STRANGE DWELLINGS. 
548 
birds in the following year, and saves them the trouble of build- 
ing entire nests of their own. Even the mammalia receive 
some benefit from the nest, for the field-mouse often takes pos- 
session of it, and rears its young in the pensile cradle. 
An allied species, the White-Eyed Flycatcher ( Muscicapa 
cantrix ), builds a very pretty pensile nest, and uses so much 
old newspaper in the construction of its home, that it has gone 
by the name of the Politician. The other materials used in 
the structure of the nest are bits of old rotten wood, vegetable 
fibres, and other light substances, woven together with wild silk, 
and the lining is mostly of dried grasses and hair. 
The form of the nest is nearly that of an inverted cone, and 
it is suspended by part of the rim to the bend of a species of 
srnilax, that is popularly called the prickly vine, and which grows 
in low thickets. The bird is very fond of this srnilax and 
rarely chooses any other tree for the reception of its nest, so 
that the home of the White- Eyed Flycatcher is not very difficult 
to find ; moreover, the bird is so jealous and so bold when 
engaged in rearing its young, that it betrays the position of the 
nest by scolding angrily as soon as a human being approaches 
the thicket, and by dashing violently at the intruder with im- 
potent rage. 
As we are near the end of our list of pensile birds, we must 
turn to Asia for a specimen as remarkable as any which has 
yet been mentioned. This is the nest of the Baya Sparrow, 
sometimes called the Toddy Bird, a native of several parts of 
India, and found in Ceylon. 
As may be seen by the frontispiece, the nests are variable in 
shape, and hang close to each other; indeed, the birds are very 
sociable in all their manners, and fly about in great numbers, 
flocks of thousands flitting among the branches and displaying 
their pretty plumage to the sun. They have no song, and can 
only chirp in a monotonous manner ; but the want of song finds 
its compensation in the brilliancy of the plumage, which is 
mostly bright yellow r , the wings, back, and tail being brown. 
They are particularly fond of the acacias and date-trees, and 
