360 



FRANCIS H. HERRICK 



over the twig or wound around it and finally secured. While 

 these shuttle movements are , first and last, very similar, and 

 almost equally rapid at all times, the number made at each visit 

 tends to increase as the work progresses in order to treat the 

 greater number of accumulating threads. One hundred shuttle 

 movements or thrusts are sometimes made in the course of a 

 single visit, and the motion is frequently too rapid to be followed. 

 In all this admirable work there is no deliberate tying of 



Figure 22. The nest of the oriole on the third day after about 20 hours of work; 

 May 16, 7.30 a. m. The nest is completely outlined, but the wall opposite 

 the first completed side is still thin ; the outer free fibres have been mostly 

 drawn in and woven into the pouch. Nest secured at six points, the fourth 

 (iv, fig. 19) showing four or five strands only in completed nest. Entire work- 

 ing period of female about 4^ days. 



knots, yet as we shall later see knots in plenty are being tied 

 all the time; there is no deliberate pulling of the threads, as 

 when a hammock is carefully woven by hand ; the work is all 

 fairly loose, yet some threads get drawn tighter than others. 

 Note further that we do not say that the thread which is thrust 

 through is always drawn back at the next move, only that 

 something is redrawn. The irregularity of the weave of the 

 finished work shows conclusively that the misses are as fre- 

 quent as the hits in this respect. The last remark does not 



