164 INSESSORES. 
teresting action; for she flew to the face of the rock, 
which was thickly clothed with soft dry moss, and 
hovering on the wing as if before a flower, began to 
pluck the moss until she had a large bunch of it in 
her beak. Then I saw her fly to the nest, and havy- 
ing seated herself in it, proceed to place the new 
materials, pressing and arranging and interweaving 
the whole with her beak, while she fashioned the 
cup-like form of the interior by the pressure of her 
white breast, moving round and round as she sat. 
My presence appeared to be no hindrance to her pro- 
ceedings, although only a few feet distant; at length 
she left the place, and I left also.” 
In all the species, as far as has yet been ascer- 
tained, the female deposits but two eggs, which are 
beautifully white, or slightly tinged with yellow; the 
period of incubation varies from ten to about sixteen 
days; the young, when hatched, are quite naked and 
blind, but soon become covered with feathers, and in 
about three weeks are able to take care of themselves 
and leave the nest, becoming in a short time as active 
on the wing as their parents, from whom they can 
only be distinguished by their plumage. 
The fact that the food of these birds consists 
mostly of insects, has been well established both by 
observation and experiment; the few individuals 
which have lived in confinement have been seen 
eagerly catching such as have chanced to be in the 
apartment which they occupied; while the quick 
snapping of the bill, similar to that of the Fly- 
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