Marvels of the Universe 



41 



sometimes shuts the door, as it were, 

 by pinching together the edges of the 

 entrance-spout, and he thought that 

 this was done to regulate the tem- 

 perature as well as to baffle enemies ; 

 that the latter result was fairly pro- 

 bable is evident from the fact that on 

 one occasion the little bird herself had 

 some difficulty in getting in when she 

 came back after fastening up the 

 spout-hole. 



The ordinary nests built by the 

 beautiful little Sunbirds of the Eastern 

 tropics are of a felted type, consisting 

 of scraps of fibre, dead leaves, and such- 

 like dn,' materials bound together with 

 the webs of caterpillars and spiders ; 

 they hang from the end of a twig, 

 and are oval in shape, wth an 

 entrance-hole in the side, which is 

 overhung bj- a porch, no doubt in- 

 tended to screen the head of the 

 sitting bird, if she looks out, from 

 the view of an enemj' above. This 

 is the more necessary as there is 

 no attempt made to conceal the 

 nest, which, after all, so often looks 

 like a mere lump of casual rubbish 

 that it might easily pass undetected 

 for what it really is. The nest of 

 the species shown, which comes 

 from the Philippine Islands, is com- 

 posed almost entirely of fibre, and 

 so has a less " casual " appearance 

 than those of the Indian species I 

 have seen. 



Very beautiful little pensile felted 

 nests are those built by the Flower- 

 peckers of Eastern Asia ; they are on 

 a similar plan to those of the sunbirds, 

 but have not the eave over the en- 

 trance, and possess a broader base of 

 attachment. They are also much 

 neater, the material being of more 

 uniform character, and the foundation 

 of plant-down and cobweb so well com- 

 pacted that they can be folded up like 

 little purses. Being very tiny, and 

 placed at the tops of trees, they are not 





[/; //. Groncohl. 



A NEST WITH A 



FALSE OPENING. 



This nest of a Weaver-bird shows 



a long vertical tunnel leading lo th 



nest prooer. The false openin; half- 



way up the structure is intended t 



miBlead any possible enemies. 





