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 pine-pine (Parus ), 



which is one of these, may appear, from a portion 

 of his account, to rank among our weaver-birds. It 



