THE EVOLUTION OF NESTS AND NEST-BUILDING IN BIRDS

Abstract

neglected in recent years. My own interest in the evolution of birds' nests began years ago when I took a gradu? ate course on the principles of speciation given by Dr. Alfred E. Emerson at the Uni? versity of Chicago. Emerson is well known for studies of the evolution of termites and termite nests (1938). He has also called attention to the promise of the nests of birds for investigating the evolution of be? havior (Emerson, 1943). A nest may be defined as an external construction that aids the survival and de?