CONTENTS. XI 



CHAPTER XVII. 



BUILDING BIRDS (CONTINUED). 



Nesting of the Hornbills — Dr. Livingstone's account of the KoKW^, or Rrd- 

 BREASTED HoRNBiLL — The Long-tailed Titmouse — Its general habits — Its 

 use to the gardener — Number of the young — Form and materials of the nest — 

 Localities chosen by the bird — How to prepare the fragile eggs — The Magpie 

 — Its domed and fortified nest — The common Wken and its nest — Pseudo-nests 

 and their probable origin — The HonsE "VVren of America — Its habits and mode 

 of nesting — Wilson's account of the bird — Its usefulness and quarrelsome nature 

 — The Ltre Bird — Origin of its name — Its domed nest — The Albert's Lyre 

 Bird and its habits— The Bower Bird — ^Why so called— Civilization and 

 social amusement — The remarkable bower — Its materials and mode of con- 

 struction — Use to which it is put — The Bower Birds in the Zoological Gardens, 

 and their habits — Love of ornament — Meaning of the scientific name — The 

 Spotted Bowee Bird of New South Wales — Its bower — Description of the 

 bii'ds and their place in the present system 326 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



BUILDING INSECTS. 



The Termite, or White Ant — General habits of the insect — African Termite 

 and their homes — Termites as articles of food — Indian Termites — Account of 

 their proceedings — American Termites — Mr. Bates' account of their habits — 

 European Termites — Their ravages in Fiance and Spain— M. de Quatrefages and 

 his history of the Termites of Eochefort and La Eochelle — The Eumenes and 

 its mud-built nest — The Trypoxylon of South America — The PELOPi;us and 

 its curious nest — The Mud-dauber Wasp — Mr. Goss's account of its habits — 

 — The Melipona of America — Mr. Stone's AVasp nests and their history — 

 Difference of material — The Foraging Ants of South America and their 

 various species — Nests and habits of the Foraging Ants — The Agricultuijal 

 Akt of Texas — Dr. Liuoecum's accounts of its habits 313 



CHAPTER XIX. 



SUB-AQUATIC NESTS. VERTEBRATES. 



Fishes as architects — The Sticklebacks and their general habits — The Fresh- 

 water Sticklebacks — A jealous proprietor — Punishment of trespassers — 

 Form and materials of the nest — Use of the nest — Cannibalistic propensities — 

 The Fifteen-Spined Stickleback, and its form — Its curious nest — Mr. 

 Couch's description of a nest in a rope's end — Fishes of Guiana — The Hassar 

 or Hardback, and its place in zoology— Nest of the Hassar — Parental watch- 

 fulness — ^Singular position of the nest — Habits of the Hassar . . . 373 



