CONTENTS. XI 



Elevation of its Nest.— The White-eyed Fly-catcher, its Nest, and Fondness 

 for the Prickly Vine.— The Prairie Warbler, its Habits and Nest.— The Pine- 

 creeping Warbler.— The Asiatic Pensiles.— The Baya Sparrow.— Its Color 

 and Social Habits.— Singular Form of the Nest Page 249 



CHAPTER XIV. 



PENSILE INSECTS. 

 The Hymenoptera.— Australian Insects.— The Crematogaster and Negro-head. 

 — The Green Ant, its Habits and Nest. — An African Species. — Pensile Ants of 

 America. — The Abispa and its remarkable Nest. — Ingenious Entrance. — The 

 Tatua, or Dutchman's Pipe. — Structure and Shape of its Nest. — Firmness of 

 the Walls. — Average Number of Cells in each Tier. — The common Wasp as a 

 Pensile Insect. — Gigantic Nest. — Union of three Colonies. — Character of the 

 Wasp. — The Norwegian Wasp. — Structure and Locality of its Nest. — Classifica- 

 tion of the Wasps. — The Campanular Wasp and the Northern Wasp. — The 

 Chartergus, or Pasteboard Wasp. — Mode by which the Nest is suspended. — 

 Method of Structure. — Meaning of the Name. — Enormous Nest from Ceylon. — 

 Various Wasp Nests. — The Polistes as a Pensile Insect. — Singular Nest in the 

 British Museum. — The Gibbous Ant. — Honey Wasps, the general Characteris- 

 tics of their Nests. — The Myrapetra. — Its singular Nest. — Structure of the 

 Walls and Use of the Projections. — The Nectarinia. — Why so called. — Locality 

 of the Nest. — Size of the Insect. — The Trigona and its Nest. — Ichneumon Flies. 

 — Different Species of Microgaster, and their Habitations. — The Perilitus. — 

 Weevils. — Beautiful Cocoon of Cionus. — The Emperor Moth and its Home. — 

 The Atlas Moth and other Silk Producers. — The House-builder Moth and 

 its movable Dwelling. — The Tiger Moth and its Hammock. — The Burnet 

 Moths, and their curious Homes. — The Drinker Moth, its Cocoon and insect 

 ]? oes . — The Oak-egger Moth. — Method of killing Insects. — Cocoon of the Oak- 



egger. Origin of its Name. — The Little Egger Moth. — Air-holes. — Nests 



discovered by Mr. Bates. — The Cypress-spurge Moth. — Various Leaf-rollers. — 

 Suspended Cocoon. — Leaf-burrowers and their Homes. — The Spider.... 209 



CHAPTER XV. 



BUILDERS. 

 Building Mammalia. —Definition of the Title. —Inferiority of the Mammalia as 

 Architects.— The Brush-tailed Bettong.— Its Structure and Color.— The Nest 

 of the Bettong, and its Adaptation to the Locality.— Singular Method of convey- 

 ing Materials.— Its nocturnal Habits.— The Rabbit-eared Bandicoot and its 

 Habitat.— The generic Title.— Curious Form of the Ears and Feet.— Difficulty in 

 discovering its Nest.— The Musquash, or Ondatra.— Its general Habits.— Its 

 burrowing Powers, and Extent of its Tunnels.— The Musquash as a Builder.— 

 Form and Size of its House.— Mode of Killing the Animal by Spear, Gun, and 

 Trap.— Its Flesh and Fur .• 323 



CHAPTER XVI. 

 BUILDING BIRDS. 

 The Oven Bird and its place in Ornithology.— Its general Habits.— Nest of the 

 Oven Bird.— Curious Materials and historical Parallel.— The Specimens in the 

 British Museum.— The internal Architecture of the Nest.— Division into Cham- 

 bers.— The Pied Grallina.— The Specimens at the Zoological Gardens.— Mate- 



