BIRD-NESTING. 
65 
there will not be another for a twelvemonth ; but the eggs 
of the dove are as plentiful as they are cheap. All the 
year round she is making her foolish nests, and if one 
comes to grief and one prospers, she will still multiply 
much faster than the Crested Swift. So with the simple- 
minded Bulbul ; its function in nature appears to be the 
same as that of the hens in my yard — namely, to lay eggs 
for others to eat. Every second nest at least meets with 
an accident, but a merry heart doeth good like a medicine, 
and the Bulbul is always merry. When one nest is 
destroyed she just makes another and lays a few more 
eggs. If the first fails, the second may succeed, and if the 
second fails, the third may succeed ; and so, by paying 
tribute to their enemies, the Bulbuls still contrive to 
multiply, and keep every garden, grove, and hillside lively 
with their twitter. 
Thus, one in one way and one in another, one by force 
and one by fraud, one by resistance and one by submission, 
they keep their place in the great struggle, and it is 
curious to note how the ways and instincts of each fit in 
with the course which it has taken. Birds which build in 
high trees have no special fear of man, and those which 
make their nests in holes disregard him altogether. The 
F 
