186 nature's teachings. 



exactly the same principle as the thatch of the Sociable Weaver- 

 bird. They are nothing more than successive rows of long 

 grass-blades fastened to a network of the proper shape. No 

 amount of rain or snow can wet them through, and they have 

 the advantage of being pervious to the exhalations of the body, 

 though impervious to external moisture. 



In this respect they are greatly superior to our waterproof 

 coats, for, if the wearer has to undergo much bodily exertion, 

 or is obliged to wear it for any length of time, he finds his 

 clothing nearly if not quite as wet as if he had allowed the pure 

 rain to fall on him from the clouds. I possess specimens of 

 each kind of cloak. 



When I procured them they were quite blackened with 

 London smoke, and, on account of their resistance to water, 

 washing them was a very long and troublesome business. 



Above the nest are two patches of the Booschmannees-grass, 

 as they appear when laid by the bird. 



Below the nest is a group of the eggs of the Gold-tailed 

 Moth, whose nest has already been described. Perhaps the 

 reader wonders where the eggs are. Owing to the mode in 

 which they are arranged, only a few can be seen, and are 

 represented by the little white spots in the lower part of the 

 figure. When the Gold- tailed Moth is ready for the great 

 business of laying her eggs, she seeks a suitable place, and 

 then piles them up in the form of a shallow cone. Her task, 

 however, is not yet finished. Having arranged her eggs, she 

 scrapes off the long downy hairs of the tail-tuft, and arranges 

 them carefully on the eggs so as to cover them with a conical 

 thatch, very much resembling that of an ordinary corn-rick. 



The Brown-tailed Moth acts in a similar fashion. 



Furs of various kinds act in the same manner, being imper- 

 vious to wet during the life of the animal. Such, for example, 

 is the fur of the Beaver, that of the Capybara, and that of 

 the Seal, which are animals living in our time. These, how- 

 ever, are exceeded in their thatch-like powers by the three 

 successive coatings of hair that were worn by the ancient 

 Mammoth, the outermost being very long and very coarse, and 

 hanging down in heavy tufts so as to shoot the water from 

 them, 



