354 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1925 



measures 2i/4 inches in diameter at the rim, taperin<j^ to the end so 

 that the length of the unoccupied cup is about 6 inches. It was 

 built in one of the large, broad, yellow-blotched, cordate leaves of 

 the parasitic creeper, Pothos aureus^ or " Colombo agent." This 

 epiphyte was introduced from the Solomon Islands and is noAv quite 

 a common plant in Ceylon. 



As shown in the photograph, the bird has made IG perforations 

 on the edge of the left half of the leaf, none of them more than one- 

 quarter of an inch from the margin; there are 17 holes on the other 

 edge. These openings Avere placed within 4I/2 inches of the edge on 

 both sides — leaving free borders above and below. As shoAvn by a 

 powerful glass, about one-half the perforations on cither side are 

 occupied by threads of various sorts. From abov» downward three 

 perforations on one side and four on the other were draAvn together 

 by a single fine fiber that was firmly attached to the leaf margin by 

 winding it around the free border of the leaf. The very thin thread 

 at first appeared to be spider's silk, but a close examination by means 

 of the lens and a dissecting needle proved it to be a much stronger 

 fiber — like that of an agave or a disintegrated coconut fiber. This 

 web-like thread was then passed five times across the inter\al in the 

 upper borders of the apposed leaf edges, and firmly anchored at 

 the four openings by winding it in and out around the leafy bridge 

 made by the perforation near the leaf margin. To consolidate this 

 part of the interlacing a sliver of dried grass was worked in (see 

 the photo) across the intermarginal opening. 



At this point the two leaf edges overlap, and the next four open- 

 ings are superimposed so as to allow the passage of small shreds 

 of cotton, pulled through both holes and tufted down. Several grass 

 and other coarse fibers were now placed beneath the overlapping leaf 

 edge, and through two perforations in the latter are run strong 

 threads that pass through the minute bundle of fibers to the opposite 

 openings and back again — a combination of stitching and lacing. 



The last two holes are held in apposition with the margins of the 

 corresponding leaf edges by threads that were evidently drawn 

 taut by a sort of pulley-like motion so that this apposition of the 

 edges is as firm as any part of the stitching. 



Constructed in this fashion the infolded leaf j^resents a remark- 

 ably regular horn of plenty with its rounded, outer surface j^re- 

 sented to the observer, and showing no trace of tailoring that had 

 gone on in the unexposed margins. 



Captain Phillips thinks that occasionally these incomplete struc- 

 tures do not pass beyond the stage of invagination, but that the 

 infolded leaf is used as a shelter for the bird awaiting his or her turn 

 to occupy the near-by nest, just as some observers believe the weaver 

 bird uses his " canopy " for the same purpose. 



