Some Foreign Bird Architects. 



is that of the Sawbill Humming Bird. This bird has 

 gained its popular name from the curious formation 

 of its long, slender beak, which 

 fo*r a short distance from the tip 

 is notched in a sawlike fashion 

 on the edges of both the upper 

 and the lower mandible. Using 

 fine vegetable fibres, the Sawbill 

 Humming Bird weaves them to- 

 gether so as to form a dainty 

 open-network purse nest, the 

 outer walls of which are so 

 loosely woven that the eggs and 

 lining can be seen through the 

 interstices. Leaves, mosses, and 

 lichens are woven into the body 

 of the nest, and a compact 

 layer of this material forms a 

 soft bed for the eggs, but the 

 edge of the nest is always a 

 loosely woven lattice-work as 

 already described. Practically 

 all the Humming Birds build 

 interesting and daintily con- 

 structed nests, and it seems 

 a cruel and disgraceful thing 

 that many of these exquisite 

 wee birds have been so ruth- 

 lessly slaughtered, in such whole- 

 sale numbers, for the sake of 

 their glorious plumage that they are fast approaching 

 total extinction. 



233 



Nest of the Pigmy Hermit 

 Humming Bird. 



