THE OVEN-BIRD. 
455 
wards tlie extremity by a small round spot of white ; a streak of white 
surmounts each dark-bright eye; the upper feathers of the tail are warm 
with the glow of cinnabar red, while the lower feathers and the breast 
and throat are vividly yellow, the yellow merging into tawny on the belly 
and sides. But what is remarkable in connection with this bird, is the 
way in which he builds his nest. The chatterers and manakins usually 
frequent the hollow trunks of venerable trees ; but the diamond-bird 
excavates in the soil, or down the side of a steep bank, a hole just large 
enough to admit his body, and from two to four feet in depth. At the 
bottom he widens it considerably, and there he plants his nest, but 
always at a level higher than that of the opening, so as to protect it 
from rain. The nest, a masterpiece of workmanship, is made of strips 
of the inner bark of the eucalyptus, or gum-tree ; is spheral in shape, 
with a diameter of about three inches, and a lateral opening. Mr. Gould 
remarks that the home of the diamond-bird is not easily found, the 
entrance of the cavity in which the nest is placed being concealed by 
roots and grasses. The only way to discover it is to watch the bird on 
the occasion of his exit or entrance. 
THE OVEN-BIRD. 
In the neighbourhood of the South American rivers is found the 
oven-bird, one of the Certhiidfe, or creepers, which is certainly deserving 
of notice among the builders and architects of the Bird Woi"ld. He is 
a bold and lively little fellow, with rich reddish-brown plumage, bright 
eyes, an air of great activity, and a hard shrill cry. He makes his 
nest of the clay or sun-dried mud which he procures from the river- 
banks, welding it into a singularly solid substance with the stems of 
various plants, grass, weeds, and vegetable fibres. It assumes the shape 
of — but no, there is nothing on the earth or under the earth which it 
exactly resembles ; but it is rounded and domed, though with no pre- 
tence at accuracy of outline. After a brief exposure to the heat of the 
tropical sun, it becomes as hard and of the same colour as brick or 
earthenware. Its walls are an inch thick, or more ; and the opening- 
is lateral. In the interior it is divided into two compartments by a 
partition of the same substance as the nest itself, running from side to 
