256 BIRDS' NESTS 



shaped, the stalk forming the attachment to the 

 supporting branch. Another species, the Crowned 

 Tit {^githalus covonatus), makes a somewhat boot- 

 shaped structure of similar materials, the entrance 

 hole being in the ** ankle " portion, and the whole 

 suspended from the " heel." In some parts of Asia 

 Minor nests of the typical Penduline Tit have been 

 found made entirely from the wool and hair of sheep 

 and camels. 



Instances of this particular type of pendulous nest 

 are also furnished by some of the Flower-peckers 

 (Dic^eidae). Some of the nests of these birds have 

 already been described in the previous chapter, but 

 a thoroughly pendulous one must find a place here. 

 This is the beautiful cradle of the Australian Flower- 

 pecker (Dicceum hirundinaceum). It is said generally 

 to be built amongst the branches at the top of a tree, 

 hung or suspended from a more or less horizontal 

 twig, either of the tree itself or some parasite plant. 

 It is a bag or purse-shaped globular structure with a 

 side entrance near the top, the upper portion of the 

 nest being woven round the supporting branch. The 

 material is almost entirely composed of the white 

 cotton-like down of certain seeds. Another of these 

 strictly pendulous nests is made by the Thick-billed 

 Flower-pecker {Piprisoma agile). This bird suspends 

 its tiny nest from some twig, the latter passing 

 through the upper portion of it like a beam or rafter. 

 This, again, is mostly made of down and spiders' 



