The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-05-12
How Bril- outwisted tbs Monk :.

| 80" II Dfitt wa " lGSt1u tU1 EItslik
'Of all the hanging nests. eenlnlen
lie - laat made ri grass BY th;.tIaN
sparrow of India. It's one of the mos
perfect bird houses noMn OF. ans. seem
Only To need II Fireplace In make il
real house. 1t is entered through tn
Ioii3 neck mt the lower end The be-
iof the eggs rests ia the bulb or exDau
:. SION at the nddie of the nest, wher
there are actually two rooms. for tn,
male has perch divided off from tn,
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 ut night The walls
are il firm lattice work of grass. neatly
| woven together, which permits the all
To- pass through, bat does not-,.llow the
blrds to be seen. The whole nest is
from fourteen TO eighteen inches long.
anu SIX inches wide ut tile thit.kest part
III Is hung low over the water-why. We
shall presently see-anl lis eulv en
france Is through the hangino, lleek.
ny do birds build hanging nesfs?'
those birds that do make hanging
think them the safest. Bird es,e-s are
delicacies on the bill of far,, Of several
animals, and are eagerly sought b,
them Snakes. for instance, live nj
most entirely upon them, during the.
month OF June; squirrels cat them. rae
coons also, and opossumS- Gals. .-atss
anu mice. But none of these animals
seOnld ereep cut to tile plant, Way ends
oil the willow branches or elm twios.
and cling there long enough to oct nj
the contents of a Baltimore oriole'>
nest
-ln the country where the .bava
sparrow lives, there are snakes and
oPossums, and al the rest OF the eo-y.
earers; and in addition tiiere are troops |
OF monkeys, which arr. more. 10 be fear
ed than all the rest together Monkeysi
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 lone.
slender fingers down inside the nest
The baya sparrow discovered this, and
learned to build nest inclosed on all
sides, and to enter it from underneath
by a neck too longEfora monkey to con
yeniently reach up through Beside
this, she took the precaution to hano il
On the very tips of light branches, upon
which she thought no robber would dare
trust himself. But she found that mon
keys knew trick worth two O. that.
They would go to higher limb which
vas strong. and=on would let himself
Town from it, grasping it. firmly with
us hands; then another monkey would
,rawl down and hold on TO the heels of
he first one, another would 90 below ,
lim. and so on until several were hap0
ng TO each other. and the lowest on,
ould reach the sparrow's treasures.
lie would eat them all himself. and them
neby one they would climb MP over :
ach other and last of all the tired first
ne. who had been holding up the Z
Feight of all the rest, would get I'M. c
90, and all would go noisily off in search @
fresh plunder, which, 1 suppose. /
Vonid be given to different one, the {
est making "a ladder for him as before. :
The cunning baya sparrow saw wav !
9 avoid even this dangerous trickery. t
he knew that there was nothing a mon L
ey hated so terribly as to get his sleek 9
oat wet. He would rather go hungry. :
70 she hung her nest over the waite, v
lose to the surface. and the agile thieves r
Q not dare make chain long enough I
, enable the last one to reach up into i
er nest from below, as he must do, for n
ear that the springy brrnches might T
END SO lar us to sonse them into the =
yater =
he sparrow has fairly outwittcd y
ne monkeyi Ernest I,aqsrsoH. IN MAJ a
Il. Nicholas. "