BIHD CRADLES. 
49 
as a pendant, and dangling from this a 
string of brilliants that glittered like 
emeralds, and which proved to be three 
dead bluebottle flies entangled in spi¬ 
der silk. Whether or not the bird had 
appreciated the especial attractions 
of some particular remnant of 
cob-web thus enriched, or had 
deliberately adjusted the flies by 
way of ornament, I could not 
A Specialist in Snake-skins (the Crested Flycatcher 
determine. But it is undeniable that 
a similar decorative sense is frequently 
displayed in their nests, certain rare 
treasures being held in reserve for fin¬ 
ishing touches of adornment, even as I 
once actually witnessed the careful ad¬ 
justment of a bright green iridescent 
feather of a peacock beneath a pendent 
nest in a rose-bush just outside the 
closed blinds of my room. What twit¬ 
terings of congratulation, mutual sug¬ 
gestion, and experimental touches ere 
the dainty j)i’ize found its final setting ! 
In the same bush I 
discovered, later, a small, 
narrow wisp of lace, 
abandoned to the antagonism 
of the thorns, though not without 
obvious evidences of struggle and 
disappointment—fresh commentary 
on a well-known text in proverbial 
philosophy. 
There is obvious wisdom in the use 
of cocoons and hornets’ nests, so much 
sought after by pensile builders—com¬ 
pact, tougli fabrics in themselves, they 
are naturally chosen for their strength. 
But it is not easy to explain, on any 
grounds of utility, the uncanny discrim¬ 
ination of the great crested flycatcher, 
whose nest in the hollow tree would 
seem to demand no thought for other 
qualities than softness and warnith. 
Once, in my boyhood, while investigat¬ 
ing the fascinating hollow in an old wil¬ 
low-tree, where I had once surprised a 
