13 ° 
STRANGE DWELLINGS. 
localities which appear to be the most unsuited for the purpose. 
Still keeping to Australia, we may find a most wonderful 
example of a pensile nest near mountain courses. The -bird 
which makes it is called, indifferently, the Rock Warbler, or 
the Cataract Bird ( Origma rubricate i), because it is always 
found where water-courses rush through rocky ground. So I 
attached is the bird to these localities, that it is never seen in 
the forest, nor ever has been observed to perch upon a branch. 
The generic name, Origma , is derived from a Greek word, sig- 
nifying a rock or a precipice, and is more appropriate than are 
many scientific titles. i 
It is a small bird, no larger than our sparrow, and is soberly ( 
coloured, the general hue being brown, relieved by a dull red j 
on the breast, something like that of the female robin. It has 
a melodious though not very powerful note; but its chief claims 
to admiration are founded upon the extraordinary nest which it 
builds. In general shape this nest somewhat resembles a claret 
jug without a handle, having a long, slender neck and a globular 
and suddenly-rounded bulb. 
It is suspended from the rocks in sheltered places, and 
whenever an overhanging ledge of rock affords protection from 
the elements, there the strange nests maybe found. Just as the [ 
martins take a fancy to some favourite spot, and build whole 
rows of nests on one side of some particular house, utterly dis- j 
daining neighbouring houses, which, to all appearance, afford 
exactly the same advantages, so do the Rock Warblers affect 
some particular rock, and hang their nests by dozens in close 
proximity to each other. The material of the nest is the long j 
moss which is plentiful in the country ; and, as it may be seen 
from the illustration, the entrance is near the centre of the 
rounded bulb. In consequence of the material of which the 
nest is constructed, it is very rough on the exterior, though j 
smooth and comfortable within. i 
11 
A most beautiful pensile nest is made by the Singing Honey- 
Eater (Ptilotus sonorus), a species which is spread over a large 
portion of Australasia. 
