172 JUNGLE FOLK 



are content with a mere platform of sticks and twigs, 

 which rests in the fork of a tree, or on a ledge or other 

 suitable surface. The birds which build primitive 

 nests of this description are not put to the trouble of 

 seeking or manufacturing any cohesive materials. It 

 is only when the nest takes some definite shape and 

 form that means have to be found of binding together 

 the materials of which it is composed, and of attaching 

 the whole to that which supports the nest. In such 

 cases the component materials are either woven or 

 cemented together. It is among the woven nests that 

 we find the highest examples of avian architecture. 

 The homes of the weaver-bird {Ploceus haya) and of 

 the Indian wren-warbler {Prinia inornata) are con- 

 structed with a skill that defies competition. But it is 

 not with these wonderful nests that we are concerned 

 to-day. It must suffice to say that woven nests have 

 to be supported ; they cannot float in the air. There 

 are various methods of supporting them. The nest 

 may be firmly wedged into a forked branch. It may be 

 bound to its supports, as in the case of the nest of the 

 king crow {Dicrurus ater). The supporting branches 

 may be worked into its structure, as is done by Prinia 

 inornata. The nest may hang, as does that of Ploceus 

 baya. It may be cemented to its support, as in the 

 case of the nests of the various swifts ; or it may rest 

 on supporting fibres which are slung on to a forked 

 branch, just as a prawn net is slung on to its frame. 

 The golden oriole {Oriolus kundoo) resorts to this 

 ingenious device. 



Coming now to those nurseries in which the building 



