32 



THE LIFE OF A BIRD. 



of slightly elevated mounds, having the form of 

 a truncated cone about two feet in width at the 



base, and seldom rising as high as eighteen inches 

 above the surface of the soil. The entrance is 

 placed either at the top or on the side, and the 

 whole mound is beaten down externally, especially 

 at the summit, resembling a much-used footpath. 

 From the entrance the passage into the mound 

 descends vertically for one or two feet, and is 

 thence continued obliquely downwards until it 



