THE WOODPECKER. 227 



tracted from the trees : these are curiously suspended 

 from the extremities of the different branches, having 

 a small hole on one side, just big enough for the little 

 artist to enter, and cherish its young. 



This method of suspending the nest from the termi- 

 nation of the branches, proves the instinctive faculty 

 with which the bird is endowed ; for, were they to 

 form them in the interior parts of the tree, their young 

 ones, if not themselves, would doubtless fall victims to 

 the monkeys or snakes with which those countries are 

 known to abound. 



In the Philippine Islands there is a little bird of the 

 grosbeak kind, that makes its nest in so curious a way 

 that there is no opening but from the bottom, and the 

 creature ascends to its abode through a funnel like a 

 chimney, till it comes to the door of the nest, which 

 is placed on one side. 



THE BIRD OF PARADISE AND ITS VARIETIES. 



The great beauty of this bird's plumage, and the 

 deformity of its legs, have been the means of giving rise 

 to a variety of fabulous tales. The savage inhabitants 

 of the Molucca Islands, of which the bird of paradise 

 is a native, perceiving the eagerness with which Euro- 

 peans purchased this favourite bird, resolved to make 

 it appear different from any other of the feathered race> 

 and, by cutting off the legs with some degree of inge- 

 nuity, asserted that it lived wholly in the air ; and this 

 improbable invention was actually believed. 



Of this bird there are two kinds, the most common 

 of which is about the size of a pigeon, and the other 

 lot larger than a lark : the head, throat, and neck are 

 >f a pale gold colour, though the hinder part of the 

 former is of a shining green ; the body and wings are a 



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