40 



Shells of historic, poetic, or other interest. 



The arrangement of similar series in the other 

 branches of the invertebrates, as far as the material 

 will permit. 



The Museum is very rich in mollusca, and has many 

 interesting and valuable specimens in the other 

 branches of the invertebrates, though it would appear 

 from the labels that much valuable material, especially 

 in the line of insects, had been lost through the rav- 

 ages of museum pests. 



Homes and Home Life. — On the left as we pass from 

 this room is a case showing the homes and home life 

 of animals. Here are types of bird nests, the nests 

 built of rushes on the ground, the tiny humming 

 bird's nest high up in a tree, the swallow's nest of 

 sticks glued together and plastered to the inside walls 

 of a chimney. The long hanging nest of the oriole 

 calls attention to the general rule that birds colored 

 to resemble their surroundings usually build open 

 nests, while those that are brightly colored build such 

 nests that the birds will be hidden when they are 

 sitting on the eggs. 



Then come the nests of insects. Here are the 

 nests of the hornets or paper wasps, as a type of the 

 communal insects, and a nest of the mud-dobber as 

 one of the insects living alone. Here is the nest of 

 the trap door spider and other forms. A few forms 



