NEST BUILDING. 
803 
Skuas, and many Gallinaceous birds, like the Capercallie, 
Black Cock, and Coursers. Partridges, Ptarmigans, 
Peewits, Sandpipers, Woodcocks, the different Gulls, the 
Black Tern ( Hyclrochelidon ), the true Diver ( Gohjmbus ), &c., 
are somewhat more careful in nest building, lining the 
hollow they form with a simple layer of sticks, straw, 
grass, moss, leaves, and such like. Those Raptores 
which breed on terra firma, such as the Harriers, 
Golden Eagle, and Short-eared Owl, build a regular 
nest. Geese, Swans, Rails, Ducks, Larks, Pipits, 
Buntings, Redbreasts, Warblers, &c., build the best 
nests on the ground. Geese and Swans, it is true, do 
not take over-much trouble; Corncrakes and Rails, 
however, scrape a neat hollow, and line it with 
leaves and grass; Ducks quilt the inside of their nests 
with a coat of down; Larks, Pipits, and Buntings, line 
the hole scratched in the ground very neatly with 
grasses, bristles, and horse-hair, and form the whole 
into quite a decent nest; lastly, the Warblers build, 
amid moss, an artistic edifice of soft dry grass, especially 
the Wood Wren (Plmjllopneuste sibilatrix and Ph. montana ); 
to which a dome is added in the case of the Willow Wren 
(P/i. fitis) and Chiffchaff (P/i. rufa), as well as a comfort¬ 
able lining of soft feathers, a small entrance-hole being 
left at the side of the nest.* 
Different gradations of artistic talent are also to be 
found among those birds which usually breed in holes. 
The Eagle Owl, Little Owl, Barn Owl, Prairie Owl, 
Parrots, Toucans, Hornbills, Trogons, &c., simply 
occupy holes already formed, whether natural or 
* Pliijlloyneuste montana and Ph, fitis are species founded by Herr Pastor 
Brehm; they are, however, not accepted as such now. In this case Ph. fitis 
evidently stands for our Willow Wren, Sylvia trochilus. — W. J. 
