Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-06-10
BUILDING BIRDS NESTS
THE VARIOUS MATERIALS AND
METHODS EMPLOYED.
A Peep at the Feathered Workers
ing of Mans Friendliness.
From the London Spectator.


From the London Spectator.
| April is to our birds the time Of great
and happy achievements. The building OF
| the nest embodies for these intellectual
| and aesthetic creatures all that is greatest
| in their life. Courtship and the rearing of
the family stand for love and duty. The
| nest building combines both, and adds hope.
imagination. the excitement Of joint pur
pose, and the quiet satisfaction Of intelli-
| gent success. They are making something
! often work Of art. generally work which
| takes thought sometimes one Of exquisite
| fancy and elaboration.
Dull birds. dainty birds, deft BIRDS
| clumsy BIRDS enjoy and take pride in 1t
with different degrees Of intensity. Some
| are very simple, others very knowing.
Some work with the simple, sincere and
| skillful sympathy of lady at her en-
broidery frame. some with well-meaning
up for want of taste. After the Easter
| gales, when the rough winds were still
| tearing loose chips and fakes from the
| serpentine rocks of the Cornish Chersonese,
| and driving the foam-froth from foot to
| summit Of Pfadanack Head. the cormor-
ants were building their rude nests 100
| feet below on the gull rock Of Mullion
Cove. Cormorants are the most awkward
and unga1nly of all nest builders They
are only in their element on and under the
waves, and can scarcely walk on land.
Consequently gathering nest-stuffs is a
hard and puzzling business Yet some
twenty cock cormorants were hard at
work, bringing dry. untidy wisps Of sea-
weed and dead rock plants to their wives.
| who sat on the nests and arranged them.
| AS all the world knows. cormorants carry
all other commodities. which in their case
| mean fish. inside by swallowing them. and
then disgorging. These dry weeds cannot
be swallowed comfortably. and have to be
| carried trailing from the beak. In this
case they were gathered on Mullion Island.
when the birds came lurching and drifting
| in on the gale and then made staggering
tacks onto the sharp peaks of serpentine.
on which they alighted with straddling
legs. and handed over the stuff with many
| endearments to their waiting wives. A
week later came burst Of spring. and the
! small and delicate warblers came over the
sea the very first night. Next day they
were In the deep little combes near the sea,
catching flies, breaking into short bursts of
| song, or practicing under their breath So
far as We know, most of these birds come
to some ancestral spot where one, or both,
Of them has nested the year before. 1t
does not matter whether it be the louvred
ventilator over the brewery copper at CHS
wick, where a pair of swallows nestled for
twenty years. or some romantic little river
side In Devon, there they come unerringly.
Coming Back to Quarters.
What joy and excitement must be theirs
when they hasten to examine their old quar-
tiers. and to see how near to last years site
they can make their nest this spring! Cen
orally they are credited with great cunning
because they are so seldom seen at work.
The real Is that they are generally in
such a hurry to begin that they are
tired and have finished for the day two
hours after dawn. After a very cold wet
Easter like that Of this year. the first
burst Of spring makes them eager to
complete the house that they cannot bring
themselves to STOP even when the day is
far spent and human eyes are watching
them. 1t is part Of bird conscience, not to
go to the nest when a possible enemy Is
looking. But in many places in England
birds are now already learning that man
Is no longer an enemy, and the joy of arch
itecture overcomes inherited prudence. In
the beautiful Devon valley of the Sid. above
Sidmouth, the hot sun which opened every
primrose bud till the green hillsides looked
like starred brocade, and gilded the or
chards with daffodil embroidery, set every
little bird to nest-building. The robin. the
that stay, and all the little warblers,
among birds that come. were busy, work
ing overtime. In this happy valley they
have long been protected by common con-
sent; but even so their confidence was I'M
usual. From a wicked old crow who flew
down from the furZe brake above with a
small snake in his beak to the latest ar
rived white throat or chiffchaff, they re-
garded not man, his presence. The
wrens were the busiest of all. In the thick
hedges Of the scented lanes, by the banks
of the shining Sid. under the Uncovered
bridge, and along the iris-set stresmlets
that flow into it, the little brown birds were
working as busily as bees. One pair were
carry moss to the very roots of an oak,
not two feet above a tiny brooklet. A wren
carrying moss does not look much larger
that a bumblebee. and its burden is not
greater than a pinch of thistledown. But
there is a directness and purpose in the
iopf off ho Ia hf,d
times. When feeding its young the wren
hops on to a bough near and calls to them.
When building it flies straight into the
nest. as If shot from catapult
Homes Well Hidden.
This nest was so well hidden that when
once built no one will ever find it, unless
the bird betrays it. Another pair Of wrens
were flying backwards and forwards across
the river, building in the bank, below
which the trout were lying The cock bird
found time to let off a song, flying to the
top Of a hedge. between his journeys, but
his mate was far more Industrious and Sc
date. The wrens' nests were half finished,
but still wanted the lining. Close by the
first wrens nest a tiny chiffchaff was fid-
getting about with fragment Of valuable
building material in her beak. Scarcely
larger than the wren, and far more fragile,
or the marshes Of the great African lakes,
was putting together the fabric of her
home In this ancestral bit Of Devonshire
hedge, in which her forbears had perhaps
built for generation after generation. The
bird had probably come from some unin-
ha bited land, for she showed no fear Of the
human beings who were looking at her
from three yards of, but only the instinc-
tive reluctance to disclose the place of the
nest which every small bird feels even in
the presence of other birds. It hoped from
branch to branch, sometimes laying down
its bit of leaf and singing, but always
keeping at a certain radius from the bushy
bottom OF hazel clump. Soon its eager
ness to go on with its delightful task got
the better Of its nervousness and 1t flew
down and disappeared at the bottom Of the
hazel bush. When disturbed it flew out
again, disclosing the domed nest, well adj
vanced, but SO cleverly hidden that it was
difficult to discover even when it's position
was known to within six inches. Below the
bridge at Sidford, where the river flows
fast and clear through the rich meadows,
a pair Of hedge-sparrows were building in
bramble bush overhanging the water. OPP