to certain pensile nests formed by the humming birds, and which will presently be described.

The bird itself is a lively and amusing little being, not only active on the wing, but singularly bold and confiding in character, betraying little fear of man, and even entering houses when engaged in chasing insects. These attributes, however, entirely disappear during the breeding season, when the little bird becomes as shy, as suspicious, and as timid as it was formerly bold and confiding. It cannot endure that a human being should even approach its nest, and in order to draw off his attention, acts after the manner of the lapwing, and by feigning lameness endeavours to decoy the intruder in another direction. The White-shafted Fantail rears at least two broods in a season, and has occasionally been known to produce a third. There are only two young in each brood, so that the parents are not subject to very hard work when rearing their offspring.

These birds are generally seen in pairs, but are not gregarious, and, as far as is known, they are permanent residents in Australia, merely shifting their quarters at the different seasons.

CHAPTER XIII.

PENSILE BIRDS (CONTINUED).

can Pensile Birds-Humming Birds, and the general structure of their s-The LITTLE HERMIT, its colour, habits, and nest-The GREY-THROATED MIT and its hardihood-The PIGMY HERMIT and its seed-nest-The LONGLED HUMMING BIRD-Mode of building its nest-The WHITE-SIDED HILL R-Curious method of suspending its nest-The SAPPHO COMET-The MBORAZIAN HILL STAR-Curious locality-Its habits, food, and nest-The BILL and its singular nest-Habits of the Sawbill-The BRAZILIAN OD NYMPH-Use made of its plumage and its nest-The RUBY AND TOPAZ IMING BIRD-Stuffed Skins-The AZURE CEREBA, its colour, nest, and ts-The BALTIMORE ORIOLE-Reason for its name-Its beautiful nest, curious choice of materials-Familiarity of the Baltimore Oriole-The HARD ORIOLE, or BOB-O'-LINK-Various forms of nest-Why called ard Oriole-The CRESTED CASSIQUE, its size, form, and colours-Its rekable nest-Difficulty of obtaining nests-The GREAT CRESTED FLYCHER, and its use of serpent-sloughs-The RED-EYED FLYCATCHER, or IP-TOM-KELLY-Low elevation of its nest-The WHITE-EYED FLYCATCHER, est, and fondness for the prickly vine-The PRAIRIE WARBLER, its habits nest-The PINE-CREEPING WARBLER-The Asiatic pensiles-The BAYA RROW-Its colour and social habits-Singular form of the nest.

NG now taken a cursory glance at the pensile nests coned by the feathered inhabitants of Africa and Australia, gain cross the sea and come to America. There are many le builders among American birds, and chief among them he exquisite little creatures called the HUMMING BIRDS, are peculiar to America and her islands.

ong the multitudinous species of this wonderful group of are very many examples of pensile nests, that mode of ure being, indeed, the rule, and any other the exception. the case with the nests of the Australian birds, some are aded from twigs, others from rocks, and others again from the last-mentioned plan being the most common. It is at that, in order to enable a nest to be fastened to a leaf, very tenacious substance must be employed; and this is

found in the webs of various spiders, some of which are of wonderful strength and elasticity-as strong, indeed, as the silken lines of our well-known brown-tailed moth, which, though tightly stretched, can be pulled without breaking, and spring back to their former position like a harp-string. There is also a great variety in spiders' webs, so that the birds can procure at will the long elastic threads with which the materials of the nest can be tied together, or the soft felt-like substances with which the moss, bark, and fibres can be interwoven, so as to form a firm and wet-resisting mass.

Our first example of the pensile Humming Birds is the beautiful species called the LITTLE HERMIT (Phaethornis eremita),

bird which is known by the warm ruddy colour of the under parts, and the black crescent on the breast. There are many species of Hermit Humming Birds, inhabiting Venezuela and the Caraccas, and choosing those districts where the flora is most abundant. They are all remarkable for two peculiarities, the first being the form of the tail, which is regularly graduated, the two central feathers being the longest, and the others diminishing on either side. The second peculiarity is, that the two sexes are nearly alike in their colouring, contrary to the usual custom among humming birds, the male of which is generally brilliantly clad, and the female quite plain and sombre. All those Hermits whose habitation is known build a curiously formed nest, funnel-shaped, and attached to the end of some drooping leaf.

The example which has been chosen for illustration affords a good idea of the form which is generally followed, and as may be at once seen, closely resembles that of the fantailed warbler, which has already been described.

The nest which is here figured was attached to the very extremity of the leaf, so that the long tail hung down freely. The materials of which it was composed were the silky fibres of plants, the cotton-like down of seed vessels, and some other substance, which is supposed to be fungus, and is of a woolly texture. All these materials were interwoven with spider's-web, by means of which the nest was attached to the leaf at the end of which it swings. The bird almost invariably chooses some dicotyledonous leaf for its pendant home.

Other nests made by birds of the same genus are worthy of a passing mention.

First, there is the pretty nest of the GREY-THROATED HERMIT (Phaethornis griseogularis), a very tiny bird, of comparatively sober plumage, reddish brown being the predominant hue. This species is found in Ecuador, and is seen at an elevation of six thousand feet above the level of the sea. Indeed, the depth of cold which these fragile little beings can endure is really surprising, many species being found only on the highest mountains, and one bird, the Chimborazian Hill Star, inhabiting a zone that is never less than tweive thousand feet, and seldom more than sixteen thousand, above the level of the sea. Inimeliately above the last-mentioned elevation the line of perpetual

snow begins, and though the bird can exist just below it, the absence of vegetation prevents it overpassing that line.

The nest of the Grey-throated Hermit is made of moss fibres and the same silken threads that have already been mentioned, and is fastened to a leaf. It does not, however, hang from the extremity, but is fastened against the side of the leaf, and its tail, if we may so call the lengthened appendage, is not free, but attached to the leaf in the same manner as the nest.

Another species, Phaethornis Eurynome, makes its nest of the tendrils of certain creepers, together with delicate root-fibres, and attaches it to the leaf of some palm by means of cobwebs.

Our last example of this group is the tiny species called the PIGMY HERMIT (Phaethornis pygmæus), a pretty little creature, though scarcely a brilliant one, and decorated with green-bronze above and warm red below. The nest of this species is fastened to a leaf, like that of the grey-throated hermit, and is also deep and cup-shaped, with an appendage so long as to give the whole nest a shape resembling that of a funnel. It is remarkable for the great use of which this little architect makes of seeds the exterior being covered with downy seeds, and the interior lined. with similar down, and the delicate fibres of flowering plants.

THE reader will remember that on page 228, it was mentioned that the general form of the nest made by the white-shafted fantail was similar to that constructed by one of the humming birds. The species in question is the Hylocharis cyaneus, and the nest resembles that of the fantailed warbler in two points; first, the manner in which it is suspended, and next, the formation of the appendage. Instead of being fastened to the side of a leaf, as is the case with the habitations of the hermit humming bird, this nest is placed upon a twig, so that it is supported by the cup, and the appendage hangs freely below. In other respects the nest is similar to those which have been described.

As the reader may like to know how the tiny architect achieves her graceful task, I introduce a passage wherein Mr. Gosse describes, with the vivacity of an eye-witness, the manner in which the female LONG-TAILED HUMMING BIRD (Trochilus Polyt mus), builds its pensile home. The nest is made of fine moss, cotton fibres, spider's-web, and studded externally with lichens, and is one of the true pensiles, sometimes being found over