118 



that's it ; 



The wren is one of a class of 

 birds called dome-builders from 

 the shape of its nest, 16, which is 

 usually built of green moss. In- 

 stead of gathering the material 

 bit by bit, 

 as is com- 

 monly the 

 case, the 

 wren picks 

 up large 

 tufts, and 

 brings a 

 heap of 

 moss toge- 

 ther, be- 

 build. The 



fore she 



416. 



begins 



to 



eggs are sometimes as many as 

 eighteen, white with spots. 



When the wren attaches its nest to the bare 

 clay, under an overhanging piece of turf, as 

 well as when it selects the moss-grown trunk 

 of a tree, it first sketches an oval outline of the 

 structure, hy glueing with saliva hits of moss all 

 round, so as to be narrower at top than at 

 bottom. Sometimes, instead of attaching the 

 bads: of the nest to the clay, it fixes only the 

 arch of the top to that support, the under part 

 of the nest being built downwards, and sus- 

 pended therefrom. This foundation of moss is 

 increased by inserting fresh pieces, apparently 

 glued with saliva, as the foundation is glued to 

 the clay, till a larger hemisphere is constructed, 

 about twenty times the bulk of the little archi- 

 tect, with a small oval hole in the side for an 

 entrance. Sometimes, moss is almost the only 

 material used in the whole structure, a smooth 

 bed of the finer sort being employed for a lining, 

 licit most commonly there are a few straws, 

 sticks, or dead leaves on the outside, by way of 

 binding to the moss, while the interior is lined 

 with hair, wool, shavings of wood, cotton, 

 worsted, feathers, down, and similar materials, 

 according as they can be had, or rather accord- 

 ing to the experience of the birds and their 

 diiferent notions of comiort, for we have found 

 the nests thus varying even in the same 

 locality.* 



The nest of the tailor-bird, an 

 inhabitant of India, is a remark- 

 able curiosity. To protect its 

 young from tree-makes, which 

 are numerous there, it forms a 

 nest in the leaves of trees, 17, by 

 stitching them together. If one 



* Architecture of Birds. 



leaf be large enough, the bird 

 draws its edges to- H 

 gether, and unites 

 them, so as to form a 

 cup-like cavity ; 

 sometimes it joins two 

 leaves, growing toge- 

 ther, or picks up a 

 dead one, and unites 

 it to the growing 

 leaf. It forms a 

 thread of vegetable 

 fibres, and lines the 

 nest with down and 

 fine feathers. 



Reserving for a future page the description 

 of other curious nests, we will now devote 

 attention to birds themselves. 



The white-headed sea eagle, 2, 

 is a beautiful and powerful bird, 

 about the size of the golden eagle, 

 which it resembles. It preys 

 chiefly on fish, which it seizes by 

 darting down upon them while 

 swimming near the surface •: it 

 also preys on birds and other 



animals. But it frequently, in- 

 stead of capturing fish for itself, 

 watches the movements of the 

 fish hawlc, 3, and robs that bird 



of it* !>rey : — 



