THE LIVING WORLD. 
35i 
The Pied Grallina (Grallina australis ), of Australia, constructs a nest 
almost as curious as that of the oven-bird. This bird is a water-loving creature, 
beautifully colored with white and black, and of an extremely restless movement, 
whether wading in 
shallow brooks or hop¬ 
ping among the 
branches. Its nest is 
made of clay and vege¬ 
table fibres and lo¬ 
cated on the forks of 
a horizontal limb that 
overhangs the water. 
I 11 shape it very much 
resembles a low, large¬ 
mouthed basket, or' a 
Boston bean-pot. 
Black -Headed 
Synalaxis (5. melan- 
ops ) is found in tropi¬ 
cal America. It is a 
very active bird in the 
presence of insects, 
rapidly traversing the 
trunks of trees, peck¬ 
ing almost constantly, 
and quick to detect 
the location of a tree- 
grub, even beneath the 
bark. But, like the 
oven-bird, the synal- 
laxines are notable for 
the curious nests which 
they construct. 
Although these 
birds are of small di¬ 
mensions, they all 
build nests which 
might easily be at¬ 
tributed to the labors 
of some hawk or crow. 
The nest of one spe¬ 
cies is often from 
three to four feet in 
length, and is placed 
NEST OP beack-headed synaeaxis. 
lenoftn, ana is piacea . ^ r 
very openly in some low bush, where it escapes notice on account of its resem- 
blance to a bunch of loose sticks thrown carelessly together by the wind In its 
interior however, the edifice is very carefully made, and, like the nest of the 
oven-birds, is divided into two recesses, the eggs being laid m the inner 
apartment, upon a bed of soft feathers. 
