Nest

“ This nest is a wonderful little fabric, built of moss, dry grass, and slender roots, lined with hair, wool, and thistle-down; but the true wonder of the nest is the exact manner in which the outside is made to imitate the bough upon which it is placed. All its little ruggednesses and lichen growths are represented, whilst the colouring is so exactly that of the old apple-tree that it is almost impossible to know it from the branch itself. Wonderful ingenuity of instinct, which human skill would find it almost impossible to imitate! ”

“ With the instinct of the healthy bachelor I always try to make myself a nest in the place I live in, be it for long or short. Whether visiting, in lodging-house, or in hotel, the first essential is this nest--one's own things built into the walls as a bird builds in its feathers. ”

“ He paints a bird’s nest, with the eggs, and every straw, so perfect, that the bird would infallibly attempt to sit in it, and he contrives to bestow it in a hedge of hawthorn, so green and white, and so entirely natural, that you would not think of taking the nest, without making up your mind to be sorely scratched. It would make May-morning of a winter-day, to have a few such paintings to look at, and no one who loves nature could ever be tired of them. ”

“ When I drew aside the leaves that sheltered the nest and allowed the sun to shine upon it for purposes of photography, the mother, realizing with that wonderful instinct common to all birds which nest in the shade, the fatal effect on her babies of the sun’s direct rays, would take her stand on the edge of the nest and with outstretched wings would form of her own body a living shield for the comfort and protection of her young. ”

“ As in all phases, Nature keeps up her vital, copious, eternal procession. Still, plenty of the birds hang around all or most of the season—now their love-time, and era of nest-building. I find flying over the river, crows, gulls and hawks. I hear the afternoon shriek of the latter, darting about, preparing to nest. ”

“ As I look upon the matter, the most wonderful and ingenious nests in the world, as those of the weaver-birds and orioles, show no more independent self-directed and self-originated thought than does the rude nest of the pigeon or the cuckoo. ”

“ From the first I had looked for a nest, and had suffered two or three disappointments. One pair flaunted their intentions by appearing on a tree before my window, "tsipping" with all their might; she with her beak full of hay from the lawn below; he, eager and devoted, assisting by his presence. The important and consequential manner of a bird with building material in mouth is amusing. ”

“ Of course in the deep, primitive woods also are nests, but how rarely we find them! The simple art of the bird consists in choosing common, neutral-tinted material, as moss, dry leaves, twigs, and various odds and ends, and placing the structure on a convenient branch, where it blends in color with its surroundings; but how consummate is this art, and how skilfully is the nest concealed! ”

“ It is a last year’s birds’ nest The nest is there; the birds are flown, the birds of youth, and noisy health, and ravenous appetite, and inexperience. You cannot go ‘Back Home’ by train, but here is the magic wishing-carpet, and here is your transportation in your hand all made out to you. ”

“ From the blissful moment of our discovery, whatever interesting excursion was planned, whatever choice nest to be sought, or charming family of nestlings to be called upon, our steps first turned of themselves up the wren path. Every day we saw the birds go in and out, on household cares intent, and we soon began to look for the exit of the younglings. ”

“ You know why and when the birds sing?—because they are building or have a nest. May you soon recover, find peace and love; and some day your nook-nest lined with soft down, awaiting treasures God will send. ”

“ The nest is a tiny thing, looking for size and shape like a cup out of a child’s toy tea-set. Its walls are thick, and on the outside are covered—shingled, we may say—with bits of gray lichen, which help to make the nest look like nothing more than a knot. ”

“ All things are new;—the buds, the leaves, That gild the elm-tree's nodding crest, And even the nest beneath the eaves;— There are no birds in last year's nest! ”

“ Always in one minute the bird reappeared, flew at once out of the wood, at about the height of the nest, and did not come down till it reached, on one side, an old garden run to waste, or, on the other, far over the water, a cultivated field. ”

“ WHEN all the trees and bushes and grass are green in the spring, we see the little birds and hear their sweet songs.
How happy they seem as they fly about from tree to tree, and scratch in the ground to find little seeds and insects to eat!
Sometimes we find a bird’s nest in the bushes or on the ground. God teaches the little birds how to build their nests with small sticks, leaves, and feathers. ”

“ The bird's nest is built of loose sticks laid upon the rocky point, which is not broader than a good-sized tree stump. How it withstands the dash of storms, which often rage through the narrow pass, is a marvel. ”

“ Let us build a little nest While we're here together, Like little birdies do When April skies are blue. (SHE) We can snuggle up and rest In the wint'ry weather (BOTH) And if we're good as little birdies should be Then may be we can have a family. ”

“ The nest behind my garden is in the top of a tall, slender maple, with oaks and chestnuts surrounding and overshadowing it. Finding a nest like this is inspiration for the rest of life. The only feat comparable to it is the discovery of a bee-tree. Finding wild bees, I think, would be good training for one intending to hunt humming-birds' nests in the woods. ”

“ Where it still continues to breed inland, it places its nest, constructed of sticks and lined with the wool and fur of its victims, either on an inaccessible rock, or near the summit of a lofty tree, the ill-omened 'Raven-tree' of romances. ”

“ For a while, each long day and pleasant night are thus spent; but at a peculiar note of the female he ceases his song, and attends to her wishes. A nest is to be prepared, and the choice of a place in which to lay it is to become a matter of mutual consideration. ”

“ We sat down and made a nest in the long red grass. Yulka curled up like a baby rabbit and played with a grasshopper. ”

“ When one approaches the nest of this species, the male exhibits the greatest anxiety respecting its safety, passes and repasses, fluttering and snapping its bill within a few feet, as if determined to repel the intruder. ”

“ What a wonderful thing a bird’s nest is! Even the simplest nests are very wonderful. Some boys and girls collect birds’ nests, and that is very well, if you wait till the eggs are hatched, and the birds have flown.
The ground sparrow builds a lovely little nest; and what a curious nest is that of the barn swallow. ”

“ I looked for a moment through the opening of the nest at the tiny creatures, and then withdrew. The parents were already at hand, ruffling their feathers with anxiety. Fear nothing, little birds, so watchful of your family; Uncle Paul is not one to commit the crime of touching your nest. ”

“ I have seen with my own eyes more than a thousand minute bodies of these birds hanging from one piece of timber on the shore enclosed in shells and already formed ... in no corner of the world have they been known to build a nest. ”

“ This beautiful bird feeds on fruits and insects, and its nest is constructed of blades of grass, wool, hair, fine strings, and various vegetable fibers, which are so curiously interwoven as to confine and sustain each other. The nest is usually suspended from a forked and slender branch, in shape like a deep basin and generally lined with fine feathers. ”

“ The building of the nest, a task to which the male also attends, is an interesting event. For many days in succession the little animal, whose energy and perseverance are truly worthy of admiration, collects its material, which consists of loose stalks, plant-shreds, root-fibers, and grass. ”

“ When the framework of the nest is completed, the bird fills the interior with the softest down it can gather from plants, and it thus has a home which it is next to impossible to discover among the leaves. ”

“ The forests in summer days are full of birds' nests. They are hidden among the leaves. The little birds know where they are; and when a storm arises, or when night draws on, they fly, each to his own nest. ”

“ Only here and there, on a bright morning, do we see one of those birds which, a few months ago, builded their nest, watched their young, or taught the nestlings how to fly—young and old, with their grace of motion and sweet notes, are gone to a fairer clime. ”

“ If fierce storms break, and the wild rain Comes pelting in, Cover the shrinking nest, restrain The furious din.
At sultry noontide, when the air Trembles with heat, Draw close the leafy covert where Cool shadows meet.
And when night falleth, dark and chill, Let one fair star, Love’s star all luminous and still, Shine from afar.
Thou who dost build the blind bird’s nest Build Thou for me; So shall my being find its rest Forevermore in Thee. [446] TWO PATHS
A Path across a meadow fair and sweet, Where clover-blooms the lithesome grasses greet, A path worn smooth by his impetuous feet. ”

“ They make their nests in trees as birds do, but with even more ingenuity than most birds. The materials of the nest are moss, leaves, grass, and fibres of the bark of trees, all neatly woven together. The nest is waterproof, and secure from the roughest gale of wind ”

“ The infinite variety of modes in which the nests of birds are constructed, and the exquisite adaptation of the nest to the peculiar habits of the individual, offer a subject of almost exhaustless interest. ”

“ Watch, say, a crow's nest. One day you will see the mother bird standing near the nest and stretching her wings over her little ones. Presently the young stand up and stretch their wings in imitation. ”

“ The nests are built like very large wasps’ nests. Sometimes one or two hundred birds will build in one place. They make a roof for the nest.
I began by telling you of very little nests. I will end by telling you of a very big nest. I saw the nest of a fishing eagle, in a great pine-tree. The nest was built of large sticks. It was nearly as large as a half barrel. The tree was dead. A tree always dies when an eagle builds in it. This nest was more like a great rough platform than a nest. It had a wall of sticks about it to keep the little eaglets from falling out before their feathers grew. ”

“ ⁠Golden head by golden head,
Like two pigeons in one nest,
Folded in each other’s wings,
They lay down in their curtained bed:
Like two blossoms on one stem,
Like two flakes of new-fall’n snow,
Like two wands of ivory
Tipped with gold for awful kings.
Moon and stars gazed in at them,
Wind sang to them lullaby,
Lumbering owls forbore to fly,
Not a bat flapped to and fro
Round their nest:
Cheek to cheek and breast to breast
Locked together in one nest. ”

“ The nest is substantially made of grasses and hollowed out by the pressure of the bird's breast and little in the way of extraneous matter is used, though occasionally, especially in open sites, quite a substantial cup may be built of stalks, grasses, bits of heath, moss, etc. ”

“ Now you know the first and last of the facts recorded are correct: there is the nest on the inaccessible cliff; there are the birds, and if they did not fly up and out into the world the first time they stood on the edge of the nest, would they not be in the dark water below, instead of coming back to the old home for a hundred years? ”

“ The birds construct a very elegant nest, always closely and compactly woven, of very fine blades, or strips of blades, of grass, in no nests exceeding one-twentieth of an inch in width, and in many of not above half this breadth. ”

“ The nest is what the bird makes it, and it often tells quite a story. Boys, let us give eggs and skins a rest, and make a fine collection of nests, in situ, as the rockologists say. We can do this after the nestlings have flown, if you like, without stealing any eggs or shedding any innocent blood. After the young have tumbled out, the nest is a back number, and becomes your lawful prey. ”

“ But though the nest is in full view and within a few inches of her perch, and though the young stretch out their necks, yet so strong is the former habit that she is compelled to return to the opposite side and approach the nest by the usual circuitous route before she distributes the food amongst her offspring. ”

“ The nest is situated in trees, or amongst the reeds and rushes on the ground, the bird seeming, like the Heron, partial to society. If the nature of the position will permit, several nests are situated close together, and are composed of sticks, coarse grass, and dried roots, carelessly thrown together. ”

“ We have now seen quite a variety of nests, and I think that we may come to this conclusion about their builders:—The bird or other creature which can carefully select the materials for the home of its young, can decide what is most suitable for the rough outside and what will be soft and nice for the inner lining, and can choose a position for its nest where the peculiar wants and habits of its little ones can be best provided for, must certainly be credited with a degree of intelligence which is something more than what is generally suggested by the term instinct. ”

“ He builds his nest in a tree, near some house.
4. When there are young ones in the nest, he sits on the top of a tree near them.
5. He watches to see that no bird comes to hurt them or their mother.
6. If a hawk, a crow, or even an eagle comes near, he makes a dash at it. ”