240 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



green when first woven, become white and dry in a short time. 

 The grass is mingled with the hair of the kangaroo and the fur 

 of som6 phalangist, vulgarly called opossum, which serve to mat 

 the grass together and to make it impervious to the wind and 

 rain ; and the interior is neatly lined with grasses and vegetable 

 down. 



There are many Honey-eaters in Australia, all of which are 

 easily known by the hairy tuft at the end of the long tongue, 

 which is used for licking the sweet juices out of flowers. The 

 entomological reader may perhaps remember that the tongue of 

 the hive-bee is constructed on precisely the same principle, being 

 long, slender, mobile, and fringed with hair at its top. 



Many of them construct nests which may fairly be reckoned 

 among the pensile, and one of the prettiest among the number is 

 that which is built by the Lunulated Honey-eater {Meliihreptes 

 lunulatus). The bird is easily recognized by the white crescentic 

 mark which runs round the back of the neck, the horns pointing 

 upward toward the opening of the mouth, and forming a striking 

 contrast with the black hue of the head and neck. 



The nest of this bird is very like that of the Singing Honey- 

 eater, but is mostly suspended to the thinnest twigs which grow 

 at the summit of the enormous Eucalypti-trees. Owing to the 

 great height at which it is placed, and the leaves which surround 

 it, none but an experienced eye can detect it. The walls of the 

 nest are ingeniously made of the inner rind or "liber" of the 

 stringy-bark and other gum-trees, a material which is not unlike 

 the "bass" with which all gardeners are so familiar. The hair 

 of various animals is mixed with the bark, and since sheep have 

 been introduced into Australia, the bird has always availed itself 

 copiously of their wool, finding that it can be worked well into 

 the nest, and serves to bind the materials firmly together. As 

 the nest is always hung by the rim to the twigs, strength of sub- 

 stance is an absolute necessity, and the toughness of fibre and the 

 felting property of the wool make it a most valuable addition to 

 the building materials used by the bird. 



For the lining of the nest, the Lunulated Honey-eater retains 

 the materials to which it has always been accustomed, and uses 

 the fur of the phalangists, which has the advantage of being very 

 soft, very warm, of retaining its elasticity, and of not adhering to 

 the claws of the inmates, as would be the case with wool. 



