316 



LIFE, IN ITS HIGHER FORMS. 



wall. Wool is the staple; you may see the busy birds in 

 spring collecting the straggling tufts of wool that hang on 

 the thorn-bushes around the sheep-pasture, and carrying 

 off the prizes in their bills : watch one home, and you will 

 have no difficulty in discovering the whereabouts of its 

 domestic economy. But be merciful; look, but touch not! 

 Well does the skilful little architect know the felting pro- 

 perties of wool ! how, when the fibres are placed in contact, 

 and rubbed and pressed, they unite and bind together into 

 a cloth-like texture, like the substance of a hat, or a piece 

 of drugget. God has put into her feeble sensorium this 

 instinctive knowledge, and how effectively she uses it ! 

 Tuft after tuft of wool is brought, pulled and spread out 

 thin, and applied to the interior of the mossy cup, each 

 layer placed evenly round, so that the thickness shall grow 

 uniformly, and each addition united to the fixed portion 

 by the pressure of the bird's breast, she sitting in the 

 hollow and moving briskly round and round, pressing the 

 wool with all the force of which she is capable. A sort of 

 sewing process goes on at the same time ; for individual 

 fibres of the wool are passed around projecting branches 

 of the moss, and, being inserted into the walls by means 

 of the bill, are seized on the opposite side, drawn tight, 

 and passed through again and again, every effort adding 

 to the strength, compactness, and neat appearance of the 

 growing nest. The united cobwebs of the spiders that 

 lurk in hedges and banks are also brought into requisition 

 for this sewing work ; bits of cotton and thread from the 

 neighbouring dwellings, and many other substances : and 

 thus the house is made. But it is not quite ready yet ; 

 it must be strengthened on the outside, by intertwining 



