The nest of the white-throated spinetail is characteristic of spinetail nests in general, composed of sharp thorns 

 and twigs and entered by a tubular passage. The nest is placed in a low thorn bush, and if it is touched or shaken 

 the young of this species, when nearly fledged, have the singular habit of running out, jumping to the ground, and 

 concealing themselves in the long grass 



the mud-filled nests, or masses of drift as the 

 case may be, become tenanted by many forms 

 of insect life, soon developing into favorite 

 limiting grounds for various species of insect- 

 feeding birds. These gradually tear them to 

 pieces and often pierce them through and 

 through with tiuuiels in .search of their insect 

 prey. 



It was such a ragged piece of drift that this 

 particular pair of spinetails had laid claim to. 

 When discovered, the interior was pierced by 

 several tunnels. One of these had been clo.sed 

 at one end with leaves and vegetable fibers, 

 and a large nest cavity had been excavated at 

 about its middle. Some dry leaves and wood 

 fiber were there as a nest lining and, as an 

 inner nest lining, the same kind of gray lichens 

 as in the nests of the other five species of 

 spinetail. Outwardly, the nest was a mere 

 bunch of drift grass: the site chosen and the 

 materials employed were wholly different 

 from those used by the allied species. In 

 the use of the gray lichens for an inner nest 

 lining however, we find a trait common to 

 all. 

 260 



The question naturally arises, "Is the use 

 of this gray lichen for the inner lining of the 

 nest cavity a custom descended from distant 

 common ancestors?" 



There is perhaps no group of birds in all the 

 tropics that will more richly repay careful 

 study of its nesting habits, than the fly- 

 catchers. There is certainly no group in 

 which occurs a greater variety of nests. Some 

 species for instance build tiny, frail, lichen- 

 covered nests, as dainty as any of those built 

 by the humming birds. Some weave struc- 

 tures that might well serve as a model for the 

 African weaver birds. Certain flycatchers, 

 on the other hand, build bulky rough nests 

 that remind one of the work of jays or crows. 

 Some members of the group are secretive, 

 constructing their nests in the most sheltered 

 and retired spots in the thick forest, hidden 

 among bunches of leaves, or otherwise con- 

 cealed. A few nest near the ground; others 

 place their nests high up in the tree tops, 

 while in the open plains districts of the great 

 river basins, there are perhaps few objects 

 more ])r()minoiit in the landscape than the 



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