322 
LIFE, IN ITS HIGHER FORMS. 
vincially known as the Banana-bird ( Icterus leucopteryx). 
It is a deep purse, suspended by two opposite points of its 
margin, between two parallel twigs of a tree, and composed 
sometimes of horse hair, sometimes of long vegetable fibres 
which can scarcely bo distinguished from hair. “ The 
hairs or threads are procured one by one, and carried to 
the selected spot, where they are deposited in a loose heap. 
From this accumulated mass of material, the work is car- 
ried on, and progresses rapidly when once begun. When 
a few T threads are laid and interlaced for the base, the work 
becomes perceptible and interesting. Both birds work 
together : one, taking a thread and weaving-in one end, 
holds down the loose part with his beak, while his mate 
takes the ends of others projecting, and lays them tightly 
down over it, interweaving them with others. Other 
threads are crossed in the same manner, in every direction, 
until a slight but very compact purse is made, resembling 
a loose cloth. As it hangs, the texture is so thin that a 
person below can discern tho eggs or young within.” * 
An old lady in America, to whom Wilson was shewing 
a similar nest to this, asked him, half in jest, half in earnest, 
if he did not think it possible that birds might be taught 
to darn stockings. There are some nests in the British 
Museum, which half incline us to think that the owners 
might learn to hem handkerchiefs. They are those of the 
Tailor-bird of India ( Orthotomus bngicauda), a beautifully 
plumaged member of the family of the Warblers. “It 
first selects a plant with large leaves, and then gathers 
cotton from the shrub, spins it to a thread by means of its 
long bill and slender feet, and theu, as with a needle, sews 
“ Birds of Jamaica," 228. 
