108 PASSERES. TROCHILID^E. 



dently applied after the web was placed, probably 

 saliva. Little bits of pale-green lichen, and frag- 

 ments of thin laminated bark, are stuck here and 

 there on the outside, by means of the webs having 

 been passed over them. The eggs are long-oval, 

 pure white, save that when fresh, the contents 

 produce a reddish tinge, from the thinness of the 

 shell. Their long diameter 7 7 ^ inch ; short T 4 f . 

 The above may be considered a standard sample 

 of the form, dimensions, and materials of the nest 

 of this species. Variations, however, often occur 

 from local causes. Thus, in the one from Bognie 

 cave, only moss is used, and the base is produced 

 to a lengthened point ; one of exceeding beauty 

 now before me, is composed wholly of pure silk- 

 cotton, bound profusely with the finest web, un- 

 distinguishable except on close examination ; not 

 a fragment of lichen mars the beautiful uniformity 

 of its appearance. Others are studded all over 

 with the lichens, and these, too, have a peculiar 

 rustic prettiness. The situations chosen for nidifi- 

 cation, as will have been perceived, are very various. 

 I have attempted to rear the young from the 

 nest by hand, but without complete success. A 

 young friend found a nest in June, on a twig of 

 a wild coffee-tree, (Tetramerium odoratissimum,) 

 which contained a young bird. He took it, and 

 fed it with sugar and water for some days, but 

 when it was full fledged, and almost ready to leave 

 the nest, it died and was partially eaten by ants. 

 It was, however, a male, and formed an important 

 Jink in the evidence by which I at length dis- 



