A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building. Human-made materials, such as string, plastic, cloth, hair or paper, may also be used.
Generally each species has a distinctive style of nest. Nests can be found in many different habitats. They are built primarily by birds, but also by mammals (e.g. squirrels), fish, insects (e.g. wasps, termites and honey bees) and reptiles (e.g. snakes and turtles).
The urge to prepare an area for the building of a nest is referred to as the nesting instinct and may occur in both mammals (bears, gorillas, ...) and birds.
Read more about Nest: Bird Nest, Names of Nests, Gallery
Famous quotes containing the word nest:
“Merrily swinging on brier and weed,
Near to the nest of his litle dame,
Over the mountainside or mead,
Robert of Lincoln is telling his name:
Bob-o’-link, bob-o’-link,”
—William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878)
““... Or how should love be worth its pains were it not
That when he has fallen asleep within my arms,
Being wearied out, I love in man the child?
What can they know of love that do not know
She builds her nest upon a narrow ledge
Above a windy precipice?””
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“He builds a big town with his mouth, but not even a fly’s nest with his hands.”
—Estonian. Trans. by Ilse Lehiste (1993)