THEIR REPRODUCTION (NESTS) 265 



trees containing half-a-dozen. Another species 

 weaves a small straight tube out of grass, open 

 at both ends, and the aperture only large enough 

 to admit the finger, the parent bird having to 

 pass right through without turning round ! Yet 

 another species scoops out a round hollow in the 

 ground, and builds over it a dome of finely- 

 woven grass. As the nests of only some fifteen 

 species are known, out of a total of sixty-five 

 composing the entire family, we may reasonably 

 conclude that the architectural variety of the 

 Wood Hewers is by no means yet completely 

 known. 



There is nothing specially remarkable about 

 the nidification of the so-called Ant Thrushes 

 (Formicariidae), these birds mostly building 

 shallow open nests in trees or bushes of straws, 

 grasses, fibres, moss, roots, wool, and hair. 

 Neither do we find much worthy of special 

 comment in the next family (Pteroptochidae), 

 although there are several apparent types of 

 architecture, some species nesting in burrows, 

 others making domed nests of grass, others open 

 ones of sticks. Lastly, we may mention that 

 the Lyre Birds (Menuridae) build domed and 

 oval nests, made of sticks, grass, fibres, leaves, 

 fern fronds, moss, lined with roots and feathers. 



