252 THE UNIVERSE. 



the male, a most watchful sentinel, remains outside, resting 

 in a pouch made for the purpose, fixed to one side of the 

 neck of the nest. But when his mate moves off and he 

 wishes to follow her, he beats the opening of the nest vio- 

 lently with his wing, and succeeds in closing it, in order to 

 protect his young from enemies. 



In respect to ingenuity of construction developed by the 

 love of family and work, there is nothing that can be com- 

 pared to the doings of the sociable grossbeak. This little 

 Cape bird, of the size and appearance of our sparrow, lives 

 in numerous societies, all the members of which unite to 

 form an immense city, built upon a tree, having the ap- 

 pearance of a gigantic umbrella, of which the trunk of the 

 tree is the handle. There are sometimes more than 300 

 separate compartments, which means that it is inhabited by 

 more than 600 birds. This nest is so heavy that Levaillant, 

 who brought one away during his travels in Africa, was 

 obliged to employ a wagon and several men to remove it. 

 When they are seen at a distance in the landscape, we 

 might think we were looking at huge roofs suspended to 

 the trunks or branches of the trees scattered about, and 

 round which a multitude of birds are playing. 



We have said that amongst the winged tribes specimens 

 of almost all the industrial arts are found. One would 

 scarcely expect to find seamstresses among them, for the 

 beak of the bird seems ill-adapted enough for needle-work, 

 and yet some of these animals produce work exactly anal- 

 ogous. I do not here in any way allude to the weaver- 

 birds, the nests of which, made of fine grass and known to 

 all the world, represent an inextricable net-work ; but to 



