THE EARLY COLD WEATHER 193 



The nest was so curious that I was anxious to closely 

 examine it, but on the spot this was not possible, for 

 it hung high out of reach. However, on my return 

 home I sent and had two of the stems of grass cut 

 and brought to me with the nest attached ; I felt that 

 I could do this without unkindness, as the young birds 

 had long ago been hatched, grown up, and departed. 

 One of the nests I kept as a curiosity ; the other I 

 partly opened to examine. 



The more I examined the nest the more I became 

 impressed with wonder that a bird could have con- 

 structed it. The trumpet-like tube was a marvel of 

 delicate weaving ; the long neck by which the nest 

 was suspended was as strong almost as a rope, and the 

 blades of grass of which it was composed were so 

 elaborately entwined into the feathery tuft that I in 

 vain endeavoured to undo them. 



The nest consisted of a little chamber within the pear- 

 shaped mass ; it was domed above, and, if I remember 

 correctly, was also partly divided by a sort of partition ; 

 it was lined with pieces of cotton-wool that had been 

 manifestly plucked from the growing plants, bits of 

 cloth, and a variety of other soft substances. For a 

 hibernating animal in the far north the little chamber 

 would have been a paradise, but how in this climate 

 the young birds could have endured it seemed astonish- 

 ing, for, exposed the livelong day to the blazing Indian 

 sun, its temperature must have approached to that of an 

 oven. 



I may add that the bottom and lower parts of the 

 sides of the nest were extremely thick, and it was this 

 Q 



