460 
LAST WORDS. 
skeleton. As a rule, these birds do not even take the trouble to line 
the interior of the hollow in tree or wall selected as a place of 
residence ; but sometimes they deposit there a few blades of grass, 
some roots, or a little cow-dung. When building on the ground, they 
construct a nest out of ordure, roots, and dried herbage. 
Tlie tree hoopoes, however, as the name implies, build always in 
the cavity of a tree, — making their bed on the mould or compost 
accumulated at the bottom. Here they feed upon the insects which 
they dig out of the decayed or decaying wood ; in the course of this 
digging process enlarging their abode considerably, and constantly 
increasing a deposit of chips. 
Other birds, it may be mentioned, utilize the hollows of ancient 
trees for their nests. We have spoken already of the toucan, which, 
in the great South American forests, can never be at a loss for places 
of shelter. But more familiar examples — examples well-known to 
many of our readers — are the cole-tit, which is partial to fir planta- 
tions, the nut-hatch, the wry-neck, the tree creeper, and the starling. 
Here, however, we must close our notes, having already accom- 
plished our object — namely, to illustrate the intelligence of the Bird as 
an architect, and to show the variety and ingenuity of his construc- 
tions, and the skill with which they are adapted to his necessities, to 
the conditions which govern his little life. The subject is so fertile, 
that we might expatiate on it through several volumes ; yet these 
volumes could prove only what these pages sufiiciently demonstrate, 
— the wonderful fertility of resource and evidence of design which 
characterize the works of the Creator. 
