DOMED OR ROOFED NESTS 247 



when once she had entered it, owing to the impos- 

 sibility of turning round. One other species scoops 

 out a circular hollow in the ground, and over this 

 builds a dome of finely woven grass. Still another 

 of these birds, the Synallaxis albescens, builds a 

 domed nest with a passage leading out of the top, 

 made of sticks and lined with wool. In building this 

 curious dwelling, the large cup-shaped nest is made 

 first, which is then roofed over, and the tubular 

 passage added. 



Synallaxis pudica builds its nest in a bush from 

 three to five feet from the ground. This resembles 

 a retort in shape, having a bowl with a neck at the 

 top slanting downward. It is made of small thorny 

 sticks closely laced together, the neck or entrance 

 being built out and downward until it is below the 

 level of the body of the nest. In some cases, as 

 was remarked by Mr Richmond, this covered way 

 is not very well defined, being lost in the mass of 

 sticks, and so compactly is the whole structure put 

 together that it is no easy matter to open it bare- 

 handed. 



Some of the marsh frequenting species attach their 

 spherical or oval-domed nests to reeds. Some of 

 these are a combination of dry grass and clay, so 

 cleverly put together as to be impervious to wet, 

 almost indestructible, and light as baskets. Another 

 type of nest is found in the genus Phacellodomus. 

 One species, P. striaticoUis, places its nest in a 



