A scrap of bird’s nest (Photo: Alexey Alexeev/VW)

In Zvenigorod, one of the oldest towns in the area surrounding Moscow, a cathedral that was first built in the early 15th century was undergoing renovations, when, as RT reports, workers found some very strange constructions: birds’ nests made of old scraps of paper.

Those scraps included letters, pages of books, scribbled-down notes and even some banknotes. 

The roof of the Assumption Cathedral was replaced in the 1830s, the director of a local museum told reporters. That’s as far back as these papers likely date. And certain types of birds are prone to making nests from human scraps, as the National Wildlife Foundation describes:

Ornithological literature is full of stories of birds making nests out of stuff stolen from humans. Massachusetts ornithologist and early conservation activist Edward Howe Forbush reported that in 1913 cormorants off the coast of Labrador built their nests entirely from materials scavenged from a sunken trading ship, including men’s pipes, ladies’ combs, pocketknives and hairpins.

This particular collection of beak-selected documents will be sent to a lab for further analysis, RT says.

Bonus finds: Icy volcano on Pluto, a lost Saharan river, a Lake Huron shipwreck

Every day, we highlight one newly lost or found object, curiosity or wonder. Discover something unusual or amazing? Tell us about it! Send your finds to sarah.laskow@atlasobscura.com.