288 
STRANGE DWELLINGS. 
last chapter an example was mentioned where a carder-bee es- 
tablished herself in the deserted nest of a wren, and so saved 
herself the trouble of fetching materials and building a dome. 
Birds of various kinds are notorious parasites, the Cuckoos 
ranking as chief among them, inasmuch as they make no 
nest at all, but simply lay their eggs in the nests of other 
birds, and foist upon them a supposititious offspring, which 
occupies the entire nest and monopolises all the care of its 
foster-parents. 
Ail Cuckoos, however, do not possess this habit ; for some 
of the group build nests which are remarkable for their beauty, 
and tend their young as carefully as do any birds. The cele- 
brated Honey-finders, for example, which are found in most 
hot portions of the globe, are notable for their skill in architec- j 
ture. The nests of these birds are pensile, and not unlike 
those of the African weaver-birds, which have already been 
described. They are made of tough bark, torn into filaments, 
and are flask-like in shape, hung from the branches of trees, 
and having their entrance from below. 
Then there is the well-known Cow-bird of America ( Coccygus i 
Americanus ), which is closely allied to the common cuckoo, j 
and yet which builds its own nest, and rears its own young, j 
‘ Early in May/ writes Wilson, ‘ they begin to pair, when ob- 
stinate battles take place among the males. About the ioth of 
that month they commence building. The nest is usually fixed 
among the horizontal branches of an apple-tree ; sometimes in 
a solitary thorn, crab, or cedar, in some retired part of the 
woods. It is constructed with little art, and scarcely any con- 
cavity, of small sticks and twigs, intermixed with green weeds 
and blossoms of the common maple. On this almost flat bed 
the eggs, usually three or four in number, are placed ; these 
are of an uniform greenish blue colour, and of a size propor- 
tionate to that of the bird. 
6 While the female is sitting, the male is generally not very 
far distant, and gives the alarm by his notes, when any person 1 
is approaching. The female sits so close, that you may al- 
