Homes Without Hands: Being a Description of the Habitations of Animals, Classed According to Their Principle of Construction - Page 103

“While the female is sitting, the cries of the male are still more loud and incessant. When once aware that you have seen him, he is less solicitous to conceal himself, and will sometimes mount up into the air, almost perpendicularly, with his legs hanging, descending, as he rose, by repeated jerks, as if highly irritated, or, as is vulgarly said, ‘dancing mad.’ All this noise and gesticulation we must attribute to his extreme affection for his mate and young; and when we consider the great distance from which in all probability he comes, the few young produced at a time, and that seldom more than once in the season, we can see the wisdom of Providence very manifestly in the ardency of his passions.”

The nest which the bird defends with such skill and courage is very well concealed in a dense thicket, and the bird is always best pleased if it can find a bramble-bush thick in foliage and well beset with thorns. Sometimes it is forced to content itself with a vine or a cedar, and in any case it is seldom more than four or five feet from the ground. The outer wall is made of leaves, within which is a layer formed of the thin bark of the grape-vine, and the lining is formed of dried grasses and fibrous roots of plants.

An allied bird, the YELLOW-THROATED CHAT (Vireo flavifrons), makes a nest somewhat similar in materials, though not in locality, to that of the preceding bird. It is usually fixed in the horizontal branch of a tree or bush, and is made from the bark of the grape-vine, moss, and lichens, and is lined with fine vegetable fibres.

OF our four British pigeons, two are branch-builders. The Stockdove places its nest in holes in trees, in holes in the ground, or on the tops of pollard oaks, willows, and similarly crippled trees. The Rockdove makes its rude nest in the crevices of the rocks which it frequents. But the Ringdove and the Turtledove are true branch-builders, and are therefore noticed in this place.

We will first take the RINGDOVE (Columba palumbus), sometimes called the Wood-pigeon, the Woodquest or queest, and the Cushat.

The nest of the Ringdove is placed in a variety of localities, for the bird is not in the least particular in this respect. Sometimes it is situated near the top of a lofty tree, and sometimes it is found in a hedge only a few feet from the ground. I have seen nests in both localities.

Mr. Waterton mentions a curious circumstance connected with this bird. In a spruce fir-tree there was a nest of a magpie containing seven eggs, which were removed, and those of the jackdaw substituted. Below this nest a Ringdove had chosen to fix her abode, and so the curious fact was seen, that on the same tree, in close proximity to each other, were magpies, jackdaws, and Ringdoves, and all living in perfect amity. It might have been supposed that the magpies and jackdaws would have robbed the nest of the Ringdove, but such was not the case. Moreover, the bird knew instinctively that she would not be endangered by her neighbors, for she came to the tree after the magpie had settled in it.

The nest of the Ringdove is of so simple a character as scarcely to deserve the name. The bird chooses a suitable spray, and lays upon it a number of sticks, which cross each other so as to make a nearly flat platform. Many birds make a similar platform as the foundation of their nest, but with the Ringdove it constitutes the entire nest. So slight is the texture of the platform, that when the two white eggs are laid upon it they can be discerned from below by a practiced eye, and it really seems wonderful that they can retain their position on such a structure.

Moreover, the open meshes of the nest allow the wind to blow freely between the sticks, so that nothing would seem to be more uncomfortable for the young. Above, they can certainly be sheltered by the warm body and protecting wings, but below they seem to be exposed to every blast. Yet they find shelter enough, and not only find it, but make it. With the generality of birds the droppings are conveyed away by the parents, but with the Ringdove they are allowed to remain, when they rapidly fill up all the open interstices, and form a dry scentless plaster, which effectually defends the tender bodies of the young from the wind, and has the farther effect of consolidating and strengthening the nest.

Ringdove and Nest.

Although the nests are plentiful enough, and the eggs are common in the cabinet of oologists, it is not very easy to find a nest that is furnished with this curious plaster, probably because some one of the many foes which persecute the Ringdove has discovered the nest, stolen the eggs, or killed the parent before the young birds were hatched.

It has already been mentioned that, with many branch-building birds, the thickness of the nest, or of the platform on which it is placed, is regulated by the exposed or sheltered position of the branch, and such is the case with the Ringdove. Although, in some instances, the platform is so flimsy that the eggs can be seen through the interstices, in other cases it is from half an inch to an entire inch in thickness. In all cases, the longest twigs are first laid, and followed by those of smaller size; and, although the whole structure is very rude, it is always made with sufficient care to assume a tolerably circular shape.

The Turtledove (Columba turtur) builds a nest of very similar form, and, if possible, even slighter in construction.

Every one knows the common catchweed so plentiful in waste ground. The long trailing stems of this plant are used by a pretty little bird in making its nest, and are most ingeniously twined among the branches into the needful shape. The bird which uses this plant is the WHITETHROAT (Curruca cinerea), sometimes called the Haychat and Nettle-creeper. Its ordinary name is due to the white feathers of the throat, and it is called Nettle-creeper because it is so active among the weeds that fringe the hedgerows. The nest is always placed low, and I have mostly found it toward the top of some stubby bush or shrub, about three feet from the ground. Although placed in such localities, it is not very easy of discovery, as it is well hidden by the foliage, and in most instances the boughs must be pressed aside before the nest can be made clearly visible. Although the catchweed is used by the bird in making the frame-work of the nest, it does not consider itself bound to employ no other substance, but uses grass-blades and vegetable fibres. The lining of the nest is simply made of fine hay, among which are twined a variable number of horsehairs, sometimes only twenty or thirty, and sometimes in such a quantity as almost to conceal the hay. It is in allusion to the lining of the nest that the bird is called Haychat. The nest varies much in thickness, probably in proportion to the density of the bush in which it is placed.

THE celebrated MOCKING-BIRD of America (Turdus [or Mimus] polyglottus) is also one of the branch-builders.

The situation chosen by the bird is always variable, depending almost entirely on the nature of the district and the character of the inhabitants. Should the bird be resident in some wild part of the country, it takes some pains to conceal its nest, choosing the most impenetrable thicket that can be found. A thick thornbush is a favorite spot, because the sharp points serve to deter intruders from forcing their way to the nest; and the cedar is sometimes chosen, because its dark masses of foliage afford such a cover for the nest that it can scarcely be detected even by one who is looking for it.

But, should the bird build in some inhabited locality, where it is taught by instinct that it will not be molested, it makes its nest close to the house, and cares not to hide it. Six or seven feet from the ground is the usual height at which the nest is placed, and the bird has so little anxiety about its nest that it often builds upon the branches of a pear or apple tree. The nest itself is rather a pleasing specimen of bird architecture, and is mostly built upon a slight foundation of delicate twigs, intermixed with dry weeds of the preceding year. The body of the nest is formed of straw, grass, wool, and vegetable fibres, and the lining is almost wholly composed of very fine fibrous roots.

Although the bird is so careless about concealing its nest, it is jealously anxious about intruders, and attacks indiscriminately any beast, reptile, or bird that approaches the favored spot. Dogs are forced to run away from the sharp beak and buffeting wings of the angry bird; the cat finds that the ascent of a tree while a pair of infuriated birds are pecking her nose and blinding her eyes is an impracticable task, and even man himself is attacked by the fearless defenders of the home.

The worst and most treacherous foe, however, is the blacksnake (Coryphodon constrictor), a harmless reptile, but one that is much dreaded by uninstructed pedestrians, because it imitates the manners of the rattlesnake with such fidelity that it is generally reckoned among the poisonous serpents. This snake lives mostly on rats, mice, young birds, and eggs, and in pursuit of the last-mentioned dainties will ascend trees and traverse any branch which holds a nest.

The very sight of the blacksnake inflames the Mocking-bird with fury, and he instantly darts at it, avoiding its stroke with admirable quickness, and dealing a rapid succession of blows on the reptile's head. The blacksnake is peculiarly vulnerable about the head, and even tries to retreat, but is prevented from escaping by the Mocking-bird, which redoubles his efforts, and easily beats the reptile down. As soon as he sees his advantage, he seizes the snake by the neck, lifts it from the ground, buffets it with his wings, pecks it again as it drops, and ceases not until the hated enemy is left dead on the ground.

THE well-known WATER HEN or MOOR HEN (Gallinula Chloropus) is nearly, though not quite, as variable in its nesting as the red-winged starling lately described. The nest is always placed near the water, but the bird seems to be very indifferent about the precise locality.

Sometimes it is made on the ground, and in that case is laid among sedges and rushes where the water can not reach it. The Water Hen, however, is not averse to nesting in a warm and comfortable place, for Mr. Waterton mentions that on one occasion, when he had built a neat little brick house for a duck, and furnished it with dry hay for a nest, a Water Hen took possession of it, and the duck had to find a home elsewhere.

Water Hen and Nest.

Sometimes the nest is made on a branch, and in that case the bird selects a very low bough which overhangs the water. I have found several nests thus placed, and in one case the only method of getting at the nest was to enter the water and swim round to it. It is a large and rudely-made nest, and from its size appears to be more conspicuous than is really the case. When it is placed on a bough, the twigs of the same branch often dip into the water, and the nest looks like a bunch of weeds and other débris that have floated down the stream and been arrested by the branch.

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