What subtle discernment inspires an oriole to swing her dainty nest-hammock far out on the lacy tip of an elm bough? What instinct impels a red-cockade woodpecker to drill numerous small resin wells about his nest hole in a living pine? The resultant flow of sticky sap may frustrate ant and squirrel enemies of the woodpecker household, yet few will say this is the knowing intent of the parent bird. The measure of conscious thought lying behind the oriole's nest hanging-and similar stratagems-can only be surmised. But the artifices employed by feathered architects in safeguarding their homes remain a constant marvel.
Long before men resorted to caves, or built houses, wigwams or apartments, the birds had constructed for themselves numerous types of terrestrial abodes. Today they are not only expert in various styles of architecture, hut facile and cunning in their concealment and protection. Many such ruses that bring nest and nestlings safely through the critical season are worthy of human ingenuity. They represent not merely unreasoning instinct, or fortuitous provision Nature, but exercise of the bird's intelligence as well.
Artifices in nest building may have several goals, The cactus wren is a clever home-builder, and she must be, for she locates her tunnel- like nest amid the devilish spines of the rholla, a formidable cactus shunned by most other inhabitants of the desert, including dependence on wile or subterfuge; provision of safety through materials used; employment of camouflage: cooperation in nest construction or colonising for mutual protection; and selection of nest site. Any division must, in a measure, be an arbitrary one, for more than one aspect will likely be evident. Situation appears dominant in the case of the oriole's pendant nest, although her skill in weaving made possible its use. It is known that the eggs of our red-cockade friends are never laid until the protective pitch pours freely from the punctures surrounding the nest hole.
The efficacy of their defence may be credited to the peculiar material employed; but it is difficult not to attribute to these citizens of southern pine-lands a truly knowing wile. Leave it to the marsh wren, however, to cover the trail of its domestic activities. In the vicinity of its small hut-a coconut-shaped abode laced to the swaying blades of cat-tails or tulles-the fidgety midget constructs half a dozen "cock nests." Would-be psychologists of the bird world disclaim that this implies any sly calculation on the part of the owner, ascribing the numerous nests to surplus of energy. But you and I may suspect something else. With so many doorsteps to watch, what chance has any harrier of the marsh of pouncing upon the mite as it slips forth into surrounding cover?
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