The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-07-06
How The Birds Make Their
Nests.
BY MRS. l.. NJ. CHILD.

y
have greatly wished that you could watch
the pretty little creature while she made
it. There are great variety Of nests
Some birds make them with much more
neatness and ingenuity than others,
There are the ground builders, the plat.
builders, the mining birds, the
mason birds, the carpenter birds, the
basket. making birds, the dome. builders
the cementers, the weaver birds, the
tailor birds, and the felt making birds
Birds that build on the earth, or the
floor, are called ground. builders. The
redbreast, the pretty little song.sparrow,
and the yellow-winged sparrow, build
their nice little nests Of dried grass lined
with horse.hair, close to the root of some
protecting bush, or under the shelter Of a
high tuft of grass. The swamp sparrow,
and other little birds that love watery
places, make their nests of wet grass,
rushes, and sea.moss, often in the midst
of bunch of rank grass, surrounded by
water.
The famous eider.duck, from which the
warm eider.down is obtained for our
hoods and cloaks, builds near the sea.
shore, under juniper bush, or bundle
Of dry sea.weed. They make q rough
mattress of dry grass and sea-wecd, over
which the good mother spreads bed for
her little ones, of the finest and softest
down, plucked from her own breast. She
heaps it up, so as 10 form thick puffcd
roll down the edge; and when she is
obliged to 60 away in search Of food, she
pulls the roll down, and carefully spreads
it over the eggs, to keep them warm till
she returns.
The down is SO very light and warm
that it brings high price. One nest
generally contains about half pound,
which sells for two dollars. In some
parts Of Greenland and Iceland these
nests are so thick that you can scarcely
walk on the sea shore without treading
on them People steal the down, and
the poor mother again plucks her breast,
and patiently lines the nest anew If
again robbed, and she has no more down
to give, the father.bird plucks his breast
to line cradle for his family, These
birds often build in places SO hard to get
at that men are let down by ropes, over
steep precipices, to rob their nests Of the
precious down.
Birds that do not shape a hollow nest,
but simply strew their materials on fiat
surface, are called platform. builders. The
ring.dove, or wood.pigeon, merely lays a
pile Of twigs and leaves on the branches
of an oak or fir tree. The eagle builds
his rude, strong nest Of large sticks and
sods of earth on the ledge OF some high
precipice. Storks spread twigs and straw
on the roofs of houses, the towers Of old
churches, and the columns Of ruined
temples. Almost every pillar among the
ruins Of Persepolis, in Persia, contains a
stork's neat. In Bagdad, and other cities
Of Asiatic Turkey, nearly all the towers
of the mosques arc surmounted by q
stork's nest; and the large bird, stretch
ing up her long neck, looks like carved
pinnacle or ornament. The ancients con-
sidered the stork sacred, and in all modern
countries visited by these birds, they are
viewed with great tenderness. This is
partly owing to their usefulness in de.
stroying reptiles and vermin, and partly
because they are so faithful and affection.
ate to each other. In winter they 60
south, to Arabia, Egypt, and other warm
countries; but the same mates return,
year after year, to the same nests. In
Germany and Spain many families know
their own particular storks, and the storks
know them. 1t is considered good for.
tune to have them build on the house.
roof. In marshy districts, where they are
particularly useful in destroying reptiles,
the inhabitants often fasten an old cart.
wheel on the top of strong high post,
and the storks are almost always sure to
spread their nests upon it. The Turks
hold them in peculiar veneration and
the storks understand their attachment so
well, tnat in cities abounding with
foreigners, they will single out the Turk.
ish houses to build upon. When the
Greeks were at war with the Turks they
were unmanly enough to show their hatred
by killing the storks. When remonstrat.
ed with for their cruelty they answered,
at is a vile Turkish Bird and will never
build on the house Of Greek" But if
they had loved and protected the birds, |
dare say they would have nestled on their
houses.
Mining birds are those that scoop out
nests in the ground. Bank.swallows
cling with their sharp claws to the side OF
a sandy bank, and peck at it with their
hard bills as miner would with pick.
axe. They bore little mining galleries
two or three feet into the bank slope
them upward to keep out the rain, and at
the end place a nice little bed of hay and
feathers. These birds live together in
? largo aocks. Sometimes the face of a
sandbank will be entirely covered with
the round holes by which they enter their
nests
Owls, pufins, and penguins burrow
deep holes underground, with many turn.
ings and windings, They dig with their
strong, sharp bills, and scrape out the
rubbish with their feet, In some unfre.
quented places they bore so many holes
in the loose sandy soil, that it falls in
when a traveller attempts to walk over it,
No doubt they are very neighborly in
such cases, and lend each other .her
houses till repairs can be made,
Mason birds build with mud and clay
moistened by kind of glutinous liquid
from their own throats Cliff-swallows
90 in focks, and fasten a whole settle.
ment of such nests under projecting
ledge OF rock, or under the caves of o
house. They look like rough little jugs
glued against the wall, with the open
f mouth outward for an entrance. Within
they are lined with dried grass. Though
/ they have no shoves to mix their mortar
and no barrows to carry their sand, these
, Industrious little creatures finish theii
) b uses in the course Of three days.
3 The window.sv llow is so called be