THE ORCHARD STARLING. 79 
point downward between two branches. Its great- 
est diameter was two inches and a half, and gradually 
diminishing towards the base. It would be difficult 
to explain the principle upon which such a nest had 
been built, particularly as three fourths of it appear- 
ed to be entirely useless and idly made; for the part 
which was to contain the eggs, and which was alone 
indispensable, was not more than three inches from 
the surface. Allthe rest of this edifice, which was a 
tissue closely and laboriously woven of slender 
threads taken from the bark of certain shrubs, seem- 
ed to be totally useless. The interior of the nest 
was not furnished with any sort of soft material, 
such as down, wool, or hair, but as the female had 
not laid her eggs when Klaas brought it to me, it is 
probable that the nest was not quite finished ; a fact 
indeed proved by the birds being still at work at the 
time.”* 
Tailor Birds.—It seems no less difficult to conceive 
in what manner a bird could make its bill perform 
the office of a needle than that of a weaver’s shut- 
tle; yet that this is actually done we have unques- 
tionable evidence, both in the workmanship of the 
nests of more than one species, and in the ocular 
testimony of observers who have watched the little 
mechanics at work. We are, however, more defi- 
cient in details upon the process of forming nests 
by sewing, than in the case of most of the other 
mechanical operations of birds described in this 
volume, and therefore our notices must be brief. 
The most perfect of these descriptions is given by 
Wilson, respecting the nest of the orchard starling 
(Icterus mutatus), a bird which has created no small 
confusion among systematic writers, in consequence 
of the male not arriving at its mature plumage till 
the third summer, which circumstance has caused 
it to be mistaken by Buffon and Latham for the fe- - 
male of the Baltimore (Icterus Baltimore). Wilson 
* Oiseaux d’Afrique, ili., 129. 
