266 BIRDS' NESTS 



most characteristic features of tropical river scenery 

 in Amazonia and Guiana, where single trees are often 

 draped, with numbers of them hanging from the 

 extremities of the highest branches in situations 

 practically inaccessible to all but winged enemies. 

 These birds are in many cases not only gregarious, 

 but remarkably familiar, showing little fear of man 

 and often breeding in very populous places (such as by 

 the side of a much frequented road), like the Rook and 

 some other species in our own islands. One of the 

 most interesting of these nests is made by a Brazilian 

 Cassique (Ostinops decumanus). Some of these are 

 suspended by an exceptionally long woven cord, this 

 and the bag of the nest itself measuring quite six 

 feet in length ! The nests of other species, such as 

 that of Cassicus persicus, are much shorter and more 

 cylindrical, although made on precisely the same 

 model, a deep bag with a comparatively small horse- 

 shoe shaped entrance at the top. The materials of 

 these pendulous nests vary considerably according to 

 the locality, as we have just seen, but in every case 

 long dry fibres and thread-like roots are the principal. 

 These are woven together with great skill into fabrics 

 of exceptional strength, the females alone being the 

 architects apparently in every species. The observa- 

 tions of Dr Goeldi (whose biological observations in 

 Amazonia are of the greatest interest and value, and 

 which I hope may receive a better reception next 

 time than they got from certain stupid and ignorant 



