THE PHILIPPINE WEAVER.

not be struck with the difficulties surmounted? Colonies of these birds have been observed, several hundreds of

chosen from its hanging over the bank of a river or

precipice.

THE BOTTLE-NESTED SPARROW.

Another bird remarkable for its pendant nest is the baya, or bottle-nested sparrow. It is found in most parts of Hindostan, associating in large communities, and covering extensive clumps of date-trees, acacias, and palmyras with their nests. These are very ingeniously formed by long grass, woven together in the shape of a bottle, and suspended to the extremity of a flexible branch, as a defence from many foes. The arrangements of these nests are still more singular. They contain several apartments adapted to different purposes. In one the hen broods over her eggs; in another, consisting of a little thatched roof and covering a perch, is her mate, who cheers his companion with his chirping note.

The most singular assemblage of nests hitherto known is that of the sociable grosbeak, or weaver-bird of South Africa. Le Vaillant sent a wagon to fetch one, that he might open the hive, and examine the structure in its minutest parts. On cutting it to pieces with a hatchet, it was found to consist of a mass of grass, without any mixture, so compact and firmly basketed together as to keep out the rain. With this, which is to serve as a canopy, the structure begins; it has a projecting rim, and being a little inclined it serves to let the rain-water run off. Beneath this roof each bird builds

THE CAPOCIER.

its nest, which is three or four inches in diameter; but, as all are in contact around the eaves, they appear to form but one building. The nests are only distinguishable by a little outer opening, which serves as an entrance; and even this is sometimes common to three different nests, one of which is placed at the bottom, and the other two at the sides. It is said, that as the number of cells increase with the inhabitants, the old ones become streets of communication. The largest examined by Le Vaillant contained three hundred and twenty inhabited cells.

At

Wilson, the celebrated American naturalist, observed with much interest the movements of a bird he calls the capocier. The place chosen by a pair of these for their cradle was a corner of a retired and neglected garden, by the side of a small spring, and beneath the shelter of the only tree growing in that retreat. first, they laid in this shrub a part of the foundation of their abode with moss, the fork of the branches chosen to receive their nest being already bedded therewith. The second day's labour presented a rude mass, about four inches thick and from five to six inches in diameter. This was the basis of their fabric, composed of moss and flax, interwoven with grass and tufts of cotton.

On the seventh day their task was finished. The

THE ORIOLE.

fabric was as white as snow, nine inches high on the outside, but within not more than five. Its outer form was very irregular, because of the branches which the birds had found it necessary to enclose, but the inside exactly resembled a pullet's egg, placed with the small end downward. Its greatest diameter was five inches, and the smallest four. The entrance was two-thirds or more of the whole height, as seen on the outside; but within it almost reached the arch of the ceiling above.

The interior of the nest was so neatly felted together, that it might have been taken for a piece of fine cloth a little worn; the substance was so compact and close, that it would have been impossible to detach a particle of the materials without tearing the texture to pieces.

Nearly all the orioles belong to America; and their nests deserve notice. The Baltimore, however, has one remarkable for its superior convenience, warmth, and security. For these purposes, it generally fixes on the high bending extremities of the branches of trees, fastening strong strings of hemp or flax round two forked twigs, correspending with the intended width of the nest. With the same materials, mixed with loose tow, it makes a strong or firm kind of cloth-in fact, a feltlike substance. This is formed into a pouch of six or seven inches deep, which is lined with various soft