CHAP. XNESTS OF THE GROSBEAKS OP AFRICA. 29 1 



order Hymenoptera in the circle of the class Ptilota, 

 among insects ; and that, consequently, the analogy of 

 the beaver to the bee is not merely a supposition, but a 

 demonstrable fact, founded upon analysis, the only 

 true test of natural analogies, and established by the 

 parallel relations of the other divisions in the two 

 circles. 



(301.) The most perfect societies that are known 

 among BIRDS, are inferior to those which we have just 

 described. They are, indeed, so few as to be confined 

 to one genus or, at least, to one division of a family 

 (FringillidcR Sw.) ; and so little is known on the 

 economy of even these, that only one solitary instance 

 is of sufficient authenticity to be recorded : this is 



the republican gros- 

 beak (fig. 78.), a 

 small finchlike bird, 

 discovered in the in- 

 terior of Africa by 

 the late colonel Pa- 

 terson, during his bo- 

 tanical travels in those 

 regions ; and men- 

 tioned by him in the 

 following words : 

 " The method in which these birds fabricate their nests 

 is highly curious. In that of which I have given a 

 plate, there could be no less a number than eight 

 hundred to a thousand residing under the same roof. 

 I call it a roof, because it perfectly resembles that of a 

 thatched house ; and the ridge forms an angle so acute 

 and so smooth, projecting over the entrance of the nest 

 below, that it is impossible for any reptile to approach 

 them. Their industry seems almost equal to that of 

 the bee : throughout the day they appear to be busily 

 employed in carrying a fine species of grass, which is 

 the principal material they employ for the purpose of 

 erecting this extraordinary work, as well as for additions 

 and repairs. Though my short stay in the country 



