The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1905-06-15
The Home
JENNIE LESTER HILL, EditOr
Birds'-Nests.

or struggling and untidy. told you,
the other day, about the pretty nest
that the humming bird builds. One
species of the vireo, of which there are
great many varieties, makes almost
as beautiful a nest as the humming-
bird, which il initiates in one respest.
II also covers the nest with gray
green lichens so that il cannot be
found. Ionce saw vireo's nest that
had been fastened into forked twig
where il was made secure First the
bird covered the whole outside with
cobwebs, then to these webs il had at
tached the lichens, making a rough
surface that looked like a messy knot
on bough, just as the humming- bird
does.
The song sparrow, and many other
kinds of native sparrows make their
nests almost altogether out of horse
hair, which they gatherup in the roads
and in the fields where the hourses
Craze.
The blueiay, with its fine plumage,
makes a very slovenly nest. Ii chooses
the fork Of a tree and piles in the
building material in the most careless
manner, just dumping it down, appar-
emily without any thought about it,
For this reason jays nest is easy to
find, for there usually nutters from
it collection of strings and bits of
rag.
The dove is also careless about her
nest, getting together few sticks
which are placed in haphazard fashion
and which cannot be very comfortable
for the brooding mother. The dove
very often selects the honey locust for
her nesting place, probably because
the long, sharp thorns are protection
against the hawks and jays.
The eagle chooses the very top of a
tall tree and makes its nest of twigs
and sticks out Of reach of the hunters.
If the tree grows upon a mountain or
in some lonely, out of the way spot,
the mother eagle is all the more con
tent.
The little wren, the very opposite Of
the wild, fierce eagle, loves TO live
close TO the home Of men, like the
purple martin. A neighbor once put a
large gourd in plum tree and a pair
of wrens discovered it and moved in
at once. They were very busy getting
the nest to suit them, gathering mate
rial and then throwing it away But at
last they were satisfied and the brood
was Matched and 1edged. They came
year after year, and finally their kind
landlord made a little porch to the
gourd house which they seemed to APP
preciate very much, sitting ON it and
preening their feathers, or resting as
they flew back and forth with food for
their hungry young ones. The wren's
nest is made of grass and hair, very
bulky for its small interior, which is
beautifully lined with the softest
downy feathers.
When was little girl | could climb
almost any tree, much preferringb boys
pastimes to playing with dolls. Even
then | loved to watch the birds, and
find where they lived. One dangerous
adventure wasclimbing a tall dead tree
to see the nest of red headed wood.
pecker. had noticed the old birds
flying in and out Of the hole, very near
the top of the tree, with food for their
babies. The tree was quite dead, and
the remaining boughs were brittle and
decayed. But by stepping carefully
and catching close to where they grew
from the trunk of the tree, managed
not to fall, and | reached the wood
pecker's nest, which was we'll worth
the trouble it had cost to see it. A
good space had been smoothly hollow
ed out in the spongy, rotten wood and,
here the young birds lay, the incest
possible sort of a bed. | was very care
full not to touch them or put my hand
into the hole.
The orioles nest is a little hammock
made of hair and grass and interviewer
very often with long pieces of string.
l have seen them literally tied to the
bough, where they hung in the sum
mer wind, with long pieces of cotton
Irvine wound round and round the
branch.
The mynah is a saucy bird that is
seen everywhere in central and south
ern India. Ii has been brought to the
Hawaiian islands. Scores of them may
be seen walking about the lawns and
fluttering in the palm aud mango tree
They have one funny habit, and this is
riding on the back of animals, the
cows, pigs and horses. They hunt the
vermin with which the animals are in
tested, and their attentions do not seem
to give any annoyance, except possibly
TO the insects for which they are look
ing. | have seen three mynahs sitting
on the back of one patient COW, which
was almost an abuse of hospitality.
The mynahs build as untidy nests as