ON THE NEST OF PITECHEIR MELANURUS. 167 



NOTE XXVI. 



ON THE NEST OF PITECHEIR MELANURUS 



Dr. F. A, JENTINK. 



(November 1895). 



Our correspondent Mr. J. D, Pasteur is such a passio- 

 nate nati^ralist, that he had no rest before he procured a 

 nest of the black-tailed , red Tree-Rat. A specimen of the 

 kind has been presented by that gentleman to our Mu- 

 seum and is at present exhibited in a glass case. 



This globulous nest has a diameter of 18 cm,, the en- 

 trance , placed sideways , a diameter of about 6 cm. It has 

 nicely been constructed of small branches with leaflets and 

 parts of large leaves. 



For further details I translate here a part of Mr. Pas- 

 teur's letter to me : 



»The nest has been found in the thick wood about 4 

 meters above the ground between the branches of a young 

 Koppo-iree — Jambosa densi/iora D. C. — one of the 

 numerous Indian wild Djamboe-si^ecies , with small fruits 

 eatable to birds and other animals. The nest inside is 

 clothed with rugged leaves , outside with moss and looks 

 quite like a birds nest. The branch should be placed in a 

 slant direction and a little turned so that the opening of 

 the nest stands nearly vertical." 



»I observed that these animals kept in confinement are 

 very fond of bread and pulp of ripe coffee-beans. For the 



^NTotes from the Leyden Museixm, Vol. XVII. 



