THE OVEN BIRD. 327 



ground. The Musquash is not a large animal, the length of its 

 head and body being only fourteen inches. 



I have in my collection a curious bag or pouch made from the 

 skin of the Musquash by a very simple process. The animal has 

 been laid on its back, and the skin divided transversely across the 

 lower part of the abdomen. The body has then been gradually 

 turned out of the skin, all the limbs removed except the paws, 

 and the skull also taken away. The inside of the skin is then 

 dried, and prepared in some ingenious manner so that it serves 

 as a convenient pouch, the slit across the abdomen forming the 

 entrance, the tail acting as a handle for suspension, and the feet 

 dangling as ornaments. For this curious specimen I am indebted 

 to Lieutenant Pusey, R.N". 



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- 

 rials and Form of the Nest. — Boldness of the Bird. — The Song Thrush and its 

 Nest. — The Blackbird and its clay -lined Nests. — Supposed Reasons for the Lin- 

 ing. — The Fairy Martin. — Locality, Shape, and Materials of the Nest. — Social 

 Habits of the Bird. — How the Nest is built. — The Rufous-necked Swallow. — 

 Locality and abundance of its Nests. — Curious Habit of the Bird. — Audubon's 

 Account. — The Rcfods-bellied Swallow. — Supplementary Nest. — How the 

 Bird builds. — Popular Superstition and its Uses. — The House Martin. — Mate- 

 rial of its Nest. — Favorite Localities. — Ingenuity of the Martin. — Adaptation to 

 Circumstances. — Parasitic Intruders, their Number, Dimensions, and Tenacity of 

 Life. — The Swallow. — Distinction between its Nest and that of the Martin. — 

 Why called the Chimney Swallow. — Tallegalla, or Brush Turkey. — The Il- 

 lustration explained. — Various Names of the Bird. — Its singular and enormous 

 Nest. — How the Eggs are laid and hatched. — Egress of the Young. — Remarkable 

 Instinct. — Australian Jungle Fowl. — Shape, Size, and Position of its Nests. — 

 How the Eggs are discovered. — Leipoa, or Native Pheasant. — Its Mound-nest, 

 and general Habits. 



Among the building birds, there is one species which is pre- 

 eminently superior. Not only is there no equal, but there is no 

 second. This is the Oven Bird {Furnarius fuliginosus), which de- 

 rives its popular name from the shape and material of its nest. 



The Oven Bird belongs to the family of the Certhidae, and is 

 therefore allied to the well-known Creeper of our own country. 



