SOME CURIOUS COCOONS 



^M 



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.f* 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 beg^in 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. 



