35 ° 
STRANGE DWELLINGS. 
ful nest is the firm texture of the walls. Externally, the nest 
looks as if it were a mere large hollow bunch of cotton- wool 
with a hole near the top, and seems to be so fragile that the eggs 
would fall through the fabric. But when the inside of the 
nest is viewed, it is seen to be composed of a kind of felt, as 
firm and close as if it had been forpied by human art, so that 
neither wind nor wet can penetrate • and it is capable of up- 
holding a much greater weight than would be introduced into 
it To puli out a tuft of the cotton-wool is impossible without 
tearing a hole in the fabric, so closely are the delicate fibres 
interwoven with each other. 
In the accompanying illustration are shown the nests of two 
species of Humming Bird. 
The oddly-shaped nest which occupies the upper part of the 
drawing is made by the Fiery Topaz ( Topaza pyra ), one of the 
most magnificent of these lovely birds. Indeed, Prince Lucien 
Buonaparte calls it the most beautiful of the Trochilidse, and it 
is hardly possible to imagine a bird that can surpass it in bril- 
liancy. The body is fiery scarlet, the head velvet-black, the 
throat glittering emerald, with a patch of crimson in the centre ; 
the lower part of the back is also green, and the long, slender, 
crossed feathers of the tail are purple with a green gloss. So 
magnificent a bird can have but few rivals, and there is only 
one species which even approaches it in beauty. This is the 
Crimson Topaz ( Topaza pella ), a bird which is nearly allied to 
it, and which much resembles it in general colouring. It may, 
however, be distinguished by the colour of the body, which is 
crimson instead of scarlet. 
The nest which is built by the Fiery Topaz is really a won- 
derful structure. 
Its shape is remarkable, and is well shown in the illustration. 
It is fastened to the branch with extreme care, as is clearly 
necessary from its general form. The most curious point about 
the nest is, however, the material of which it is made. When it 
was first discovered no one knew how the bird could have built 
so strange a structure. It looked as if it were made of very 
