Variation in the Nesting-habits of Birds

Abstract

IN considering the interesting question of instinct, one naturally turns to the nesting-habits of birds as affording an apparently good instance of habit acquired and perpetuated so as to become fixed, and, as we say, instinctive. It would be interesting, however, to find exactly how far the art of nestbuilding is really inherited, and how much uniformity exists among the nests of birds of identical specific characters.