VOL. XII 
over, that is, entered by a hole at the side, either on the ground, on a horizontal 
branch, in an upright fork, or pendant from some support. The first group is the 
simplest in form, the last most highly specialized. 
For the sake of illustration we may compare the nests of the birds breeding in 
one of our more northerly states — Iowa will do as well as any, as presenting about 
an average set of conditions — with those of British Honduras birds, so far as the 
latter are known, making the comparison in accordance with the above classifica- 
tion. Placing it in tabular form, and letting the numbers express the per cent of 
the total number of species whose nests fall within each group, we have the 
following: 
LOCATION 
Nests open 
above supported 
from below 
Nests in 
cavities 
Nests open 
above, pendant 
Nests with 
side entrance 
Iowa 
69 
20 
6 
5 
British 
I londuras 
54 
28 
7 
it 
These per cents, it is true, are not exact, as the nesting habits of a consider- 
able number of British Honduras birds are totally unknown. It is doubtful, how- 
ever, if a knowledge of the life history of all would materially affect the proportions 
given. 
If now we leave out of account the nests of Raptorial, Gallinaceous and Anser- 
ine birds, the Herons and a few other large forms whose size, warlike disposition 
or nidifugous habit place them largely out of danger of such enemies as smaller 
and weaker species must provide against, we obtain still more suggestive results: 
LOCATION 
Nests open 
above supported 
from below 
Nests in 
cavities 
Nests open 
above, pendant 
Nests with 
side entrance 
Iowa 
65 
21 
8 
6 
British Honduras 
43 
32 
10 
15 
It is evident that nests of the first type, tho the most numerous, are more ex- 
posed to danger from enemies than any of the others; therefore, the much smaller 
proportion of nests of this form in the tropics than in temperate regions doubtless 
indicate that the abundance of these enemies has brought about numerous instances 
of modification of what is plainly the most primitive type of nest. 
Protective adaptations in nests of the first class are numerous among British 
Honduras birds, as they are also among ours, and in many cases there is strong 
similarity; this class, therefore, calls for little comment. The following may be 
noted: the nests of many flycatchers and hummingbirds are covered with lichens 
in imitation of the branches on which they rest; those of certain tanagers are made to 
resemble masses of green moss; the curious Manikin Scotothorus verciepcicis 
builds a nest that closely resembles a small mass of half-decayed leaves lodged in a 
tussock of sedge; the large Rail, Aramid.es albiventris , builds a loose nest of 
shreds of palmetto leaves and coarse sedges, and places it on a low branch over a 
stream, so that it can hardly be distinguish! from a quantity of such material left 
there by a freshet; and many more examples might be given. 
Several birds that build nests of the ordinary type frequently choose a situation 
that is inaccessible to reptiles and small mammals. For example, the two tanagers, 
Phoenicothraupis sal-vini and Eucometis spodocephala, and the grosbeak, 
Cyanocompsa concreta , favor certain small palms which are densely clothed with 
long, slender, needle-like spines. 
Nothing need be said in regard to nests placed in cavities, either natural or 
