INDUSTRIES OF ANIMALS. 



601 



of their beaks, one of these pretty nests. The unfortunate couple 

 are obliged to recommence their task, and if this accident hap- 

 pens two or three times to the same household, it can easily be 

 imagined that, discouraged and depressed by the advancing sea- 

 son, they hasten to build a shelter anyhow, only doing what is 

 indispensable, and neglecting perfection. 



THE ART OF SEWING AMONG BIRDS. There are birds which 

 have succeeded in solving a remarkable difficulty. Sewing seems 



FIG. 5. THE TAILOR BIRD AND ITS NEST. 



so ingenious an art that it must be reserved for the human species 

 alone. Yet the tailor bird, the Orthotomus longicauda, and other 

 species possess the elements of it. They place their nests in a 

 large leaf which they prepare to this end. With their beaks they 

 pierce two rows of holes along the two edges of the leaf ; they 

 then pass a stout thread from one side to the other alternately. 

 With this leaf, at first fiat, they form a horn in which they weave 



