106 
POPULAR HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
these mosses not only grow on the trunks of decayed trees, 
but are often accumulated in large masses at the extremities 
of the drooping branches. These masses often become of 
sufficient size to admit of a pretty, brown, yellow-throated 
bird, with a black patch of feathers from the base of the bill 
to behind the eye, named Sericomis citreo-gularis, con- 
structing a nest in the centre of them with so much art, that 
it is impossible to distinguish it from any of the other 
pendulous masses in the vicinity. These branches are fre- 
quently a yard in leugth, and in some instances hang so near 
the ground as to strike the head of the explorer during his 
rambles ; in others they are placed high up upon the trees, 
but only in such parts of the forest where there is an open 
space, entirely shaded by overhanging foliage. As will be 
readily conceived, in whatever situations they are met with, 
*they at all times form a remarkable and conspicuous feature 
in the landscape. Although the nest is constantly disturbed 
by the wind, and liable to be shaken when the tree is dis- 
turbed, so secure does the inmate consider itself from danger 
or intrusion of any kind, that I have frequently captured 
the female while sitting on her eggs.''^ It would seem that 
another species of the genus [Sericomis magnirostris) has a 
similar nest, to which it resorts for several successive seasons, 
