Nesting material

“ In collecting nests one must go prepared to saw off branches, to cut sections of grassy earth, to gather up big tufts of grass, and transport all these to some safe destination. Very often it will be necessary to protect a nest by filling its cavity with some soft material, and then with fine thread or wire to wrap it securely to the limb on which it is placed. ”

“ When nesting time arrives—that is to say, towards the end of the summer—they give up their gregarious habits and live in pairs, billing and kissing like turtle-doves in the orchard or wild crab-trees, where a flat, bulky nest is rather carelessly built of twigs, grasses, feathers, strings—any odds and ends that may be lying about. The eggs are usually four, white tinged with purple and spotted with black. ”

“ The foundation of the nest is generally laid with dry reeds and stubble, while the upper part is formed of finer material and more carefully arranged, the interior is snugly lined with soft hay, rushes, and leaves. ”

“ That the mocking-bird baby lives for three weeks in the nest; that part of that time the parents carry the nestlings about on their backs; that when old enough the young [Pg 31] are pushed out of their nest, and always fall to the ground. ”

“ A boy or girl who has made the mat and basket and doll's furniture will have no difficulty in weaving one of these nests. Then there will be the delight of hanging it in a tree (not too near the house) and watching to see what bird will choose it when nesting time comes.
Fig. 20
Let us weave a nest that shall be light and yet firm. ”

“ Any dark cavity will suit it for a nesting-site, either a hole in some tree or post, an old tin carelessly thrown in a hedge, or some artificial nest-box in the garden, but it will rarely be nearer the ground than about six feet. ”

“ Detached nesting-boxes containing finely-sifted moist sand or cinder ashes, good straw, and a little hay on top, should be placed against the walls of the house, which is preferable to fixed rows of nests, since they can readily be moved, limewashed and cleansed. ”

“ This may partly account for the fact that when birds are robbed of their first, second, or even third set of eggs, they invariably build another nest in close proximity to the old one, as pointed out in my paper "A Study of Subsequent Nestings." ”

“ Preferred nest sites are often at a premium because of the bird’s large size and the shortage of large snags. The smell of carrion around the nest necessitates a well-protected site to lessen predator losses. ”

“ The nests are always quite small, rarely measuring more than three inches in diameter or two in height. Those made in the vicinity of dwellings indicate their neighborhood by the variety of miscellaneous and convenient materials, such as bits of paper, rags, cotton, wool, and the larger and more conspicuous feathers of the poultry-yard. Where raw cotton was abundantly provided, I have known this material, strengthened with a few straws and woody fibres, with a lining of feathers, constitute the whole substance of the nest. ”

“ By degrees, the nest is enlarged and trimmed, and when every thing has been rendered clean and comfortable, the female deposits her eggs, and begins to sit upon them, while her brave and affectionate mate protects and feeds her, and at intervals takes her place. ”

“ They left the nest quietly in thrasher-fashion on the opposite side of the bush when I was a few feet distant. In no case except when I caught one of the young that had left the nest did they show any parental concern. In nesting as well as in migrating they seem to have a go-as-you-please gait. During the three days observation I saw incomplete sets of fresh eggs, sets partly incubated, deserted nests and eggs, and young birds grown and partly grown. ”

“ A nest with three eggs among the heather.
Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) .—Numerous on Foula and elsewhere. We found them nesting in a variety of situations, as below the eaves of a stable, on sloping ground between two boulders on one of the islands near Scalloway; and in Unst, in the loose stone base of a low sod fence within a few inches of a little stream. They seem to place their nests anywhere within shelter. ”

“ Was the bird eating berries, insects, seeds? How was this food secured?
Mating: Every bird has certain courtship habits. Note these antics.
Nesting: Observe the choice of nesting site, the materials used in the nests, such as mud, grass, leaves, and so on. Notice the construction, the number and the color of the eggs; and the incubation period, or the length of time the eggs take to 11 hatch; and above all things, do not in any way disturb any bird’s nest.
The Young: Watch and learn what food the young ones are given by the parents; how they are cared for; the time they remain in the nest ”

“ Owing to the position of the nest, it is often most difficult to get sufficiently concealed to allow the parent birds to feed their offspring and clean the nest perfectly naturally; and in order to obtain accurate knowledge of the mysteries of their nursery, especially with regard to certain problems relating to the order of feeding the young, the actual food that is brought, the condition in which it is delivered to the young, and the possibility of different food being supplied by the male and female respectively, it is necessary to be within a few feet of the nest. ”

“ Nursing females of both species tolerated the male parent in the nest. A male and female often sat side by side in the nest and by means of their bodies participated in covering the young. Males were not observed to attempt any [472] defense of the nest, or of the young. Females were tolerant of older young in the nest when another litter was born and was being nursed. In one nest, a female of P. truei gave birth to a litter of three when her older litter was 29 days old. ”

“ In the midst of these masses of material they construct a compact, cup-shaped, inner nest, hemispherical in shape, composed of finer materials and warmly lined with the fur of small quadrupeds, and with soft feathers. If the eggs are taken as the female is depositing them, she will continue to lay quite a long while. ”

“ The materials of which this nest was composed made it very conspicuous, and, what is more remarkable, the bird must have built it at a time when workmen were erecting an orchard house within a few yards of the bush; but we well know that birds as a rule are much tamer, so to speak, during nidification, than they are at any other time. ”

“ After my mate and I are gone you may find our nest. But your eyes will be sharp indeed if they detect it when the leaves are on the trees, it is so small and blends with the branches. We use fern-wool and soft down to build it, and shingle it with lichens to match the branch it nests upon. You should see the tiny eggs of pure white. But we, our nest and our eggs, are so dainty and delicate that they should never be touched. We are only to be looked at and admired. ”

“ Let only one clutch of eggs of each species be taken for the common high-school collection, and if more than one nest is desired take used and deserted nests. When the nestlings are hatched, the bringing of food, the defence of the home, and the teaching of the young to fly should all be observed and noted. ”

“ See how industriously they are engaged in raising this cold fabric into the form of a true nest, before the female lays her eggs, so that no wet may reach them, from the constant trickling of the waters beneath. ”

“ So soon as incubation commences the mother begins to divest herself of the down which grows thickly beneath her breast-feathers, and adds it to the nest-furniture, so that the eggs are deeply imbedded in this heat-retaining substance—a portion of which she is always careful to pull, as a coverlet, over her treasures when she quits them for food. She is seldom absent from the nest, however, but once, or at most twice, a day, and then she dares not leave it until her mate, after several circling flights of observation, has assured her she may do so unobserved. ”

“ Nesting and care of young.—Among the birds' most interesting instincts and habits are those domestic ones which include mating, nest-building, and care of the young. Birds' eggs and birds' nests are always attractive objects of search and collection for boys, and most boys have a considerable personal knowledge of the domestic habits of the commoner summer birds of their region. ”

“ The nest is normally a mass of moss–and sometimes grass–with a felted lining of wool, hair, or fur, containing from five or six to twelve or more white eggs, which are in most cases spotted or freckled with various shades of red, but rarely with purplish or chocolate-colour. Sometimes more than one is laid in a day. The fabric is placed in holes in trees, stumps, rocks, walls, or the ground; pumps, post-boxes, and so forth are frequently selected: nooks behind loose bark, deserted habitations of other birds, or the foundations of those of Hawks and Crows are sometimes chosen ”

“ Its senses of perception are of the keenest; it can determine friend or foe at long range. The nesting habits are simple, the nests being roughly made of any sort of twigs and stems mixed with hair and feathers and placed in cornices or trees. ”

“ The nest, which is most artistically constructed, is usually suspended from a forked and slender branch; in shape it is like a deep basin. The walls are formed of blades of grass, vine-tendrils, wool, cobwebs, and a great variety of similar materials, the interior being snugly lined with a thick bed of wool, feathers, or fine grass; this beautiful structure is most skilfully fastened in its place by means of long threads or twigs, moistened with saliva from the beak of the bird, and then wound several times round the branch, their ends being woven into the body of the nest. ”

“ His nest is found in barns and outhouses, upon the beams of wood which support the roof, or in any place which assures protection to the young birds. It is cup-shaped and artfully moulded of bits of mud. Grass and feathers are used for the lining. “The nest completed, five or six eggs are deposited. They are of a pure white color, with deep rich brown blotches and spots, notably at the larger end, round which they often form a zone or belt.” The sitting bird is fed by her mate. ”

“ Within, it is lined with the most delicate materials, such as wool and feathers, that the nestlings may be soft and warm. Is it not something nearly approaching to reason, which teaches the bird to place its nest in such a manner as to be sheltered from rain, and out of the reach of destructive animals? Where have they learned that they are to produce eggs, which will require a nest to prevent them from being broken, and to keep them in the necessary temperature? that the heat would not be sufficiently concentrated if the nest were larger ”

“ The nest is formed under a tussock of grass or a stone, and constructed of short dry straws, and usually lined with hair. The number of young in each nest is generally five, sometimes only three, occasionally seven or eight, and at least two broods are produced annually. ”

“ I find no authority in the books for this bird to build upon the ground, yet here is the nest, made chiefly of dry grass, set in a slight excavation in the bank, not two feet from the water, and looking a little perilous to anything but ducklings or sandpipers. There are two young birds and one little specked egg, just pipped. But how is this? what mystery is here? One nestling is much larger than the other, monopolizes most of the nest, and lifts its open mouth far above that of its companion, though obviously both are of the same age, not more than a day old. ”

“ 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. ”

“ You have heard so much about the mother-bird sitting on the nest, that I am sure you will be interested in seeing a father who broods the eggs and hatches out the little ones. I have five wives. They all lay their eggs in one and the same nest, which is a hollow pit scraped out by their feet, the earth heaped up around to form a sort of wall. They lay the eggs, I have said, sometimes thirty in a nest, and I—well, I do the rest.
We are dangerous fellows if disturbed when brooding; have been known to attack a man on horseback, trying to kick and leap on him. ”

“ Wheresoever placed, the nest is formed of small lumps of moist earth, which, carried to the spot in the bird's bill, are duly arranged and modelled, with the aid of short straws or slender sticks, into the required shape. ”

“ The nest prepared, the female is induced to enter. Not less curious is the way in which the male brings the eggs from the bottom into the nest. He appears unable to carry them up in his mouth; instead of this, he first swallows an abundant supply of air, then descending, he places himself beneath the eggs, and suddenly, by a violent contraction of the muscles in the interior of his mouth and pharynx, he exhales the air which he had accumulated by the gills. ”

“ In most cases the nest is bulky and made of sticks, stalks of plants, and sea-weed, lined with straws, coarse grass, and turf, all more or less matted together with droppings, decaying fish, and slime, and smelling most unpleasantly. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A snug, warm nest of rabbit's hair or fern down is quickly built, and in this softest of beds the five or six rosy white, finely speckled little eggs are laid. Before very many days, eight or ten at most, the old stump exhibits unmistakable signs of being animated within, and in a wonderfully short time the little nestlings are as large as their parents, and full, indeed, is this family domicile. Owing to the cleanly habits and care of the old birds, the dresses of the youngsters are cleaner and brighter than those of their hard-worked, food-carrying parents. ”