WOOD AND WASTE 137 



The Waxeye breeds a month or six weeks 

 later than the Fantail, and it is not till 

 October that the tiny nest may be discovered 

 in a trail of native bramble flung on a 

 lacebark or manuka sapling, or cunningly 

 hidden on the edge of a patch of low 

 scrub or dense bracken, and for choice 

 suspended over water. 



The two or three delicate eggs of pale 

 blue hang in the frailest looking fairy 

 basket imaginable, a diaphanous cradle, 

 woven on to frond or branchlet, and stirred 

 by every breath of wind. The nest, though 

 so slight in appearance, is really sufficiently 

 strong, and is firmly fastened on to the 

 supporting bough with web and wool, and 

 lined with long, pliable bents and horsehair; 

 for further ornamentation it is striped and 

 crossed with fresh faded leaves of soft 

 meadow grass, their pale pilose surfaces, 

 flat on the exterior, blending exquisitely 

 with the bluish cocoon wool and grey 

 spider web. 



At a later stage many of the nests hang 

 quite awry. Although perfectly secure, the 

 parents do not seem to have allowed for 



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