The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1883-05-31
manitowof pilot.
THURSDAY, MAY 81, 1888.
How a Bird Ou.wltted the Monkeys.

''Of all the hanging nests, commend
me to that made of grass by the bara
sparrow of India 1t is one of the most
perfect bird houses known of, and seems
only to need fireplace to make it
real house. 1t is entered through the
long neck at the lower end. The bed
for the eggs rests in the bulb, or expan-
sion at the middle of the nest, where
there are actually two rooms, for the
male has perch divided off from the
female by little partition, where he
may sit and sing TO her in rainy wealth
er, or when the sun shines very hot, and
where he may rest at night. The walls
are firm lattice work of grass, neatly
woven together, which permits the air
to pass through, but does not allow the
birds to be seen. The whole nest is
from fourteen to eighteen inches long,
and six inches wide at the thickest part.
1t is hung low over the water-why, we
shall presently see-and its only en-
trance is through the hanging neck.
why do birds build hanging nests?"
Those birds that do make hanging
nests, undoubtedly do it because they
think them the safest. Birds eggs are
delicacies on the bill of fare of several
animals, and are eagerly sought by
them. Snakes, for instance, live al
most entirely upon then, during the
month of June; squirrels eat them, rae
coons also, and opossums, cats, rats,
and mice. But none of these animals
could creep out to the plant, wavy ends
of the willow branches or elm twigs,
and cling there long enough to get at
the contents of Baltimore orioles
nest.
I'm the country where the baya
sparrow lives, there are snakes and
opossums, and all the rest of the egg
of monkeys, which are more to be fear
ed than all the rest together. Monkeys
are wonderfully expert climbers, from
whom the eggs, in an ordinary open
top pouch nest, like the orioles, would
not be secure; for if they can get any
where near, they will reach their long,
slender fingers down inside the nest.
The baya sparrow discovered this, and
learned to build nest inclosed on all
sides, and to inter it from underneath
by neck too long fora monkey to con-
yeniently reach up through. Beside
this, she took the precaution to hang it
on the very tips of light branches, upon
which she thought no robber would dare
trust himself. BIT she found that mon
keys knew trick worth two O that
They would go to higher limb which
was strong, and one would let himself
down from it, grasping it ir,nly with
his hands; then another monkey would
crawl down and hold on to the heels of
the first one, another would 90 below
him, and so on until several were hang
ing to each other. and the lowest one
could reach the sparrow's treasures.
He would eat them all himself, and then
one by one they would climb up over
each other; and last of all the tired first
one, who had been holding up the
weight of all the rest, would get up,
too. and all would 90 noisily off in search
of fresh plumber, which, 1 suppose,
would be given to different one, the
rest making ladder for him as before.
1.-The cunning baya sparrow saw way
to avoid even this dangerous trickery.
She knew that there was nothing mon
key hated so terribly as to get his sleek
coat wet. He would rather 90 hungry.
So she hung her nest over the water
close to the surface, and the agile thieves
do not dare make chain long enough
to enable the last one to reach up into
her nest from below, as he must do, for
fear that the springy brrnches might
bend SO far as to souse them into the
water.
The sparrow has fairly outwitted
the monkey!'-EgneSt ngersoH, in May
81 Nicholas