42 



Marvels of the Universe 



AN OVEN-BIRD AND lib N Ei I . 



The Oven-bird of South America builds a quaint nest of clay on the 

 horizontal bough of a tree, with a lone narrow opening in one side. The 

 Brazilians call the bird " Johnny Clay." 



likely to attract much notice ; the extreme fearlessness in captivity of the little builders shows that 

 these birds have been little used to molestation by large animals, whatever their foes may be. 



The woven nests of the \\'eaver-finches of Africa and South-eastern Asia may really be regarded 

 as the most wonderful of all, inasmuch as real skill is needed to construct them, weaving being a 

 much more complicated process than mere felting. A weaver's nest of the most perfect type, as 



exemplified by that of the Baya 

 »!^^- ./ ■ '"^^^IBP" weaver, one of the few Asiatic species, 



consists of a long suspension-cord 

 attached to a twig or palm-frond, 

 and holding up a bulb expanded on 

 one side into a nesting-chamber and 

 prolonged downwards on the other 

 into a long entrance-spout, up which 

 the bird darts. The young and eggs 

 are kept from tumbling down the 

 spout by a strong partition which 

 separates the nest-cup from the spout, 

 and, being built before either, serves 

 as a perch for the bird working inside 

 the dome. 



The most celebrated of all weavers, 

 the Sociable Weaver of South Africa, 

 collects in flocks of dozens of pairs 

 to make a massed nest-foundation of 

 grass in the branches of a tree, in the 

 under-side of which the individual 

 pairs each construct their separate 

 nesting-hollow. The bird is plain 

 and sparrow-like, whereas in most 

 weavers the males, at all events, show 

 much brilliant yellow. 



Nests may be not only felted and 

 woven together, they may be gummed 

 by the saliva of the birds ; and this 

 is sufficiently remarkable, as the 

 saliva in birds generally is not con- 

 spicuous by its abundance. It is, 

 however, particularly copious and 

 sticky in the swifts, whose rude nests 

 are usually gummed together, some 

 tropical species constructing really 

 elaborate nests in this way. The 

 most remarkable is the strange nest 

 built by a Central .\merican swift, which is on the principle of the best weaver-bird's nests, with 

 long entrance-spout and covered nesting-chamber at the top. It is, however, hung from a rock 

 instead of a twig, and formed entirely of downy plant-seeds gummed together by the bird's saliva. 

 There is a sort of false entrance half-way up the spout in the well-known British Museum specimen. 



The little Eastern swifts of the Collocalia group build in caves, gumming their small half-saucer- 

 shaped nests of moss, etc., mixed with 'saliva, against the wall It is in this group that the 



[liy 11. (Srbnvofd. 

 THE .-XUSTR.i.LI.AN MOUND-BIRD. 



The Australian Mjund-bird makes a nest of dead leaves and grass, or 

 which its eggs are laid. They are then covered up to a depth of two feet 

 and the fermentation of the vegetable matter hatches them. The mound: 

 sometimes measure lorty-five feet in circumference. 



