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

The similitude is increased by a curious habit of the bird. When she leaves her nest, she pulls over her eggs a quantity of the same substances as those which form the materials of the nest, so that they are completely hidden from sight, and the form of the nest is quite obscured. It is true that the nest is not unfrequently found with the eggs exposed, but this apparent negligence is always caused by the frightened bird dashing off at the approach of the intruder, and having no time to cover her eggs properly. The object of covering the eggs was once thought to be the retention of heat, the neighborhood of water being imagined to be injurious. As, however, many birds build as close to the water as does the Water Hen, and do not cover the eggs, it is evident that concealment, and not warmth, is the object to be attained.

I may mention that the illustration was sketched from a nest before it was removed, and that most of the nests have been drawn in the same manner from actual objects.

The eggs are many in number, seldom less than six, and often eight, and their united weight is far from inconsiderable, as they are fully proportioned to the size of the bird. The young are the oddest little beings imaginable, looking like spherical puffs of black down rather than birds. They take to the water at once, and if the reader can manage to watch the mother and her little family, he will see one of the quaintest and prettiest groups that our country can supply. The little black balls swim about quite at their ease, keeping within a short distance of their parent, and traversing the water with a rapidity that reminds the observer of the gyrini, or whirligig beetles. In spite of the prolific nature of the bird, it is not so numerous as it might be, having many enemies in its youth, the worst of which is the pike, which comes up silently from below, opens its terrible jaws, and absorbs the unsuspecting bird.

CHAPTER XXIX.

FEATHERED BRANCH-BUILDERS (Continued).

The Sedge Warbler.—Its Nest and Loquacity.—The Reed Warbler.—Use of its peculiar Tail.—Localities haunted by the Bird.—Song of the Reed Warbler.—Its deep and beautifully-balanced Nest.—Color of the Eggs.—The Indigo Bird.—The Capocier.—Familiarity of the Bird.—Le Vaillant's Experiments.—How the Nest is made.—Division of Labor.—Lover's Quarrels.—Structure of the Nest.—Humming-birds again.—The Fiery Topaz.—Its nocturnal Habits.—Appearance of the Nest.—Its Shape, and the Materials of which it is made.—The Hermit Humming-birds and their Nests.—The Ruby-throated Humming-bird.—Variable Dimensions of the Nest.—Concealment.—Mr. Webber and his Discoveries.—Variable Form and Positions of the Nest.—Materials of which it is made.—Its deceptive Exterior.—Feeding of the Young.—The Vervain Humming-bird.—How the Nest assumes its Shape.—The Red-backed Shrike.—Use of the Shrike in Falconry.—Their singular Mode of Feeding.—Impaled Prey.—Conspicuous Character of the Nest.—Popular Ideas concerning the Red-backed Shrike.—Structure of the Nest.—The Hedge Sparrow.—Its proper Title.—Carelessness about its Nest.—Foes of the Hedge Sparrow.—Its Fecundity.

ANOTHER bird that loves to build near water is the pretty little SEDGE WARBLER (Salicaria phragmitis).

The nest of this bird is placed at a very low elevation, usually within a foot or so from the ground, and raised upon rushes, reeds, or other coarse herbage, which is found abundantly in such places. There is more material in the nest than might be supposed from the size of the bird and the slender stems by which it is supported. Viewed from the exterior, it seems to have the ordinary cup-shaped form which is so prevalent among small birds, but looked at from above, the apparent depth is seen to be owing to the mass of material, the hollow being singularly small and shallow. It is a well-made nest, the general frame-work being formed of leaves or grass-blades, while strength, warmth, and density are attained by the quantity of wool and hair which are woven into the fabric.

The Sedge Warbler is well known for its loquacity and its ceaseless chatter. Should it be silent, a stone flung among the reeds and sedges will always induce it to recommence its little song.

THE remarkably beautiful nest which is here shown is built by one of the British birds, but is not often found, on account of the localities where it is placed.

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The architect of this nest is the REED WARBLER (Salicaria [or Curruca] arundinacea). It is a pretty little bird, bright brown above, yellow-brown below. In some respects it resembles the sedge warbler, but does not possess the remarkable wedge-shaped tail of that bird. R. Mudie, in his History of British Birds, offers the following suggestion respecting this difference of form. When treating of the sedge warbler, he remarks that the slender head, pointed bill, and wedge-shaped tail are useful to the bird by enabling it to glide between the tall aquatic plants among which it resides and finds its food. Of the Reed Warbler he writes as follows:

"That the bird is not adapted for so many situations as the sedge bird might be inferred from the different form of the tail, which is more produced and not wedge-shaped, so that while it answers better as a balance on the bending reeds or other flexible aquatic plants, it would not be so convenient among the unyielding sprays of a hedge or brake. The bird rarely, if ever, perches upon the tops of reeds, even on its first arrival, and when the song of invitation to a mate is given, its place is on a leaf or a leaning stem, though upon an emergency it can cling to an upright one, the stiff feathers of the tail acting as a sort of prop.

"It is not easily raised, and remains but a very short time upon the wing, but it is by no means timid on its perch, upon which, if it be very flexible, it sits with its wings not quite closed, but recurved, so as to have a little hold on the air, and thereby either prevent its fall, or be ready, when a gust comes, to bear it to a more secure footing. Its food is found wholly over the stagnant waters. The Reed Warbler does not come in until the reeds are considerably advanced, and it departs before they are cut, so that it dwells in peace; and especially in the mornings, about the end of May and the beginning of June, it may be observed with the greatest ease."

Still, although the bird be common, and although it is bold enough to admit of approach, it is not generally familiar, simply because none but professed naturalists are likely to look for it in the spots which it frequents. The Reed Warbler loves a large patch of marshy land almost wholly covered with stagnant water, and full of the reeds among which its home is made. Such a place is not agreeable to the pedestrian; for, although an hour spent in wading through water knee-deep is no difficult or even unpleasant task, yet no one likes to meet also with mud of various and unknown depths, as is the case in the great reed swamps where the birds most love to build. Even the song of the Reed Warbler does not attract attention. Though musical in tone, it is very feeble in power and monotonous in character, consisting of several hurried notes in a low warble, which can only be heard at a little distance.

The nest of this bird is supported between three or four reeds, as is shown in the illustration, and is remarkably deep in proportion to its width. The object of this depth is evident. "To bend as a reed before the wind" is a proverbial saying, and any one who has seen a large mass of reeds on a stormy day must have been impressed with their graceful curves. As the blasts of the wind pass over them, they bend in successive waves like the billows of the sea, and are sometimes bowed so low that their tips nearly reach the water.

A nest, therefore, which rests on such pliant supports must be thrown out of its perpendicular by every breath of wind, and unless it were very deep the eggs would be flung out. The great depth, however, of the nest counteracts the deflection of the reeds; and, however fiercely the storm may rage, the Reed Warbler sits securely in her nest, even though it be sometimes nearly bowed to the surface of the water. The materials of the nest are generally taken from the immediate neighborhood, the body of the nest being composed of broken rushes and moss bound together with reed leaves, and the lining made almost wholly of cows' hair.

In the illustration the nest is represented as it appears during a rather smart breeze. The reeds are all bowed down by the force of the wind, and the nest is leaning so much to one side that its contents would be flung into the water were it of the ordinary cup-shaped form. The tiny inmates, however, are perfectly secure in their home, and crouch in the bottom of the nest, so that there is no fear that they may be thrown out. The parent birds are busily attending on their little family, one having just brought an insect which all the gaping mouths are eager to devour, while the other is setting off in its turn to perform the like office. The little eggs are rather pleasing in color, being very pale green, almost fading to whitish-gray in parts, and being mottled and speckled with brown or green darker than the ground hue of the shell. As is usually the case with similar birds, they are four or five in number.

Many foreign birds are excellent branch-builders.

One of the best known is a lovely little bird, which is familiar to us through the mediumship of taxidermists, who are always glad to insert a few specimens in their glass cases of brightly plumaged birds. This is the INDIGO BIRD, or BLUE LINNET of America (Spiza cyanea), which derives its name from the hue of its feathers. Viewed in some lights, the plumage is a rich, deep azure, shining with a satiny lustre in the direct light of the sunbeams, and deepening into indigo in the shadows. But the most remarkable point in the hue is, that in certain lights it changes to that peculiar green which is known to artists as "verditer," so that the bird seems absolutely to change its color if its position be shifted for only a few inches. Consequently, a well-arranged group will have two specimens placed in such a manner that one glows in all the glory of its azure dress, while another is vivid green. The wings are black, and retain their color in all lights.

The nest of the Indigo Bird is set in a bush, and, according to Wilson, is upheld by two twigs, one passing up each side, so as to preserve the balance. To the twigs it is firmly bound with the strong flaxen fibres of which the walls are formed, and its lining is made of fine grasses.

In Southern Africa there is a small, simply colored, but interesting bird, called by Le Vaillant the Capocier (Drymoica maculosa), because it builds in a cotton-yielding tree, called by the In Southern Africa there is a little brown nesting bird, called by Le Vaillant the Capocier (Drymoica maculata), which builds in a tree called by the Dutch colonists Capoc-bosche. The attention of that naturalist was directed to the bird in the following manner.