﻿184? ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 



nest, which is pretty large in comparison with the size 

 of the hird. The shape is like the egg of an ostrich, 

 and not much less in size; the longer diameter six 

 inches, the shorter three inches and a half. This is 

 fixed on the forked twig of a poplar, surrounding it 

 with wool ; employing the downy part of the poplar 

 flower and such other materials as are made use of by 

 the former bird. This (nest) is also open on one side ; 

 but the entrance (is) more surprising, for it (the bird) 

 constructs a kind of portico over it (the aperture), pro- 

 jecting almost three quarters of an inch, whereby there 

 is an additional security against accidents from wind, 

 rain, and other inconveniences."* Before closing our 

 account of the gradual change from fixed to pendulous 

 nests, we are tempted to mention that of the bird called 

 by Linnaeus Parus capensisf (but which stands in our 

 MS. JEgithalus capensis), because, if there is no exag- 

 geration in the account, which rests on the authority of 

 Sonnerat^, it is still more complicated than the two 

 which we have last described. The form of the nest 

 is purse, or bottle, shaped, which is suspended on a 

 branch, but not at its extremity. It is composed of a 

 kind of cotton plant, and placed in the most thorny 

 thickets. The neck, or upper part of the nest, is nar- 

 row, and on the outside is a sort of additional nest, or 

 rather portico, which serves to lodge the male, while 

 the female is sitting or taking care of her young within. 

 But now comes the extraordinary part of the account, 

 " It is said, when the female goes out of the nest, the 

 male strikes against the outside with all the force of his 

 wing, by which the edges of the entrance collapse toge- 

 ther, so as to prevent the intrusion of any thing to in- 

 jure the young in her absence." Mr. Barrow, who 

 writes as an eye-witness, makes no mention of this ex- 

 traordinary proceeding. The following is his account : 



* General History, vol. vii. p. §63. 



f Figured and described as a new species by the name of E. Smithit, 

 vide Jardine and Selby, Illustrations of Ornithology, pi. cxiii. fig. 1. 



t Voyage aux Indes et a la Chine, vol. ii. p. 106. pi. 115., as quoted in 

 Sonnini's Buffon, vol. xvi. p. 290. ; also General History, vol. vii. p. 264. 



