APOICA. 
37i 
of their leaves, and the denuded branches covered with the 
sheets of web in which lay the destroying armies. 
It is hardly possible to overrate the wonderful varieties of 
form that are assumed by the nests of insects, — varieties so 
bold and so startling that few would believe in the possibility 
of their existence without ocular demonstration. No rule seems 
to be observed in them ; at all events no rule has, as yet, been 
discovered by which their formation is guided ; neither has 
any conjecture been formed as to the reason for the remarkable 
forms which they assume. 
Perhaps, of all the nests in the splendid collection of the 
British Museum, there are none that cause so much surprise as 
the wonderful group which is represented in this illustration. 
Many persons pass through the room, and even take some notice 
of the various nests with which they are surrounded, but they 
seldom notice the peculiarities of this group until pointed out 
to them. When, however, their attention is directed towards 
it, they never fail to express their surprise at so curious a struc- 
ture, and their admiration of the manner in which these natural 
homes are constructed. 
If the reader will refer to the illustration, he will see that 
the nests are by no means uniform in size or shape. The larger 
one, for example, which occupies the centre, rather exceeds ten 
inches in diameter, while the small nest at the end of the 
same branch is scarcely half as wide, and the others are of 
all the intermediate sizes. In shape, too, they differ, some 
being perfectly hexagonal, others partly so, while others again 
are nearly circular, though on a careful inspection they show 
faint traces of the hexagonal form. 
We will now examine these nests, and see where they agree 
with and differ from each other. 
In the first place, their upper surfaces are more or less convex, 
according to their size ; and whether they are circular or hexa- 
gonal, the convexity remains the same. This form is evidently 
intended for the purpose of making them weather-proof ; for the 
rain torrents that occasionally deluge the country would soon 
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