102 
HUMMING-BIRDS. 
it was attached, by the side to an old moss-grown 
trunk ; and others, where it was fastened on a strong 
rank stalk, or weed, in the garden. In the woods it 
often chooses a white oak sapling, and the branch is 
seldom more than ten feet from the ground. The nest 
is about an inch in diameter, and as much in depth ; 
the outward coat is formed of small pieces of a species 
of bluish-gray lichen, that vegetates on old trees and 
fences, thickly glued with the saliva of the bird, giving 
firmness and consistency to the whole, as well as 
keeping out moisture. Within this are thick, matted 
layers of the fine wings of certain flying seeds, closely 
laid together ; and lastly, the downy substance Irom 
the great mullein, and from the stalks of the common 
fern, lines the whole. The base of the nest is con- 
tinued round the stem of the branch, to which it closely 
adheres, and when viewed from below, appears a mere 
mossy knot or accidental protuberance.” On the 
plains, near the Elk River, the nest of this hardy bird 
was built of the materials that were most appropriate 
in the country ; the downy seeds of an anemone, bound 
with a few stalks of moss and lichen. 
Lesson describes the nest of 1 'rockilus pella as 
principally composed of a spongy cellular substance, 
apparently similar to that of a fungus of which some 
species of wasps build large habitations, suspended 
from the branches of trees in the virgin forests of 
Guiana ; and the same naturalist has given a curious 
figure of the nest of T. cristata ? composed entirely of 
the down of some thistle ; the seed is attached, and is 
