The Wit of, the .Wild 



r 



likely that the birds when building their nests 

 would be very likely to be attacked by the wasps, 

 and that this does not happen is good evidence 

 of an acknowledged " partnership." However, 

 it is to be noticed that nests in such a situation 

 are usually domed that is, have a cap or cover, 

 as if the birds thought the wasps neighbors of 

 very uncertain temper. 



Belt himself instances the similar case of a 

 Nicaraguan fly-catcher. " On the Savannahs, 

 between Acoyapo and Naucital," he says, " there 

 is a shrub with sharp curved prickles, called 

 viena paraca (come here) by the Spaniards, 

 because it is difficult to extricate one's self from 

 its hold when the dress is caught ; as one part is 

 cleared another will be entangled. A yellow and 

 brown fly-catcher builds its nest in these bushes, 

 and generally places it alongside that of a 

 banded wasp, so that with the prickles and the 

 wasps it is well guarded. 



" I witnessed, however, the death of one of the 



birds from the very means it had chosen for the 



protection of its young. Darting hurriedly out 



of its domed nest as we were passing, it was 



$ 156 So* 



