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particular are exemplified. Carrying a long strip of material 

 in its bill it alights on the nest and quickly weaves in one end, 

 then taking a little hop forwards, it stretches itself out, and 

 taking the other extremity in its bill it underlaces that in like 

 manner, the whole operation occupying a few seconds only. It 

 then frequently hops to another part, and clinging on well with 

 its claws, reaches itself out and minutely inspects its work, tuck- 

 ing in any projecting ends that it may observe. The body of 

 the nest takes from four to five days to construct, and when the 

 circumference has been extended far enough down, a strong 

 loop is thrown across the bottom, a little at one side of the cen- 

 tre, giving the nest, as Jerdan, in his Birds of hull a, remarks, 

 the appearance when taken from the tree, of a basket with a 

 handle. It is curious how many people have erred in noting 

 the use of this loop, some being of the opinion that it is meant 

 for the male bird to sit upon, in what has been equally 

 erroneously described as the male nest ! It is the keystone to 

 the whole structure and of course exists in all nests ; it is the 

 ground work of the separation between the e^g compartment 

 and the entrance or " Spout " ; and, if examined, will be found 

 to be attached to the interior walls by strong buttresses running 

 up for a couple of inches. On one side of this loop the 

 exterior of the nest is brought down and up to it again, forming 

 the receptacle for the eggs, while the opposite side is built 

 down into the form of a tube or spout, the loop there 

 constituting merely a bridge over which the bird has 

 to mount in order to enter the nest. I think an exami- 

 nation of the nests I had the honour of presenting to 

 the Society's Museum will illustrate what I have 

 endeavoured to describe. The " spout," or tubular entrance, 

 varies in length, according as the passion for htoilding, if I 

 may so describe its instinct, exists to a greater or less degree 

 in the male bird, as it is nearly always continued by him after 

 the female has commenced to lay, and in some cases after she 

 has begun to sit. In some nests it is 18 inches long, in others 

 only 3 or 4. During the time the egg compartment is being 

 built the pieces of clay are attached, about which there are 

 so many different theories. Layard suggests that tliey are 

 for sharpening the bird's bill on. The natives have an idea 

 in India (Jerdan : Birds of India, Vol. II., p. 346) that they 

 are intended to stick fire-fiies to, in order to light up the 

 compartment at night ! Jerdan himself believes that tiicy 

 are used for the purpose of steadying the nest and prevontip^ 

 its being knocked about by the wind. From my own cb&erv.v 

 tion, I find that these lumps of clay are but seldom used in 

 Ceylon, probably because they do not ])uild here at £\ very 

 windy season of the year ; and I have noticed that, in a whole 



