CHAPTER XVI. 



BUILDING BIRDS. 



The Oven Bird and its place in ornithology — Its general habits — ^Ncst of the 

 Oven Bird — Curious materials and historical parallel — The specimens in the 

 British Museum — The internal architecture of the nest — Division into 

 chambers — The Pied Geallina — The specimens at the Zoological Gardens — 

 Materials and form of the nest — Boldness of the bird — The Song Thrush and 

 its nest — The Blackbird and its clay-lined nests — Supposed reasons for the 

 lining— The Fairy Martin— Locality, shape, and materials of the nest — 

 Social habits of the bird— How the nest is built — The Eufous-Nbcked Swallow 

 — Locality and abundance of its nests — Curious habit of the bird — ^Audubon's 

 account — The Rufous-Bellied Swallow — Supplementary nest — How the bird 

 builds — Popular superstition and its uses — The House Martin — Material of its 

 nest — Favourite localities — Ingenuity of the Martin — Adaptation to circum- 

 stances — Parasitic inti-uders, their number, dimensions, and tenacity of life — 

 The Swallow — Distinction between its nest and that of the Martin — ^Why 

 called the Chimney Swallow — ^Tallegalla, or Brush Turkey— The illustra- 

 tion explained — Various names of the Bird — Its singulai- and enormous nest — 

 How the eggs are laid and hatched — Egress of the young — Remarkable instinct. 

 Australian Jungle Fowl — Shape, size, and position of its nests — How the 

 eggs are discovered — Leipoa or Native Pheasant — Its mound-nest, and 

 general habits. 



Among the building birds, there is one species which is pre- 

 eminently chief. Not only is there no equal, but there is no 

 second. This is the Oven Bird {Furnarius fuKginosus), which 

 derives its popular name from the shape and material of its nest. 

 The Oven Bird belongs to the family of the Certhidae, and is 

 therefore allied to the well-known Creeper of our own country. 

 It is about as large as a lark, and is a bold looking bird, rather 

 slenderly built, and standing very upright. Its colour is warai 

 brown. It is very active, running and walking very fast, and is 

 much on the wing, though its flights are not of long duration, 

 consisting chiefly of short flittings from bush to bush in search 

 of insects. It generally haunts the banks of South American 

 rivers, and is a fearless little bird, not being alarmed even 

 at the presence of man The male has a hard shrill note, 



