DWELLINGS 1681 



When the bird has resolved to establish its retreat, 

 it first chooses a hanging branch presenting bifurca- 

 tions which can be utilized as a rigid frame on which 

 to weave the lateral walls of the habitation. It inter- 

 crosses wool and goats' hair so as to form two courses 

 which are afterward united to each other below, and 

 constitute the first sketch of the nest, at this moment 

 like a flat-bottomed basket. This is only the begin- 

 ning. The whole wall is reinforced by the addition 

 of new material. The architect piles up down from 

 the poplar and the willow, and binds it all together 

 with filaments torn from the bark of trees, so as to 

 make a whole which is very resistant. Then a couch 

 is formed by heaping up wool and down at the bot- 

 tom of the nest. 



The American Baltimore oriole, also called the 

 Baltimore bird, is a distinguished weaver. With 

 strong stalks and hemp or flax, fastened round two 

 forked twigs corresponding to the proposed width of 

 nest, it makes a very delicate sort of mat, weaving 

 into it quantities of loose tow. The form of the nest 

 might be compared to that of a ham; it is attached by 

 the narrow portion to a small branch, the large part 

 being below. An opening exists at the lower end of 

 the dwelling, and the interior is carefully lined with 

 soft substances, well interwoven with the outward 

 netting, and it is finished with an external layer of 

 horse-hair, while the whole is protected from sun 

 and rain by a natural canopy of leaves. 



The rufous-necked weaver bird, as described by 

 Brehm, shows itself equally clever. Its nest is woven 

 with extreme delicacy, and resembles a long-necked 



