96 TENUIROSTRES. 



fibres. Otlier birds belonging to this sub -family build 

 their nests after a different fashion^ but with the same 

 admirable skill in their construction. The Carthiola, 

 for example, suspends its nest from the ends of the 

 flexible branches of trees that hang over the middle 

 of a stream. The nest is in the form of an ostrich^s 

 aggj composed of dried moss and dried grass ex- 

 teriorly, but lined internally with cotton and the 

 down of plants. The entrance is on the under side, 

 which faces the water ; and the interior is divided 

 into two compartments, one of which forms a sort of 

 antechamber leading to the larger division, wherein 

 the female deposits her eggs, which are thus securely 

 protected from the attacks of snakes and other 

 destroyers. 



The type of this sub-family is — 



The Black and Blue Creeper {Ccereba cyanea), so called 

 from its feathers being deeply and gorgeously dyed with 

 azure, verditer, and velvet-black, arranged in Ijold and 

 striking contrast. This beautifully coloured species is an 

 inhabitant of Cayenne, Guiana, and other neighbouring 

 localities. It is about the size of a common Sparrow, and 

 frequents the various flowering trees and shrubs of its 

 native land. The nest is pensile, and neatly woven, upon 

 the extremity of some slender twig, which sways to and 

 fro. Its shape resembles that of a Jargonelle pear, the 

 lower extremity being produced into a long tube, with the 

 mouth below, and the eggs placed in the upper dilated 

 portion. The birds of tliis sub-family are gregarious, de- 

 lighting to associate in large flocks, and haunting flower- 

 bearing plants for the purpose of feeding on the sweet 

 nectar and tiny insects found within the blossoms. In 

 feeding, they thrust their long bill and tongue to the very 

 bottom of the flower-bells, much after the maimer of bees. 



