Xll CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XX. 



RUB-AQUATIC NESTS. 



IXVERTEBRATES. 



A Pool and its wonders — The Water Spider — Its sub-aquatic nest— Conveyance 

 of air to the nest— The diving bell anticipated — Character of the air in the 

 nest— Mr. Bell's experiments upon the Spider— Life of the Water Spider— Tlie 

 Htdrachna — The Caddis Flies and their characteristics— Sub-aquatic homes 

 of the Larva — Singular varieties of form and material — Life of a Caddis — De- 

 scription of nests in my own collection — Fixed cases, and modification of Larva 

 — Singular materials for nest-building —Corals and their general history — The 

 Coral of commerce — Development and extension of the Coral — How fresh 

 colonies are founded — Various Corals and their growth — Submarine tube- 

 makers — The Serpul^ and their general habits — The Operculum of the 

 Serpula — The Terebelle and their submarine houses — The Caddis Shrimp— 

 Kemai'kable analogy 377 



CHAPTEE XXI. 



SOCIAL HABITATIONS. 



social mammalia. 



The Beaver — Its form and aquatic habits — Need for water and means used to 

 procure it — Quadrupedal engineering — The dam of the Beaver— Erroneous 

 ideas of the dam — How the Beaver cuts timber — The Beaver in the Zoological 

 Gardens — Theoiies respecting the Beaver's dam — How the timber is fasteued 

 together — Form of the dam, and mode of its enlargement — Beaver-dams and 

 coral reefs— The house or lodge of the Beaver — Its locality and structure — Use 

 of a subterranean passage — How Beavers are hunted — Curious superstition— 

 " Les Paresseux " 411 



CHAPTER XXII. 



SOCIAL BIRDS. 



The Sociable Weaver Bird and its country — Description of the bird— Nest of 

 the Sociable Weaver — How begun and how carried on — Materials of the nest — 

 The tree on which the nest is built, and its uses — Dimensions of the nest and 

 disastrous consequences — A Hottentot and a lion — Supposed object of the 

 Social nest— Average number of inhabitants — Analogy with Dyak houses — 

 Enemies of the Sociable Weaver ; the monkey, the snake, and the pairakeet 416 



CHAPTER XXIIL 



SOCIAL INSECTS. 



AiTttngement of groups — Nests of Polybia — Curious method of enlargement — 

 Structure of the nests — How concealed — Various modes of attachment — A 

 curious specimen — The Hive Bee, and its claims to notice — General history of 

 the hive — Form of the cells— The royal cell, its structure and use — Uses of the 



