DR. THEODOR NEUMANN. 171 



by a cord of considerable length from the branch of a 

 tree, so as to be inaccessible to snakes and monkeys. The 

 nest is said to contain a chamber for the male and 

 another for the female, the former being situated close 

 to the opening at the bottom of the nest, through which 

 the birds obtain admission to their snug apartments j 

 here the male stations himself to watch over the safety 

 of his family, and the natives believe that he attaches to 

 the wall of his chamber a patch of soft clay, to which he 

 fastens a fire-fly to serve as a night-light. 



The baya of India (Ploceus Baya) which is very nearly 

 allied to the Philippine species, twists thorns with their 

 points directed to the outside in the walls of its nest, so 

 that no enemy, not even a snake, can come near it, and 

 the old as well as the young are perfectly safe in this 

 elegant home. It consists only of a single chamber, the 

 opening of which is at one side, access to it being ob- 

 tained by means of a cylindrical passage hanging down 

 from the bottom of the nest. The whole structure is so 

 durable and firm that the natives believe whoever can 

 take such a nest apart without breaking one of the com- 

 posing twigs will find a golden ball in the interior. 



Among the group of basket-plaiters must be counted 

 another family of birds whose wonderful structures have 

 aroused astonishment not only among travellers in 

 foreign lands, who saw these laborers at work and in- 

 spected their marvelous buildings, but also among such 

 as heard their reports and saw the nests of those birds 

 on exhibition in museums. This is the group of the 

 bower-birds (Ptilonorhynchus holosericeus), which have 

 received their name from the peculiar structures which 

 they build apparently for the purpose of pleasure as 

 sporting places, where the males meet to pay their court 

 to the females, and which are constructed with such 

 wonderful skill and taste that we are forced to recognize 

 the intellect manifested by them as inferior to that of 



109 



