THE NUTHATCH 1 . 
65 
hanging at the extremity of almost every branch. Many other 
birds build in this manner ; but the chief of them are of the 
Oriole kind. In cultivated countries, a great part of the cau- 
tion of the feathered tribe is to hide or defend their nests from 
the invasions of man, as he is their most dreaded enemy. 
But in the depth of those remote and solitary forests, where 
man is but seldom seen, if the monkey or the snake can be 
guarded against, the bird has no other enemies to fear. Oil 
the bananas and plantains ol these regions is seen the most 
Various, and the most inimical assemblage of creatures that 
Ca n be imaj rined. The top is inhabited by monkeys of 
some particular tribe, that drive oil' all others ; lower down, 
about the great trunk, numbers of the larger snakes are 
found patiently waiting till some unwary animal comes 
vrithin the sphere of their activity ; and at the edges of the 
tree hang these artificial nests in great abundance, inhabited 
by birds of the most delightful plumage. 
The nest is usually formed in this manner : when the time 
°f incubation approaches, they fly busily about, in quest ot 
a kind of moss, called, by the English inhabitants of those 
countries, old man's beard. It is a fibrous substance, and 
Hot very unlike hair, which bears being moulded into any 
form, and suffers being glued together. I his, therefore, the 
little artist first glues by some viscous substance gathered m 
the forest, or sews with the leaves of the banana to the ex- 
b’emest branch of a tree ; then building downward, and 
®till adding fresh materials to those already procured, a nest 
is formed that depends, like a pouch, Irom the point of tile 
branch : the hole to enter at is on the side ; and all the in- 
terior parts are lined with the finer fibres of the same sub- 
stance, which compose the whole. 
Such is the general contrivance of these hanging nests, 
vd'ich are made, by some birds, with still superior art. A 
bttle bird of the Grosbeak kind, in the Philippine islands, 
•Makes its nest in such a manner, that there is no opening but 
b'°m the bottom. At the bottom the bird enters, ana goes 
Vj P through a funnel, like a chimney, till it comes to the real 
d °or of the nest, which lies on one side, and only opens into 
rois funnel. 
The Nuthatch weighs near an ounce, and is five inches 
an d three quarters in length. The bill is strong and straight, 
and three quarters of an inch long. The upper part of the 
plumage is of a fine bluish grey, a black stroke runs from the 
•Mouth to the eye. The cheeks are white and the breast and 
VOL. IX. I 
