PENDULOUS NESTS 265 



tive adaptability as do those of the American Orioles. 

 A long and obser\'ant familiarity with these nests 

 prompted the illustrious Wilson to proclaim that they 

 *' exhibit not only art in the construction, but judg- 

 ment in adapting their fabrications so judiciously to 

 their particular situations. If the actions of birds 

 proceeded, as some would have us believe, from the 

 mere impulses of that thing called instinct, individuals 

 of the same species would uniformly build their nests 

 in the same manner, wherever they might happen to 

 fix it; but it is evident from those just mentioned, 

 and from a thousand such circumstances, that they 

 reason, a priori, from cause to consequence, persist- 

 ently managing with a constant eye to future neces- 

 sity and convenience." The belief in instinct, how- 

 ever, like many another popular superstition and 

 prejudice, dies hard, and is still very generally in- 

 voked as an explanation of many of the wonders 

 associated with avine architecture. 



The most typical pendulous nest-builders are the 

 Cassiques (Cassicus, etc.). These birds are inhabitants 

 of tropical America, where they form a very pro- 

 minent and characteristic feature in the ornithology 

 of that region. Their nests are very curious and 

 interesting structures, and may best be described as 

 elongated bags or pockets suspended by woven cords 

 of various lengths and thicknesses. These wonderful 

 hanging nests — a type of architecture in which the 

 art of suspension reaches its climax — are one of the 



