APOICA, 371 



of their leaves, and the denuded branches covered with the 

 sheets of web in which lay the destroying armies. 



It is hardly possible to overrate the wonderful varieties of 

 form that are assumed by the nests of insects, — varieties so 

 bold and so startling that few would believe in the possibility 

 of their existence without ocular demonstration. No rule seems 

 to be observed in them ; at all events no rule has, as yet, been 

 discovered by which their formation is guided ; neither has 

 any conjecture been formed as to the reason for the remarkable 

 forms which they assume. 



Perhaps, of all the nests in the splendid collection of the 

 British Museum, there are none that cause so much surprise as 

 the wonderful group which is represented in this illustration. 

 Many persons pass through the room, and even take some notice 

 of the various nests with which they are surrounded, but they 

 seldom notice the peculiarities of this group until pointed out 

 to them. When, however, their attention is directed towards 

 it, they never fail to express their surprise at so curious a struc- 

 ture, and their admiration of the manner in which these natural 

 homes are constructed. 



If the reader will refer to the illustration, he will see that 

 the nests are by no means uniform in size or shape. The larger 

 one, for example, wliich occupies the centre, rather exceeds ten 

 inches in diameter, while the small nest at the end of the 

 same branch is scarcely half as wide, and the others are of 

 all the intermediate sizes. In shape, too, they differ, some 

 being perfectly hexagonal, others partly so, while others again 

 are nearly circular, though on a careful inspection they show 

 faint traces of the hexagonal form. 



We will now examine these nests, and see where they agree 

 with and differ from each other. 



In the first place, their upper surfaces are more or less convex, 

 according to their size ; and whether they are circular or hexa- 

 gonal, the convexity remains the same. This form is evidently 

 intended for the purpose of making them weather-proof; for the 

 rain torrents that occasionally deluge the country would soon 



It B 2 



