NESTS AND EGGS, 
though I found the wings and legs of several insects in the 
nests. From every appearance, the nest which I dissected 
had been inha- 
bited for several 
years, and some 
parts were much 
more complete 
than others.” 
The weaver- 
bird of India 
constructs ays 
fibres, which it i MN 
interlaces in ‘ji! 
such a manner 7 
as to form a sort 
of purse, as re- 
presented in the 
engraving. It) 
is suspended 
from the higher 
branches’ of 
trees overhanging 
rivers, and the en- 
trance is at the 
lower end. The 
first year the nest 
is a simple purse, 
but in the follow- 
ing year the bird 
attaches to this a 
second, and so it 
proceeds annually, 
with a similar ad- 
dition to the curi- 
ous fabric. 
This marvellous 
association of se- 
veral pairs labour- 
ing together is particularly apparent in the species to which 
the French naturalists have given the name of the republican 
gros-bec, the approaches to their nest being of the most artful 
description, while the nest is, externally, only one mass of 
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