54 Dr. Henry Giglioli on the Birds observed at Pisa 



month, the poplar-down being abundant, they began to weave 

 their beautiful nests ; and by the first week in April some were 

 already finished, and gracefully swinging from the extremities of 

 the uppermost poplar-twigs. 



As I had such excellent opportunities for observing the nest- 

 making process of these interesting birds, I shall here give the 

 history of a nest of which I witnessed the beginning and, I am 

 sorry to say, the end ; for I had it taken down as soon as the 

 eggs were laid. Passing, one morning early in April, under a 

 poplar, I observed a pair of Pendulines apparently very busy : I 

 stopped to look, and soon found that they had just fixed on a 

 convenient twig, and were laying the foundations of their aerial 

 abode, which, as in all suspended fabrics, were uppermost. Both 

 male and female were hard at work, the materials used being 

 fine long grass. They were two days in forming what I may 

 call the skeleton of the nest : it was bell-shaped, the twig forming 

 a kind of axis. Early on the morning of the third day, as I 

 paid my usual visit to the little builders, I found the male busy 

 with a ball of poplar-down nearly as big as himself; this he 

 secured between the twig and the incipient fabric, and, taking a 

 small tuft in his bill, he set-to weaving it into the top of the 

 framework. The female presently arrived, also carrying a great 

 ball of down, and she went to work in the same way. This pro- 

 cess continued that day ; and towards the close of the following 

 one the bell-like framework was covered with a thick coating of 

 down. Now came the most difficult and interesting part of the 

 undertaking, namely, the weaving-in of the bottom of the nest. 

 Both birds worked as usual, though the male seemed to act as 

 chief architect, looking over the work of his mate, and giving it 

 an occasional touch-up. It usually took them about five minutes 

 to collect the load of down; this they always deposited near, 

 taking little bits from it for use as required. The weaving was 

 all done with the bill, as the bird was suspended head downwards, 

 holding on to the finished part of the nest by its powerful claws. 

 On the eighth day the nest had assumed its kidney-like form, 

 with a great ragged opening on one side. The little couple now 

 set about making the entrance of their house, and seemed to 

 consider it a very important undertaking ; for they were two whole 



