The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-06-12
HOW BIRDS DECEIVE.
@ reat Ingenuity Used In Protecting
Their Young.

IOIl l4t4Ao n AAA- AAAtos
Birds building on high trees are not so
wary about the concealment Of their
nests as hedge builders and those that
seek the springing corn or grass land for
the shelter of their homes, trusting to
the loftiness Of the situation for Sc
curity.
A nest placed upon the ground is in con-
slant danger of exposure; browsing
animal might destroy it; then the scythe
with one sweep occasionally lays bare one
or more nests, thereby endangering the
eggs or callow nestlings. This renders
the parent birds very wary, and causes
them to practice great ingenuity IN their
efforts to protect the young birds.
The skylark has been known to carry
its eggs or offspring TO a place of safety
after an exposure of the nest, and 1t has
been said its long hind claw-the use OF
which has puzzled many naturaLsts-is
specially adapted by nature for more
easily grasping and transporting its treas
ures from the soucre of danger.
When the young birds are too bulky to
be thus removed the parent carries them.
on its back, though this mode of removal
is a somewhat difficult one.
Nesting upon the ground the partridgeis
likewise liable to be disturbed. a bird of
this species was once startled by a plOw
Il y
Destruction was almost a certainty, as
the plow must pass entirely over it the
next round, and the lab0rer wondered how
the partridge would act.
The time necessary for going round the
field was about twenty minutes yet in
that almost incredible period the parent
birds had effected the removal of some
twenty-one eggs to a safe spot.
Careful search led to the discovery of
tr6 40 1rr,1y caafnd hnr. fTaa
in the bottom of the hedge, out of reach
of the plow. Nineteen partridge chicks
were eventually Matched and duly escaped
unmOleSted
Some birds will forsaBe their nests if SO
much as a finger is placed within, but
others, suspicious that their secret has
been discovered, they seek to hide them
more efficaciously by admirably ingenious
plans.
Among the thick fern growth of a bank
a wood warbler had woven nest. The
bird had evidently selected this bank be
cause of the quantity of dead leaves scat
tered and heaped thereon, the tawny
crispness of these corresponding nicely
with the dOmed edifce, thereby rendering
discovery almost impossible.
But the fine quality of the ferns led to
its dissection. Tugging at the frail fronds,
a kindly disposed lady scared the setting
to an adjacent Dough, and there exhibited
signs of great distress. The lover of nat
ure could not resist peep at the cozy
home, which at glance appeared like a
shapeless mass of dead leaves and
grasses.
Some few days after walking through
the same wood, she was again tempted to
pay the little wood-bird visit Puzzled
and surprised, she could not find it's
VVbarn0 bouts blf a few minutes GaaIsah
revealed an alteration from the original
mode The cunning bird had blocked up
the old entrance and covered that side of
the nest with dead leaves, breaking a
doorway through on the opposite side.
The maybe is nothing if not ingenious.
He always barricades his bulky nest with
thorn branches, so to plumber it is
by no means an easy matter; but when
circumstances oblige the 'pie' to build
in a low bush or hedge-an absence of
lofty trees being a marked feature of some
northern localities-he not only inter-
laces his home, but also the entire bush
in a most formidable manner.
Nor does he stop here. To maze assur-
ance doubly sure,n he fashions a means
of exit as well as entrance to his castle,
so that, if disturbed, he can slip out by
his back door, as it were.
A tree sparrow on one occasion built its
nest in a tall elm, just beneath the more
bulky erection of q crow Not only did
the large nest screen the smaller, but 1t
afforded means of protection from the va
carries of the weather. Some time after
the crows nest was plundered of its con-
tents, while that of the tree sparrow es-
capped untouched.
A greenfnch once built it's nest inside
the deserted home of missel-t thrust.
This deserted nest was well known to the
birdnes ting boy as forsaken, it being sew
eral seasons old and much battered by the
storms of past winters: so none ventured
to climb the tree after it. The enterpris-
ing f1nches succeeded in bringing of a
brood of five successfully, and this in
spite of the fact that the tree was
| almost in the village street, and stood
quite alone. AS if aware of its publicity
the old birds were very cautious in their
journeys to and from the nest, and did
not display the marked restlessness of
parent birds in general otherwise their
secret must have been betrayed
The young birds practice deception for
| their ultimate safety, especially those G.
the partridge and lapwing species At a
given signal from the parent they squat
close to the ground, hoping by such means
to escape the eye of the intruder: in such
cases their coloring assists them, the
feathers of the helpless fiedglings par.
taking of the hues of their general sur.
roundings.
Nestlings taken by surprise feirn
! helplesssness, and encourage the notion
that they have not yet power to use their
wings. But no sooner is the means of es-
cape evident than away they futter,
awllwardly, is is true, but sufficiently
well to accomplish their purpose.