76 
POPULAR HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
with great rapidity. It does not confine itself to the nectar 
and pollen of flowers^ but feeds on insects^ particularly of the 
orders Dipiera and Hymenoptera. The nest is placed on a 
low shrub,, within a foot or two of the ground. It is round 
and open^ and is constructed of the inner rind of the stringy- 
bark gum-tree, while the inside is lined with fine grasses. 
Mr. Gould describes a species of Meliphaga from the Swan 
River, which captures insects precisely after the manner 
of the fly-catchers : it is named Meliphaga mystacalis. 
To the family Certhid^ belong the Oven-birds [Furna- 
ruts) of South America, which derive their name from the sin- 
gular nest which they construct. Mr. Darwin"^ describes the 
habits of two species found in La Plata : the first of these 
is called by the Spaniards Casara, or the house-maker ; it is 
the FurnariMS mfus of naturalists ; the nest of this bird is 
placed in the most exposed situations, the architect selecting 
the top of a post, a bare rock, or one of the prickly plants 
called Cactus for a foundation. The walls are strong and 
thick, and composed of mud held together by bits of straw ; 
in shape it resembles an oven or flattened bee-hive. The 
opening is large and arched, while there is a passage or ante- 
chamber to the true nest formed by a partition nearly reach- 
* Journal, p. 112. 
