146 
SYLVIAD.E. 
relation, tlic fire-crested wren, and the golden oriole. It is 
nsnally found suspended beneath the extremity of a branch of 
larch, or spruce fir, chiefly the latter, to the fingers or forks 
of which the nest is attached. 
To commence this pendant cradle, the little architect first 
attaches a few long grasses to the three or four forks she 
intends for its support, weaving them securely around their 
stalks, and forming with them festoons for the outline or 
frame. Within this skeleton cot she then proceeds to place 
moss and wool, and other light materials, interwoven with the 
cots of spiders; and it is then thickly lined with small fea¬ 
thers. The form of this little nest is spherical, and the open¬ 
ing almost invariably at the top. In its general appearance 
and neatness, it much resembles the nest of the chaffinch ; it 
is about four inches w'ide on the outside, and two within, and 
between two and three inches in depth; the brim is drawn 
in, or narrowed a little, which, together with the depth of the 
nest, affords security to the young in their otherwise perilous 
situation, and the horizontal branches of the bough to which 
it is attached, form concealment and shelter to the whole. 
So small is this little structure, and so well concealed by its 
position and the colour of the materials employed, that unless 
placed in a very conspicuous spot, its chances of escaping ob¬ 
servation are sufficient to ensure its general safety. Yet a 
danger of another character sometimes assails it, from which 
neither the depth of the nest, nor the apparent security of 
its position can entirely defend it; namely, a rough and 
boisterous gale of wind, which, by waving to and fro the 
supporting branch has been knowm to dislodge the eggs from 
their cradle. 
The eggs are from six to ten in number, small and delicate, 
scarcely exceeding peas in size, and measuring frequently not 
more than six lines in length, and from that to seven and a 
half. In surface they are mostly without polish ; the ground 
