f86 STRANGE DWELLINGS, 



men in the British Museum. It is domed, rounded, and has 

 the entrance in the side. Its walls are fully an inch in thickness, 

 and it seems strong enough to bear rolling about on the ground. 

 This specimen was placed on a branch, but the bird is not very 

 particular as to the locality of its nest, sometimes building it on 

 a branch of a tree, sometimes on a beam in an outhouse, and 

 now and then on the top of palings ; generally, however, it is 

 built in the bushes, but without any attempt at concealment. 

 Owing to its dimensions and shape, the nest is extremely con- 

 spicuous, and the utter indifference of the bird on this subject is 

 not the least curious part of its history. 



Strong as is the nest, it is still further strengthened by a 

 peculiarity in the architecture, which is not visible from the 

 exterior. If one of the nests be carefully divided, the observer 

 will see that the interior is even more singular than the outside. 

 Crossing the nest from side to side is a wall or partition, made 

 of the same materials as the outer shell, and reaching nearly to 

 the top of the dome, thus dividing the nest into two chambers, 

 and having also the effect of strengthening the whole structure. 

 The inner chamber is devoted to the work of incubation, and 

 within it is a soft bed of feathers on which the eggs are placed. 

 The female sits upon them in this dark chamber, and the outer 

 room is probably used by her mate. The reader will remember 

 that several instances of such supplementary nests have already 

 been mentioned. The eggs are generally four in number. 



Both sexes work at the construction of the nest, and seem to 

 find the labour rather long and severe, as they are continually 

 employed in fetching clay, grass, and other materials, or in 

 working them together with tlieir bills. While thus employed 

 they are very jealous of the presence of other birds, and drive 

 them away fiercely, screaming shrilly as they attack the 

 intruder. 



Australia produces the two remarkable birds whose nests 

 are giveh in the accompanying illustration. 



The first of these feathered builders is the Pied Grallina 

 {Grallifm Australis), a bird which has become familiar to the 



