EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI. 



Fig. 1. Nest of the CHESTNUT CROWNED TITMOUSE, suspended from the 

 fork of a twig, nine inches long, more than three in diameter, entrance 

 at the top less than an inch wide, made of the softest materials. 

 Fig. 2a. Nests of the AFRICAN WEAVER-BIRDS, (REPUBLICAN GROSBEAKS of 

 Swainson.) The numerous entrances to this BIRD TOWN lead to regu- 

 lar streets, having nests on each side, at about two inches distance from 

 each other ; the general roof or cover is built by the united labors of 

 the birds, and sometimes shelters hundreds. That from which this fig- 

 ure was taken was thought to contain a society of eight hundred or a 

 thousand. 



Fig. 2b. Hive nests of the SOCIABLE WEAVER-BIRDS. The lower surface 

 abounds with perforations admitting the birds to their nests, but ex- 

 cluding snakes and other intruders. They never occupy the, old nests, 

 but continue to add successive tiers until the branches yield to the ac- 

 cumulated weight. 



Fig. 3. Nest of the WOOD SWALLOW. 



Fig. 4. Nest of the BALTIMORE ORIOLE, closely interwoven with flax, hemp, 

 tow, hair, and bits of thread, cord, &c., stitched through and through 

 with horse hair, securely suspended from the branch of a tree. 

 Fig. 5. Nest of the PENDULINE TITMOUSE, or BOTTLE TIT, made of the 

 down of the willow, poplar, and thistle, lined with feathers, containing 

 from ten to fourteen eggs. 



Fig. 6. Nest of the PENSILE WEAVER-BIRDS, or WEAVER FINCHES, shaped 

 like a Chemist's retort ; suspended over water from trees ; entrance 

 from beneath. 

 Fig. 7. Nest of the WREN ; of hay, if against a hay-stack ; of moss, if 



against a mossy tree. 



Fig. 8. Nest of the TAILOR-BIRD, or TAILOR WARBLER, of Ceylon, curi- 

 ously formed by stitching with plant fibres or threads of cotton a dead 

 leaf to a living one ; nest open at the top and filled with fine down. 

 A species in Italy are said to sew thir materials together with spiders' 

 webs. 

 Fig. 9. BAR-TAILED HUMMING BIRD, of Peru; the nest of soft delicate 



materials, is often warped or woven together with spiders' webs. 

 Fig. 10. Nests of the BANK SWALLOWS or SAND MARTINS, numerous in sand 

 banks or artificial excavations, such as gravel-pits. Audubon says, 

 "the little creatures are so industrious he has known a hole dug to the 

 depth of three feet four inches, the nest finished in four days, and the 

 first egg deposited on the morning of the fifth." 



Fig. 11. GOURD-SHAPED nests of the REPUBLICAN or CLIFF SWALLOW, built 

 of muddy sand under the eaves or cornices of buildings, or attached 

 to rocks overhanging rivers, where they are found grouped by hundreds. 

 NOTE. The nests of RAPTORIAL birds are seldom met with, as they are 

 usually built in lofty trees or inaccessible precipices. OWLS do not usually 

 construct nests, but deposit their eggs in some hole, in a tree, an old build- 

 Ing, or in the ground. INSECTIVOROUS birds are solitary builders ; among 

 the Shrikes, Thrushes, Warblers, Tit-mice, and Fly-catchers, there is not 

 r>ne instance of a species either living or building in societies. Pensile 

 lests are altogether peculiar to perching birds, and are more common in 

 tropical than temperate latitudes. Hundreds of hang-nests may be seen in 

 Brazil attached to a single tree; some of them are said to measure between 

 four and five feet. Other nests are said to have a portico or ante-room 

 where the male bird often sits during the time of the female's incubation. 



