“ae 
84 THE ARCHITECTURE OF BIRDS. 
nicely together both its own fibres and the coarser 
materials which are intermixed with it and stuck 
over the whole. In many of these nests, though 
not in all (following the principle of the hatmaker 
in binding the rim of a hat), greater strength is given 
to the fabric by binding the whole round with dry 
grass-stems, or more rarely with slender roots, which 
are partly covered by the staple feltwork of moss 
and wool. A circumstance also never neglected, 
is to bind the nest firmly into the forks of the bush 
where it is placed, by twining bands of moss, felted 
with wool, round all the contiguous branches, both 
below and at the sides. 
“On the 10th of May, 1792,” says Bolton, ‘I ob- 
served a pair of goldfinches beginning to make their 
nest in my garden; they had formed the ground- 
work with moss, grass, &c., as usual, but on my 
scattering small parcels of wool in different parts of 
the garden, they in a great measure left off the use 
of their own stuff and employed the wool. After- 
ward I gave them cotton, on which they rejected 
the wool, and proceeded with the cotton; the third 
day I supplied them with fine down, on which they 
forsook both the other, and finished their work with 
this last article. The nest, when completed, was 
somewhat larger than is usually made by this. bird, 
but retained the pretty roundness of figure and neat 
ness of workmanship which is proper to the gold 
finch. The nest was completed in the space of 
three days, and remained unoccupied for the space 
of four days, the first egg not being laid till the sev- 
enth day from beginning the work.” 
Vaillant has given more than one narrative of no 
little interest respecting the proceedings of several 
species of birds, which construct nests of feltwork 
in Southern Africa. The pinc-pinc (Parus ; 
which is one of these, may appear, from a portion 
of his account, to rank among our weaver-birds. It 

aa 
