318 
BIRD-LIFE. 
branches form the basis of most nests, and are, as we 
have observed, in the case of Books and Jackdaws, 
broken off with the beak, and by the Raptores with the 
claws, though they are more often gathered from the 
ground; lichen, moss, and small pieces of bark, are 
carefully selected and picked from off the trees, and 
feathers are often caught mid-air. Many birds, like 
the Magpie, cleverly make use of what is still serviceable 
in the old nest for the construction of the new one, 
though they never actually reoccupy the former. 
Birds of prey only carry with their claws; the rest 
always use the beak for that purpose; and the assiduity 
with which materiel is collected is perfectly astonishing,— 
a pair of Jackdaws will bring a stick a minute. 
Among the more scientific builders, where the male 
assists, the female has enough to do to work up the 
materials brought by her partner, and can spend but 
little time in fetching and carrying. She often flies 
to meet and relieve him of his load, so as to save 
delay. Simple, though different, methods are adopted to 
accomplish the work. The longer pieces of grass, 
bast, &c., are wound on a stem or branch, by flying 
round about the same; the smaller pieces are moistened 
with glutinous saliva, and are then either stuck on 
or pushed into the interstices; feathers and hair are 
interwoven in a similar manner. The inside mould of 
the nest is formed and smoothed by the breast of the 
female, who keeps turning her body round and round in 
it. Thus the work progresses until the whole is finished, 
though eggs are sometimes deposited in the nest before 
it is completed. 
It happens occasionally, though rarely, that birds find 
themselves mistaken in their calculations before the nest 
