The orioles, caciques and weavers weave wonderful homes of fibrous material, often in populous communities.
The bower birds erect remarkable bowers, as playhouses.
The brush turkey scratches together a huge mound of sticks and leaves, four feet by ten or twelve wide at the base.
The vireo and many others turn out beautiful cup-like nests.
The hummingbird builds with the solidity and tenacity of the wasp.
The swallow is a wonderful modeler with mud.
The guacharo builds a solid nest like a cheese with a concave top.
The auklet, the puffin and the kingfishers burrow into the friendly and solid earth. The eider duck plucks from its own breast the softest, of feather linings for its nest.
[Illustration with caption: REMARKABLE VILLAGE NESTS OF THE SOCIABLE WEAVER BIRD (Copied from "The Fauna of South Africa Birds," by Arthur C. Stark)]
The grebe thoughtfully keeps its nest above high-water mark by building on a floating island.