224 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



all, fasten their nests to the extremities of the leaves. Some are 

 made of various fibres, and others of the coarsest grass-straws : 

 some are so loose in their texture that the eggs can be plainly 

 seen through them; while others are so strong and thick, that 

 they almost look as if they were made by a professional thatcher. 



A good example of the last-mentioned description of nest is 

 the Mahali Weaver Bird of South Africa (Pliopasser Mahali). 

 Although the architect is a small bird, measuring only six inches 

 in total length, the nest which it makes is of considerable size, and 

 is formed of substances so stout, that, when the edifice and the 

 builder are compared together, the strength of the bird seems 

 quite inadequate to the management of such materials. 



The general shape of the nest is not unlike that of a Florence 

 oil-flask, supposing the neck to be shortened and widened, the 

 body to be lengthened, and the whole flask to be enlarged to 

 treble its dimensions. Instead, however, of being smooth on the 

 exterior, like the flask, it is intentionally made as rough as possi- 

 ble. The ends of all the grass-stalks, which are of very great 

 thickness, project outward, and point toward the mouth of the 

 nest, which hangs downward ; so that they serve as eaves where- 

 by the rain is thrown off the nest, and possibly serve also as a 

 protection against foes, though the latter theory has not yet been 

 corroborated by observation. 



It is true that the grass stems protrude from the nest like 

 "quills upon the fretful porcupine;" but that they really afford 

 any obstacle to the attacks of a snake or a monkey I can not be- 

 lieve. If the snake were able to get at the nest at all, it could 

 glide into the aperture, with an upward curve of the flexible body, 

 without troubling itself about the spikes ; and if a monkey were 

 to reach the nest, it seems to me that the projecting grass-stems 

 would rather assist than deter it from taking the eggs, as one 

 hand could steady the nest by holding the spikes, while the other 

 was thrust into the aperture. Other nests, moreover, though ex- 

 posed to the same enemies, and even when placed upon the same 

 trees, do not possess this remarkable armature ; and it is hardly 

 to be supposed that if this abatis-like exterior were absolutely 

 needful in the defense of the inmates, it would not be given to all 

 the birds which build under similar conditions. The same may 

 be said of the nests of the Pyrgitas. There are many structures 

 among animal habitations, the use of which seems to be problem- 

 atical; and until the case in point be decided by observation, it 

 must remain an open question. 



