476 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



to green, violet, and copper, and having a glossy sheen like that 

 of satin. 



OuB little Mend the Spasbow {Passer domesticus) is occa^ 

 sionally a parasite, following to some extent the custom of the 

 purple grakle, though it does not select a bird of prey for its 

 companion. 



On the Continent, the common stork builds largely, and in 

 several countries is protected by general consent, the slaughter 

 of a stork, or the destruction of its nest and eggs, being visited 

 with a' heavy fine. In consequence of this immunity, the 

 stork is very tame, building upon houses as freely as does the 

 martin, and being considered as a bringer of good luck when it 

 does so. 



Any disused chimney is sure to have a stork's nest upon the 

 top, and so is a pillar, or any ruin. The nest of the stork bears 

 a general resemblance to that of the osprey, and, with the excep- 

 tion of the sea-weed, is made of similar materials. It is of huge 

 dimensions, and chiefly consists of sticks and reeds, heaped 

 together without much arrangement, and having on the top a 

 slight depression, in which the eggs are laid. As is the case 

 with the osprey nest, considerable interstices are left between 

 the sticks! S'^d in these spots the Sparrow loves to place its nest. 

 Mr. F. Keyl has told me that he has repeatedly seen the storks 

 and Sparrows thus living in amity together, the stork appearing 

 to extend to a weaker bird that protection which it receives 

 from mankind. 



We now pass to the Parasitic Insects. As this work is in- 

 tended to describe dwellings which are in some way formed by 

 the creatures, it is necessary to exclude all the parasite insects 

 that may exist upon the animal, and make no habitation, such 

 as the ticks, as well as those which are merely parasitic within 

 the animal, such as the various entozoa. 



Of Parasitic Insects, the greater number belong to that group 

 of hymenoptera which is called Ichneumonidse, and which em- 

 braces a number of species equal to all the other groups of the 

 same order. Being desirous of producing, as far as possible, 

 those examples of insects which have not been figured, I have 

 selected for illustration several specimens which are now in the 



