NEST BUILDING. 
319 
is finished. My father once saw a Siskin’s nest deserted, 
which had been partially built in the fork of a good-sized 
branch, because the pair found out that there was not 
sufficient room, owing to the too close proximity of the 
adjacent limbs. 
Birds greatly dislike being disturbed while building, 
and, if it is in any way possible, they carry on the work 
in silence, and without allowing themselves to be seen. 
Naumann was once greatly astonished to find a Magpie’s 
nest in his garden, without ever having previously 
noticed the architects; probably they had only worked 
for a short time, and that before sunrise. Many birds 
are so annoyed at being disturbed that they will desert 
the nest, though it is almost completed, and commence 
building afresh. Bad weather, also, hinders them greatly. 
Most birds desert their nests after a very heavy fall of 
rain; others, under similar circumstances, delay the 
completion of their work. A Melodious Warbler 
building in our garden, ceased her labours for six days, 
owing to the nest having been soaked through, only 
recommencing her work after it had become thoroughly 
dried. The plasterers, i. e. those birds which build their 
nests of mud or clay, are obliged to carry on operations 
by fits and starts, allowing sufficient time in the intervals 
for the previous work to solidify, and thus learn patience 
and perseverance, virtues which are constantly required 
in wet weather, when the walls of their edifice often 
stand in no small danger of being washed away by the 
rain. 
Unusual misfortunes will often cause birds to disturb 
or destroy their own nests; for instance, a pair of Storks 
took up their abode on Kampen Castle, and the female 
had already begun to sit, when a spinster Stork made her 
