154 CURIOUS HOMES AND THEIR TENANTS. 



HUMAN NEST-BUILDERS. 



The difference, strictly considered, between a house 

 and a nest may be taken to consist in the fact that a 

 house has walls and roof, and can be made to shut in 

 and hide its inmates from public view, and inciden- 

 tally that it is meant for a more or less permanent resi- 

 dent (the word from which house is derived means "to 

 hide ") ; while a nest, open at least in part to wind and 

 weather, is more of a temporary than a permanent 

 resting place ; the word nest meaning originally " a 

 place to sit down in." 



A nest is generally used as a receptacle prepared 

 by beast, bird, insect, spider, or reptile for holding 

 eggs to be hatched ; but not always, for some birds 

 and beasts, and particularly some of the larger apes, 

 make nests for other purposes. 



It is not generally known that tribes of human 

 beings exist who build true nests. 



Diogenes, the famous Greek philosopher, who, it 

 is said, lived in a tub, and believed that no one should 

 bother himself with what he could do ^vithout, might 

 have learned from the Bushmen of Africa to do with- 

 out his tub. The favorite dwelling places of these 

 primitive people are caves, which they regard as 

 ready-made habitations that cost no trouble in pre- 

 paring ; but in parts of the land he inhabits, where 

 there are no ca\'es, the Bushman makes himself nests. 

 Finding a suitable bush, he arranges the boughs in the 



