SOME CURIOUS COCOONS 



147 



though in reality having a substance more like 

 felt. Yes, they might easily be mistaken for co- 

 coons if we simply contented ourselves with look- 

 ing at them. 



Who, by a mere glance, could imagine the ma- 

 terials that the little bird called the vireo employs 



in building her peculiar nest? The reader will 

 remember how we pulled one of those nests apart, 

 and what strange materials we found woven in 

 its fabric.* But they were hardly more surpris- 

 ing than we may discover within this sly cocoon 

 if we dissect it. Now, to begin with, a true co- 

 coon is not solid to the core, as this one evi- 

 dently is as we press it between our fingers, nor 

 can you pinch off a tuft of gray hair from the sur- 



** See "Sharp Eyes," page 220. 



