22 CRUSOE'S ISLAND. 



growtli from forming and covering the ground, and 

 the view was comparatively open. In the midst of 

 this dell I saw a tall palm standing, with a trunk per- 

 haps a hundred feet high, and broad leaves spreading 

 around it on every side. I knew it at once to be the 

 great mountain palm, called by the botanists Oreo- 

 doxa ; but I had never seen one exactly like this be- 

 fore, for, from the terminal tip of every immense 

 leaf hung a curious structure, woven of grass and 

 palm fiber. It was as if a vast umbrella had been 

 stuck upon a big tree trunk, and from the end of 

 every rib a long silken purse had been hung. 



While I was wondering what these strange things 

 could be, out from one of them scrambled a big black 

 and yellow bird, which, after circling above my head, 

 alighted on a limb and began to scold me for intrud- 

 ing into this private parlor of his family. He was soon 

 joined by dozens of others, and shortly there was such 

 a noise that I could hardly '-hear myself think." 



There must be some reason for all this fuss, I 

 thought, and so narrowly examined those funny af- 

 fairs at the tips of the leaves, and after a while made 

 them out to be birds' nests ! Yes, every one was the 

 dwelling place of a pair of birds, and probably held 

 some of their eggs. Of course I was very anxious to 

 see what they looked like close at hand and to secure 

 the eggs ; but how to get them puzzled me greatly. 

 They hung too far above the earth to be reached by 

 poles or stones, and the shafts of the palms were too 

 straight and smooth to be " shinned," even by a 

 monkey. 



