Indian Simhirds. 131 



so that like bees and some other insects they probably play 

 an important part in the cross -fertilization of flowers; but they 

 do not hesitate to probe the sides of large flowers with their 

 sharp bills, and thus secure the honey. It is pretty to watch 

 tfie Sunbirds feeding. They are as acrooatic as titmice and 

 strike the most extraordinary attitudes in their attempts to 

 procure honey. When there is no convenient fioint d'appui 

 they hover like Humming Birds on rapidly vibrating wings, 

 and while so doing explore with their long tongues the recesses 

 of some flowers. To quote Aitken: 



" between whiles they ski]) al>out, slapping their sides 

 " with their tiny wings, spreading their tails like fans, and ring- 

 " ing out their cheery refrain. As they pass from one tree to 

 " another they traverse the air in a succession of hounds and 

 " sportive spirals." 

 Verily the existence of a Sunbird is a happy one! 



The nest of the Sunbird is one of the most wonderful 

 pieces of architecture in the world, and it is the work of the 

 hen alone. While she is working like a Trojan her gay young 

 spark of a husband, is drinking riotously of nectar 1 The 

 nest is a hanging one and is usually suspended from a branch 

 of a bush or a tree, and not unfrequently from the rafter of a 

 verandah of an inhabited bungalow; Sunbirds show little fear 

 of man. 



The nest is commenced by cobwebs being wound round 

 and round the branch from which it will hang. Cobweb is the 

 cement most commonly employed by birds. To this, pieces 

 of dried grass, slender twigs, fibres, roots or other material are 

 added and made to adhere by the addition of more cobweb. 



The completed nest {see plate) which usually hangs 

 in a most conspicuous place, often passes for a small mass of 

 rubbish, that has been pitched into a l:)ush. It is a pear- 

 shaped structure, witn an openmg at one side,, near the toj). 

 Over the entrance hole a little porch projects, which seems to 

 keep out the sun and rain when the nest is exposed to them. 

 Having completed the dried grass, fibre, and twig work, the 

 bird, in the words of Aitkin: 



" turns ragnaan and scours the counfci'y for scz'aps of rubbish. 

 " Fragments of bark, moss, lichens, withered petals of flowers, tags 

 " of white silk from the nests of Red Ants, the conglomeration 

 " pellets of chewed sawdust with which wood-boring catterpillars 



