56 THE TAILOR-BIRD AND THE ORIOLE. 
shape of a bottle ; it contains several apart- 
ments, and the entrance is at the bottom. 
The oddest thing about it is, that the bird 
is said to light up her rooms with fire-flies, 
which she sticks to the walls by pieces of 
clay. Sometimes three or four fire-flies have 
have been found in the nest, and there have 
been many conjectures as to what she does 
with them. One naturalist thinks she must 
bring them home for food ; and another sup- 
poses that she places them there to dazzle the 
eyes of the bats, who will, if they can, prey 
upon her young ones. 
This little sparrow is easily tamed, and may 
be taught to fetch and carry, like a carrier 
pigeon. Once upon a time, the owner of a 
tame sparrow dropped his ring over the 
mouth of a well ; and the bird instantly flew 
down, and was so dexterous as to catch it 
in her bill before it had had time to reach 
the water. 
It is very curious to see the pendant nests 
hanging from almost every tree in the forest ; 
and often a great many nests from the same 
bough. A tribe of birds called orioles always 
hang their dwellings up in this manner. One 
