PENDULOUS NESTS 257 



webs mixed with a few fibres, the latter lending the 

 whole structure a brown appearance. It is, of course, 

 purse-shaped ; and Mr Jesse records that another of 

 its peculiarities is " that it can be rolled up and un- 

 rolled again without losing its shape." Perhaps the 

 nests of no other family form such a connecting link 

 between hanging domed nests and those of a strictly 

 pendulous character, some of them being exception- 

 ally puzzling as to which division they most correctly 

 belong. Some nests of the Honey-eaters (Meliphagida^) 

 rank next in this peculiarity, the open cradle, for in- 

 stance, of the Lanceolate Honey-eater (Plectorhynchus 

 lanceolatus) being attached at each extremity of the 

 rim to the supporting twig ; vegetable down and grass 

 are the principal materials of this hammock - like 

 abode. 



Other examples of pendulous nests are furnished 

 by the Goldcrest-like little birds of the genus Gery- 

 gone, associated by some systematists with the Fly- 

 catchers, by others with the Warblers. They are 

 peculiar to the Australian region. From particulars 

 published by Mr D. Le Souef, I have drawn the 

 following information relating to the Masked Gerygone 

 (G.persojtata). This bird lives in the dense scrub, and 

 suspends its dome-shaped nest from the extremity of 

 a thin branch or a palm leaf. It has a porch at the 

 entrance, more prominent in some nests than in 

 others. It is composed of fine fibres of grass ; and 

 to the tapering beard-like lower portion the dried 



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