150 
VERTEBEATA. 
above and white beneath; top of the head bright red. This bird more than any other ap- 
proaches human art in building its nest ; it iisually picks up the dead leaf of a tree and regu- 
larly sews, it to a living leaf by the edges, thus forming a sort of pendulous pouch, which is of 
course supported by the foot-stalk of the leaf which is still attached to the parent tree. In some 
cases, however, it employs two contiguous living leaves. The thread used in tliis operation is in 
some cases spun from raw cotton by the bird, in others common cotton thread is made use of, 
and some nests exhibit both these materials. The pouch thus formed is left open at the top, and 
the bottom is occupied by the nest itself, which is usually composed of cotton and flax, neatly 
woven together, and lined with horse-haii'. In these ingenious little cradles the Tailor-Birds lay 
their eggs and bring up their young, secure — through the slenderness of their communication with 
the tree that supports them — from the attacks of the monkeys, snakes, and other enemies, who 
would otherwise frequently destroy their hopes.- Their food consists of insects, which they cap- 
ture either upon the bark and leaves of trees, or upon the groimd. There are still other species. 
THE PINC-PIKC. 
Genus DRYMOICA : Brymoka. — This includes the Pinc-Pinc, D. textrix, found in Southern 
Africa ; it is about the size of a wren, which it resembles in its constant activity and the inces- 
sant jerking of its tail, at the same time crying j^mc, pine, pine; it is black and brown above, and 
brown and red below ; its nest is externally more than a foot in diameter, consisting of the woolly 
parts of plants woven compactly together, with an opening in the middle, three inches in width. 
