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LITTLE ENGINEERING BIRDS
You certainly must have seen birds’ nests built on trees or on tops of build-
ings, and sometimes on a corner of a balcony. These are merely the nests of
the few bird species that you know. But so many bird species live in the
world and they build so many different types of nests that one should really
reflect on this.
All birds build their nests so that they blend in with their natural environ-
ments. Let us consider coastal birds. These birds build their nests on the sur-
face of the water and the nest does not sink. The materials used and the
shape of the nest are all particularly created. So, even if the water level
rises, neither the nest nor the offspring are damaged. These animals have
innate capabilities to build their nests and have no need of training. They
could not have possibly learnt such a task over time; if they had tried to do
it by trial and error, the nest would have sunk as the water rose.
However such a thing never happens because all coastal birds
have built their nests in the same way since the first day they
were created.
Some birds living in swamps build the walls of their nests
very high so that the eggs do not fall out because of the
wind. How is it that a bird, which carefully protects its
eggs, knows about the risk of eggs falling out and being
broken? We see here that the bird takes a wise precaution.
W O N D E R F U L C R E A T U R E S
