The Oven-bird 



20I 



period of nest-building, and the secretion is described by 

 him as a thick, adhesive shme, hke unto gum-arabic. By 

 using a little stick it is possible to draw this slime out in 

 threads, and the whole supply can be extracted by twist- 

 ing the stick round and round. 



Oven-bird {Fia-narius j-^tfiis)^ and its nest (from specimens in tiie British Museum). 



Of all the builders of mud-nests, however, there is 

 probably none more wonderful than the Oven - bird 

 {Ftirnarhis i-ufiis), especially as it belongs to the South 

 American family Dciidrocolaptidce or Wood- Hewers, most 

 of which are climbing-birds with stiffened tails like that 

 of our own Creeper (^Ceriliia fainiliaris). As among the 



