NEST OF TAILOR BIRD. 199 



tliey construct their nest, which has procured them the name of 

 AYeaver Birds. The nest of Fondia erytkrops occupies the centre 

 of a bundle of reeds growing in shallow water, in which various 

 grasses are roughly interwoven in the form of a cupola. The 

 Black-headed Synalaxis, S. melanops (Bonaparte), constructs a 

 more delicate fabric, but remarkable for its strength. It builds 

 its nest with grasses, interlacing them in a firm and inextricable 

 web ; the form is globular, and the entrance is a small hole in one 

 of its sides. The Orioles and Cassiques of the New Yv^orld cannot 

 be passed without noticing their wonderful skill in nest construc- 

 tion. The nest of the Baltimore Oriole forms a perfect family 

 jDouch, which it suspends from the upper branches of a shrub or 

 tree. The nest of Cassicus kcemorrhous (Cuvier) consists of dry 

 grasses woven into long sacks, gradually increasing in size towards 

 the bottom, with an elongated slit in the side ; this is so con- 

 structed as to exclude rain from the nest. These wonderful 

 structures are sometimes two yards in length ; and when these 

 birds are numerous in the country, the nests, as they hang- 

 suspended from the branches of trees, give a singularly novel 

 aspect to the landscape. 



Not less curious is the nest of the Tailor Bird, Orthotoniu (Fig. 

 78), which is formed of a large leaf, the two sides of which the 

 bird has contrived to sew together ; in the interior is placed the nest. 

 Miraculous indeed is the produce of these little workers. The 

 wonder is how the birds contrive to enter a nest on the wing when 

 the opening seems scarcely so large as the bird's body, and yet it 

 enters without disturbing- a fibre. The hut of some savage races 

 is left constantly oi^en, their intelligence not suggesting a pro- 

 tecting door. The Spiders are more ingenious. They contrive 

 to close the entrance to their dwellings, while the door is leit 

 habitualljr open ; some birds adopt analogous precautions. In M. 

 Jeudon's book on the Birds of India, he reports a curious arrange- 

 ment of a species of Homrain: when the female of this bird 

 begins to lay, the male encloses her in their nest by shutting- up 

 the door with a thick mud wall, leaving only a small opening by 

 which the female can breathe and receive her food from the male 

 bird's bill ; for this severe husband is not forgetful of his duties, but 

 every few minutes conveys some morsel to the enclosed prisoner. 



