THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 251 



a chemist's retort, only that, instead of being manufactured 

 of such hard material, nothing enters into the composition 

 of it but fine moss and down. The opening is carefully 

 woven ; not one vegetable fibre protrudes beyond the other. 



Who can describe in what a marvellous manner the bird, 

 while still on the wing, approaches its nest, enters and 

 issues by an opening which seems to have scarcely the 

 diameter of its body, and without ever deranging a fibre ? 



The huts of some savages remain constantly open ; their 

 limited capacity has not yet taught them to invent the pro- 

 tecting door. Spiders are more ingenious. There are some 

 which, as we have seen, understand how to secure them- 

 selves in their subterranean abodes by a skilfully con- 

 structed door. Some birds take analogous precautions. 



In his work on the " Birds of India," Mr. Jerdon details 

 the curious domestic arrangements of some species of the 

 genus Homrain of French naturalists, the males of which, 

 at the time of laying, imprison the female in her nest. 

 They close the entrance to it by means of a thick wall of 

 mud, leaving only a small hole, by which the hen breathes 

 and protrudes her beak to receive her food. To this, in- 

 deed, her too stern spouse brings every moment some 

 morsel for her to peck at ; for, to his praise be it said, that, 

 though he is barbarous enough to immure her, he feeds her 

 with the most tender solicitude. This enforced retirement 

 only ceases with the termination of the hatching, when the 

 pair break the prison-door. 



In his voyage to India, Sonnerat speaks of a Cape tit- 

 mouse, the nest of which, shaped like a bottle and made of 

 cotton, merits notice. Whilst the female is hatching inside, 



