EARTHEN NESTS. '61} 



zontal bough, and fixed so firmly that it cannot fall except by 

 being broken to pieces. Not being afraid of man, the Oven- 

 bird often chooses a beam in some outhouse for a resting-place, 

 and has been known to build even on the top of palings. As 

 may be seen by reference to the illustration, the nest is a very 

 conspicuous one, and concealment is almost impossible. 



As in the Grallina nest, the material is remarkably hard 

 and firm, as indeed is necessary, to allow it to withstand 

 the effects of the rain-torrents which fall during the wet 

 seasons of the year. 



There is a curious analogy in this nest with many articles 

 of earthenware. Not only among ourselves, but among un- 

 civilised races, earthenware vessels are constructed with 

 partitions, so as to divide one portion from another. If one 

 of these nests be cut open, it will be found to have a sort of 

 partition wall across the interior, rising nearly to the top of 

 the dome, and so dividing it into two parts. The wall also 

 answers another purpose — i.e. that of strengthening the entire 

 structure. Within the inner chamber is the real nest, which 

 is lined with a thick layer of feathers, the outer chamber being 

 bare, and, as it is thought, being occupied by the male. 



We now come to pottery of a more elaborate shape. Both 

 in the Grallina nest and the earthen pot of the Essequibo 

 Indian we have a vessel with a mouth nearly as wide as its 

 greatest diameter, and with a lip which is very slightly turned 

 over. There are, however, many varieties of pottery in which 

 the neck is narrow and long, and the lip is boldly formed. 

 Some examples of this form are given on the right hand of the 

 accompanying illustration. 



On the left hand are shown some nests of a solitary wasp 

 belonging to the genus Eumenes. It is a British insect, 

 but seems to have been little noticed, except by professed ento- 

 mologists. 



It especially haunts heather, and affixes to the stems of the 

 plant its little globular nests, which are made of mud, and 

 shaped as seen in the illustration. Perhaps some of my readers 

 may have seen the " Napier Coffee Machine," which draws the 

 coffee into a glass globe furnished with a short neck. The 



