J79I« AGGREGATE BIRDS NESTS — CAMELOPARDALIS. 249 

 into them on every fide, all the inhabitants of each 

 ftreet being obliged to pafs and repifs into it through 

 cne common entry, or gateway, if you pleafe to call ic 

 fo. Several of thefe entries are feen in the figure. 



The number of nefts that ar^e thus brought together 

 into one of thefe aerial towns,, as our author *, with 

 propriety enough, calls it, is fonietimes very gre^t. 

 The particular city that he examined, he thought, could 

 not contain fewer than from eight to tea hundred ; and 

 many he faw of much larger dimenfipns. indeed there 

 feems to be no bounds to their fize, but the ftrength 

 of the branciies on which they are placed ; for a town 

 being once founded, he thinks they continue to join new 

 habitations to it, as the number of the birds increafe, by 

 gradual additions, till the branch being entirely cover- 

 ed with them, and overloaded, breaks down, when they 

 are under the neceffity of deferting their ruined town 

 and building themfelves a new one. — The materials 

 chiefly ufed for building thefe nefts, is a kind of grafs 

 that there abounds, which they dexteroufly faften, by 

 way of thatch, over the whole. Sometimes, the top of 

 one of thefe large trees is totally covered with thtfe 

 nefts, — which muft have required a great many years 

 to complete them. 



The Camelopardalis is reprefented on the plate, at 3 



diftance This quadruped, when it ftands upright, af- 



fumes fomewhat the fame appearance of moft other qua- 

 drupeds when in the aft ot rifing ; its foreparts being 

 remarkably high in proportion to thofe behind. — Its 

 head is crowned with two blunt protuberances, by way 

 of horns, about a foot in length Thefe are terminat- 

 ed with a kind of knob, and are ftreight The height 



of the animal, when its head is upright, is about four- 

 teen feet — On its neck, grows a mane, confifting of 

 llifF ftreight hairs, of a reddifli colour, about four inch- 

 es in length. " Thele animals, in the words of our 

 author, chiefly fubfift on the mimofa, and wild apricots. 

 Their colour is, in general, reddifn, or dark brown and 

 wliite, and fome of th-m black and white ; they ari 



Vol. III. • Mr. Patcrfon. f I i 



