In 1965 Leonora and Arthur Hornblow wrote a children's book that has become a classic: Birds Do the Strangest Things. It's where I learned that a hawk is no match for a hummingbird. It's also where I learned about the bowerbird.

Can you believe that a bird can build a house? Well, there's one that does. When explorers in New Guinea first saw these houses, they thought children had built them. But bowerbirds had built them. What wonderful bowers they are! Many have roofs. Some even have rooms. There are different kinds of bowerbirds. They build different kinds of bowers. One kind makes a garden of moss around a tree. Then he builds a house of twigs. Sometimes he builds it six feet tall. He wants his house and garden to be pretty. He puts leaves and moss and ferns all around. He makes littl…