NEST IN A COCOA-NUT. 



upon this recess ; and the nest is as warm and 

 dry as if placed in a tree far from the water. 

 Sheltered from view by this liquid curtain the 

 dipper sits secure more secure, in fact, than 

 many of our ancestors who fortified their castles^ 

 with drawbridge and moat. When the bird seeks 

 to leave or return to her home, she can only do so 

 by at each time plunging through the falling 

 torrent, which she does without any apparent 

 difficulty. 



An interesting instance of strange choice in the 

 selection of a site for the nest is represented in 

 the next page. A bird has in this instance built 

 its nest within a cocoa-nut shell. The specimen 

 from which this drawing was taken is in a private 

 collection. 



Sparrows are noted for the singular places they 

 choose for their nests. Aware of their odd pro- 

 pensity, a gentleman in the country used to hang 

 pots of various kinds about his premises in large 

 numbers, which were well frequented by the 

 sparrows, and supplied his table with birds for 

 sparrow-dumplings not unfrequently during the 

 year. 



The most touching incident in the Life of a 



