THE MYRAPETRA SCU TELL A RIS. 
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The whole of the exterior is thickly studded with projections, 
varying in size and shape, but being all of some sharpness at the 
tip. These projections are comparatively few at the top of the 
nest, becoming gradually more numerous as they approach the 
bottom, until at last they are set so thickly that the finger can 
scarcely be laid between them. 
The object of these projections is not ascertained. The nest 
always hangs very low, seldom being more than three or four 
feet from the ground, and some writers say that the office of the 
sharp projections is to guard the nest from the attacks of the 
felidae and other honey and grub-loving mammalia. Such may 
indeed be the true explanation, and indeed it is so obvious that 
no one could avoid seeing it. But I very much doubt whether 
a far better explanation is not in store, and I cannot see why 
the Myrapetra should stand in need of such protection, when 
the nest of the Nectarinia, which is placed in precisely the same 
conditions, is perfectly smooth and defenceless. 
One use of the projections is evidently for the double purpose 
of concealing and protecting the entrance. On looking at the 
nest from above no entrance is visible, and it is not until after 
a close examination that the openings are found. They are 
concealed under a row of projections, which overhang them 
like the eaves of a house, and effectually keep off the rains 
which fall in such heavy torrents during tropical storms. The 
material of which these projections are made is the same as 
that of which the walls of the nest are built, except that it is 
very much thicker and harder, the various layers being hardly 
distinguishable, even with a good magnifier. 
The interior of the nest is as remarkable as its exterior. 
When cut open longitudinally, an operation which was care- 
fully performed by Mr. White, a very curious sight presents 
itself. The nest is filled with combs, all very much curved, and 
these curves accommodating themselves beautifully to the gene- 
ral form of the nest. At the top is a nearly globular mass of 
brown paper-like substance, which is apparently the nucleus 
of the nest. The first comb closely surrounds this globular 
