DWELLINGS 333 



such as the weaver bird (Plocei), the golden oriole, the titmouse 

 (Aegithalus pendulinus), the Chinese titmouse (Orites caudatus), 

 and others ; there is also a small mammal, Mus minutus, which 

 constructs an elegant nest of threads between the stems of 

 plants. 



Dwellings. Homes regards the tree-dwellings and huts 

 made of interlaced boughs and stems, and furnished with a roof, 

 as the type which most nearly resembles those of the beasts. 

 It is probable that palaeolithic man constructed much the same 

 huts in trees as do the Battas in Sumatra, certain South Indian 

 and Malay races, and some of the very low tribes in South 

 Africa to-day, but we have no positive evidence of this (Fig. 

 161). If it was so, the men of that time differed but little 

 from the anthropoid apes in the matter of their dwellings. 

 According to Brehm, 1 the gorilla, the chimpanzee and the 

 orang spend the night in nests, 20 to 30 feet above the ground, 

 constructed of branches intertwined, and made comfortable 

 with boughs and leafy twigs. Practically, the nest of the orang 

 resembles that of a great bird of prey, and similarly is never 

 provided with a roof. Thick boughs are either broken off, or 

 bent and twisted together, interwoven with loose, leafy branches, 

 and made impervious with foliage and grasses. Similar nests 

 are constructed by many birds, such as jays, bullfinches, ravens, 

 carrion crows, rooks, the American blue jay, the redwing, whereas 

 the magpie, and also the squirrel, provide their basket-work 

 nests with a roof. 



There are, however, many simple animal dwellings of which 

 primitive man might have availed himself, as for instance, hollow 

 trees, clefts in the rocks, or caves in the mountains. That man 

 actually lived in caves like the beasts of prey well into neolithic 

 times is evidenced by the numerous discoveries of fire-places 

 and manufactured objects of all kinds deep in the limestone 

 caverns of the European mountains, often " petrified " by lime 

 salts. . Many authorities assume that caves were only used in 

 the winter, because hunter-tribes for the best part of the year 

 settled here and there in suitable spots where they erected 

 temporary dwellings. This view, which has much in its favour, 

 has been recently supported by a remarkable discovery. Among 



1 Brehm, loc. cit., i. , p. 25. 



