The art which birds display in making their
nests, is another curious subject, which attracts
and rewards the ornithologist's attention. The
nest is not the house of the bird ; it is nothing
more than the cradle of the young. Birds of
mature life are exposed to all the changes of cli-
mate, but are provided with oil to spread upon
their plumage, which secures it from being wet by
the rain, tt is remarkable, that this supply ceases,
in a ureat measure, in such birds as are sheltered

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by the care of man. The nest of the delicate
little humming-bird is the choicest piece of work
that can be imagined ; being formed and covered
with moss in such a manner, as to resemble a
knot of the tree in which it is built. But even
this is surpassed by the tailor-bird of India, which,
living in a climate where the young are ex-
posed to all manner of foes, constructs its nest,
by sewing together two large leaves at the ex-
tremity of the bough, where neither ape, serpent,
nor monkey would venture for all beneath the
moon.
There is something resembling this in the nest
of the Baltimore Oriole, a common and favorite
bird. It is formed, by tying together some forked
twigs, at the end of a drooping branch, with
strings, either stripped or stolen from a graft or



ALEXANDER WILSON. 51

a window. These twigs form the frame-work,
round which they weave a coarse covering to en-
close the nest, composed of thread, wool, or tow.
