238 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



bush, and when disturbed will fly for a few yards and then settle 

 again. It is generally found in small flocks, consisting of six or 

 ten in number, and as it is by no means timid, will allow itself 

 to be approached closely before it takes alarm. 



The nest is a very remarkable structure. In most cases it is 

 formed as has just been mentioned, a little nest being stuck on 

 the large one. The materials of which it is made are grass, wood, 

 and leaves, and the structure is rather loose and careless. Gener- 

 ally it is suspended from the delicate mimosa branches, especially 

 in Van Diemen's Land ; but when it builds in gardens, as is often 

 the case, it mostly prefers a low shrub for that purpose. Unfor- 

 tunately for the bird, the bronze cuckoo has a predilection for its 

 nest, and lays its eggs therein. Whenever this is the case, the 

 parasitic bird takes entire possession of the nest, and no other 

 young are found in it. 



The supplementary nest is not invariably present, and both the 

 size and shape are extremely variable. The reader may perhaps 

 remember that the Pinc-pinc of Africa {Drymoica textrix) has a 

 similar custom, constructing a supplementary roosting-place upon 

 the nest. The home of the Pinc-pinc is of much firmer structure 

 than that of the Yellow-tailed Acanthiza, being made of vegetable 

 fibres, interwoven so strongly and elaborately that a thick, felt- 

 like substance is produced. The entrance to the nest is formed 

 in a tubular shape, and projects for an inch or two, so as to look 

 like a spout, and near the entrance is constructed a rounded pro- 

 jection on which a bird can repose. 



Some persons think that the male bird uses this perch, and that 

 he posts himself by the entrance in order to act as a sentry and to 

 keep guard over the inmates. It is more probable, however, that 

 the projection is used, not so much as a resting-place for the male, 

 although he may possibly take a fancy for sitting in the fresh air 

 rather than in the nest, as a perch on which the bird can settle 

 before it passes into the tubular entrance. This supposition is 

 borne out by the fact that there are mostly several of these 

 perches on each nest, so that the whole structure assumes a rather 

 awkward and irregular aspect. The nest is of very large dimen- 

 sions when compared with its architect, being on the average four 

 inches in diameter. 



There is another species of Acanthiza {Acanthiza reguloides) 

 which lives in Australia, and builds a nest very similar in its 

 materials and the general principles of its structure to that of the 



