The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1892-06-21

der elm or Willow CWlS, ana tHe p,u i'' g.
hard time to hold on while at work. one
experienced old oriole for years has bllllt
in the elm near my door, ana occasi9ihIihh
/ have caught glimpse OF INN. WI.
not be positive, but believe, that his l ll.:1
move is to find a good stout strung, anu 1Aio
he ties to the tWig.
I use the word "tie" because / have
found in many cases capitally tied Knoll ;
but how the bird, or even the DrdS, Gout 1
accomplish this. l cannot imagine. ooti
feet and beak, [ suppose, are brought !lito
play; but how? To get some insight INTO
the matter l once tied very long string
to the end of n thread the orlole had ,,; Sc
cured at one end, and left dangling. Inns
interference caused some conmouon, DlI
the bird was not Outwitted. 1t caught tl1
long string by it's loose end and wrapped
it over and over various twigs and soon
had curious openwork bag that served
its. purpose admirably. The llnIng r,,' .,
soft, fluffy stuffs was soon added. Ilils
brought up the question of whether the
bird ever ties short pieces together ana so
strength to the finished nest In examining
nests / have seen such knots as might
have been tied by the birds, but there was
no way to prove it. That they do wrap
string several times about q twig and then
tie it, just as boy ties his fishing line to
have followed the bird far enough to be
sure of this. When at work the bird, from
necessity. is in a reversed position; tnaC
is, tail up and head down. This has an
obvious advantage, in that the builder can
see what is going on beneath him, ana
shows, too, how near the ground the nest
will come when finished; but it sometimes
happens that he gets so absorbed in ms
work that person can get quite near, but
| never knew him to get entangled In the
loose ends that hang about him.
The oriola at times offers US a wonderful
example of a birds ingenuity. 1t occasion
ally happens that too slight a twlg Is Sc
lected, and when the nest is finished, or
later. when the young are nearly grown,
the structure hangs down too low for safe
ty or sways too violently when the parent
birds alight on it. This is a difficulty the
bird has to contend with, and has been
known to remedy it by attaching q cord
to the sustaining tWi2s and tying them
to Il higher limb Of the tree, thus securing
the necessary stability.
more familiar evidence of q birds i'll
telligence is where the vireos are disturbed
by the presence Of a coWbird's egg iii their
nest. To get rid of it, they often build
new floor to the nest, and so leave the
an error of judgment that [ am surprised
to find. The birds that take this trouble
certainly could throw the egg overheard,
and, l should think. preserve their own
eggs, which invariably are left to decay
when a new structure IS reared above the
old. l believe even three-storied vjreos'
nests have been found.
There is one common swallow that IS
found well nigh everywhere, that burrows
into the sand; when we think of IT, it seems
strange that so aerial q bird should build
so gloomy an abode for the nesting season.
This bank swallow. as it is called, selects
suitable bluff, facing water, and with
closed beak, turns round and round with
its head to the ground, and bOres a hole
big enough to crawl into. II turns into a
rJJ11ln fnr nd q
the point of the tool This is odd work
for a bird that almost lives in the air, and
then. think 200. of sitting in a dark cave,
sometimes six feet long. until the eggs are
Matched On the other hand, the barn
swallow makes Il nest where there is plenty
of light and air, and is q mason rather than
carpenter miner. The mud he uses
is not mere earth and water, but is made
more adherent by the trace of secretion
from the birds mouth; at least, my ex-
periments lead me to think so. To build
such a nest would be slow work did not
the two birds work together ana carry
their little loads of mortar with great rapid
ity. They waste 10 time, and use only
good materials, for 1 have noticed them,
when building, go to quite distant spot
for the mud when q pool was directly out
side of the barn in which they were build
ing. 10 all appearance the nest is of sun
dried mud, but the material has certainly
undergone 4 kind of pudding first that
the whole to the rafter or side of the build
ing. Again, the swallows have the knacI1
of carrying n little water on the feathers
of their breasts, think ard give the struct-
IRE a shower-likc wotting from time to
time. At last the structure sets and is
practically permanent.
Going back to the fields and thicllets. it
will be seen that birds, as a rule. desire that
their nests should be inconspicuous. and
their efforts are always largely in this di-
rection in the construction. The foliage
of the tree or bush is considered, and when
not directly concealed by these, the nest
is made to look marvellously like a natural
production of the vegetable world. as the
beautiful nest of our wood pee-wee or the
humming bird shows. These nests are then
not merely the homes of young birds, but
are studies of defense against host of
enemies. The parent birds have no simple
task set before them that can be gone
through with mechanically year after year.
Every season new problems arise if their
favorte hnunts suffer change. and every
year the birds prove equal to their solu-
ton.