Birds reproduce by internal fertilization, during which the egg is fertilized inside the female. Like reptiles, birds have a cloaca, or a single exit and entrance for sperm, eggs, and waste. The male brings his sperm to the female cloaca. The sperm fertilizes the egg. Then the hard-shelled egg develops within the female. The hard-shelled eggs have a fluid-filled amnion, a thin membrane forming a closed sac around the embryo. Eggs are usually laid in a nest.