Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 154, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 June 1920 — CONSTRUCTS HOME OF CLAY [ARTICLE]

CONSTRUCTS HOME OF CLAY

South American Ovenbird Builds IV self Domicile That Ie Remarkable In Many Ways. The South American ovenbird la a builder who la entitled to honorable mention among the notable clay-work-era of the world. He is of the creeper family, small and brown, with slender beak and wings so short he cannot fly very well. Every spring, the father and mother bird together build a brand new house with clay, mixed with a little hair or grass or feathers, well plastered together and completely dom*l over, and as the clay dries In the sun the walls become quite firm. They sometimes take several months in building the nest, depending upon proper rainfall to make the mud of the right consistency for their purpose. The finished nest weighs from nine to ten pounds, Is ten inches high, about nine inches in breadth and six Inches deep. The entrance is narrow and winding, reminding one of a conch shell, and the Interior is divided into two rooms, in the farther one of which the eggs are laid. —Scientific American.