DR. THEODOR NEUMANN. 185 



ends of which it even leaves small bunches or knots to 

 prevent their drawing through. Sometimes the bird 

 picks up a fallen leaf and, applying it to one still grow- 

 ing on the tree, sews the edges together in the same way, 

 and thus prepares a hanging cradle for its nest. The 

 cavity is filled up with a mass of cotton, Hax and other 

 vegetable fibres, mixed with a little hair, and in this com- 

 fortable pouch tlie eggs are deposited. 



Equally admirable appears the performance of the fan- 

 tail warbler (Salicaria cisticola), whose cradle in which it 

 rears its young is most ingeniously constructed from the 

 living reeds among which the bird loves to make its 

 residence. Being so minute a creature, it cannot make 

 use of the thick and sturdy stems, but employs the flat 

 leaf-blades and the smaller grasses in its architectural 

 designs. Each leaf is pierced by the bill, drawn closely 

 to another blade, and secured to it by means of a cottony 

 thread, which is passed through the perforation and 

 secured at each stitch by a knot so elaborately tied that 

 " it appears the work of reason." Thus the leaves sur- 

 rounding the nest are sewn together and the walls of its 

 domicile strengthened and fastened so that it will resist 

 the most violent storms which may shake the reeds 

 round about. If even it should be damaged, the male is 

 always ready to make repairs wherever it finds them 

 necessary, so that, according to careful observers, some 

 nests have grown three times as big during the hatching 

 season as they were at the beginning of it. 



With the remarks on this guild I have reached the end 

 of my paper. I should be haj)py to feel that I have suc- 

 ceeded in showing to you that it is really worth while to 

 look for a moment at the wonderful structures which have 

 passed before your eyes, that it pays to study this side of 

 bird life a little more closely, and to find out all the charm- 

 ing features connected with it. Indeed, can there be any- 

 thing more delightful in life than to go out, especially at 



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