PENDULOUS NESTS 259 



about five inches in length. The nest is made of 

 shreds of bark, cocoanut fibre, dry grass and weeds, 

 skeletons of leaves, and the silk-like coverings of 

 spiders' nests — the whole matted together and more 

 resembling a hanging mass of debris left by the floods 

 than a nest. The lining consists of feathers. The 

 dome of the nest is about seven inches in length and 

 five inches in breadth. It may be of interest to state 

 that these birds are very frequently selected to play the 

 part of foster parents to various species of Cuckoos. 

 Mention might here also be made of the apparently 

 pendulous nest of the Glossy Starling {Calornis 

 metallica). This species is said to be very common 

 in the north-east coast districts of Australia, building 

 their nests on the tallest trees available in the scrub, 

 forest country, or mangroves. These birds very 

 closely resemble our own Starling in their habits, 

 living in flocks and breeding in societies. Mr D. Le 

 Souef remarks that when a large colony are nesting 

 on one tree the noise they make is considerable, the 

 birds looking like a swarm of bees circling round 

 the top. The same nest trees are used year after 

 year ; and sometimes one tree will contain just upon 

 three hundred nests. These nests are suspended from 

 the thin branches which sometimes break with their 

 weight. These are described as bulky hanging struc- 

 tures, nearly circular, measuring about seven inches 

 in diameter, the nest cavity about four and a half 

 inches. They are chiefly composed of dark-coloured 



