192 CONVERSATIONS ON 



of the other merely as a resting-place before 

 going into the nest." 



" Uncle Philip, does the pine-pine build its 

 nest like a bottle, as the Cape-tit does?" 



" No, boys, not so smooth, but felted in the 

 same way. The nest is made mostly of the 

 down of plants, and is either snowy white or 

 brownish, according to the colour of the down. 

 On the outside it is a clumsy-looking thing, 

 but fastened, like the nest of the chaffinch, 

 very firmly to the branches near it, so that 

 you cannot take it away without breaking it to 

 pieces. But rough as the outside is, you would 

 be astonished, if you were to look at the inside, 

 and see how a bird, and a small one too, with 

 nothing but its wings, and tail, and feet, and 

 bill for tools, could ever have worked the 

 down of plants together, so as to make of it a 

 piece of fine cloth. It has a narrow neck, some- 

 thing like a chimney, at the top of it. This is the 

 entrance ; and at the lower end of it there is 

 a lump, which appears something like a small 

 nest stuck on to the larger one; sometimes 

 there will be three or four of these small- 

 looking nests, and sometimes when there is a 

 branch near the mouth of the nest which 

 makes a good resting-place, there will be 



