DK. THEODOE NEUMANN. 183 



most lining, a mat of all kinds of feathers, which lies 

 smoothly and gives the whole inner chamber a very ele- 

 gant appearance. Especially, if the nest does not stand 

 in a hole, it is entirely built of green moss so densely 

 felted together that it. looks as if glued and perfectly 

 smooth. The form of such ^ nest comes very near a per- 

 fect sphere. The roof over the entrance is constructed 

 with particular care, very neat looking and almost water- 

 proof, so that the whole nest appears exactly like a 

 country mansion with a side entrance. It is a singular 

 fact that the bird will often build several nests in one 

 season — not that it needs so many separate dwellings, or 

 that it finishes them when built, but it builds as if for 

 the very pleasure of the work, or for the sake of possess- 

 ing moje than one house — a feathered real estate owner. 



Among the dome-builders we must also count the 

 magpie (Pica caudata), although its nest does not offer 

 any peculiarities or any great skill. It is composed of 

 thorny sticks, strongly interlaced, plastered with mud 

 on the inside, and lined with grass and root fibres. The 

 whole structure is then provided with a big hood of 

 thorns and dry twigs, perhaps not so solid that one could 

 not see through, but protecting the bird completely from 

 attacks by birds of prey. 



A nest not unlike that of the magpie, built by another 

 foreign bird, the pomatorhynchus, would not deserve 

 our special notice were it not for a rather peculiar cir- 

 cumstance connected with it which adds another proof 

 to the well established fact that "just the unexpected 

 often hapj)ens." 



The blue-faced honey-eater (Meliphaga cyanops) is in 

 the habit of taking possession of the deserted nests of the 

 pomatorhynchus, and of saving itself the trouble of 

 building, by making a small depression in the domed roof 

 of the deserted domicile and therein laying its eggs. It 

 might be expected that the bird would prefer to avail 



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