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out of which it may constantly be seen rising into the air, ancl 

 hovering for a minute over some chosen spot with its peculiar 

 jerking flight and single note tjik, tjik, tjik. It is much more 

 terrestial in its habits than any other genus of the family, 

 spending most of its time on the ground, running about quickly 

 and treading its way with ease among tufts of grass. It 

 sometimes alights on a grass stalk or topmost branch of a tree 

 when descending from one of its little flights, and may now 

 anil then be seen perched on the top rail of a fence. It breeds 

 iu this Province from May until October, more nests being 

 constructed in the former month than in any other. Wonder- 

 ful as is the ingenuity displayed by all the members of the 

 family Drymoicinse, in building their nests, there is hone 

 that excels this little bird in the amount of labour and skill 

 required to construct its little habitation, the lining of which 

 is one of the most beautiful pieces of workmanship that can 

 be imagined. The nest is almost invariably fixed between the 

 upright stalk of the guinea grass plant, at a height varying 

 from eighteen inches to two feet six inches from the ground, and 

 the bird displays, in its construction, the same propensity and 

 talent for sewing that is exhibited by nearly all the family, 

 A delicate net-work of cotton or spider's web is formed round 

 several upright blades of grass, the materials being sewn into 

 them and passed round from one to the other. One or two 

 blades are bent under this net-work and sewn to the upright 

 stalks to form a foundation for the nest, which is constructed 

 of fine roots or small grass blades within it. It is narrower at 

 the top than at the bottom, being generally about three inches 

 in depth and about the same in diameter. At this stage some 

 nests are finished with a partial lining of fine grass, mixed 

 with a few spider's webs, but most of them are beautifully and 

 ingeniously lined with the white, hair like-substance which 



