THE last branch-building bird which will be mentioned in these pages is the well-known HEDGE SPARROW, or HEDGE ACCENTOR, as it ought rightly to be called (Accentor modularius). The bird derives its popular name from two peculiarities, one of person and the other of habits. As its general tints are brown and black, the name of Sparrow has been given to it, although it rightly belongs to the warblers. It may easily be distinguished from the sparrow by its slender form, its blue-gray color, and the absence of the black patches that mark the head and throat of the true ⚫sparrow.

It is very plentiful in England, and that it should be so is rather remarkable on account of the exposed situation and conspicuous form of its nest. The red-backed shrike is remiss enough in placing its nest; but the Hedge Sparrow seems to be utterly heedless on the subject, and appears absolutely to invite the attention of its foes, which are many.

First and foremost comes the bird-nesting boy, whose eyes are generally so sharp that to conceal a nest from him is no easy matter. Then the Hedge Sparrow is one of the earliest builders, and so hasty is it in its proceedings that I have seen the half-finished nest filled with the snows of early spring. The bird had been in such a hurry to set up housekeeping that she would not even wait until the leaves were sufficiently large to shelter the nest, and, as might be expected, the snow found an easy entrance into the unprotected edifice. In consequence, moreover, of this passion for early building, the nest is so conspicuous an object in the leafless hedge that the most casual glance can not fail to detect it, while the natural foes of the bird, namely, the boy, the stoat, the cat, cuckoo, and others, find it the easiest of their prey.

The boy, for example, who might not be able to reach the nest. of the shrike, which is placed some five or six feet from the ground, has no difficulty whatever in harrying that of the Hedge Sparrow, which is seldom more than two feet from the ground. Moreover, although the older nest-hunters will not trouble themselves about eggs so common as those of the Hedge Sparrow, the novices, and even many who ought to know better, can never resist the round, shining blue shells, as they lie snugly packed away in their basket-like receptacle.

Then there is the cuckoo, that flies about the hedgerows, peering into every nest, and looking out for a foster home for her eggs, which she can not hatch, and for the young which she can

not cherish.

There is, perhaps, no nest which is easier to be seen or more accessible when discovered than that of the Hedge Sparrow, and the consequence is, that the cuckoo's egg is oftener to be found in the nest of the Hedge Sparrow than in that of any other bird. This circumstance is certainly unfortunate to the Hedge Sparrow, who is obliged to give up the whole of her nest to a supposititious offspring, and to bestow upon a single intruder all the care and attention which would otherwise have been lavished upon the five rightful occupants.

Besides the cats, rats, and weasels, there are direful feathered

foes, such as the shrike, which steals away the young and carries them to its home, where it hangs them up in its natural larder, and the magpie, which will sometimes work great havoc among the young or eggs. Now and then the owl makes a meal of a young bird, as I can testify from personal experience, and the viper is always ready to glide up the stems of the shrubs amid which the bird has built, to insert its baleful head into the nest, and to swallow the callow young.

Still, as the Hedge Sparrow generally produces two broods of young in a year, and sometimes three, all her offspring are not destroyed by these foes, and she may have the satisfaction of rearing some of her own. The nest is nicely, substantially, but not elegantly made, as, indeed, might be inferred from its lowly position. Nests upon or near the ground are very seldom made with much attention to elegance of architecture, the greatest trimness of nest-building skill being displayed in those homes which are placed upon lofty branches or suspended from slender twigs. It is a rather large nest, and is made of moss, wool, hair, and similar materials. As is generally the case with the group of birds to which the Hedge Sparrow belongs, the eggs are five in number, and, on an average, three young in each brood attain maturity.

Remarkable Spider Nests in the British Museum.-Seed-nests and Leaf-nests.Nests of the TUFTED SPIDER.-Form and Coloring of the Spider.-Its curious Limbs.-Nests illustrative of the Hexagonal Principle.-Nest of the ICARIA.The Equal Pressure and Excavation Theories.-Nest of MISCHOCYTTARUS and its remarkable Form.-Nest of the RAPHIGASTER.-Summary of the Argument.The PROCESSIONARY MOTH.-Reasons for its Name.-How the Larvæ march.Damage done by them to Trees.-A natural Remedy.-The CALOSOMA and its Habits.-The GIPSY MOTH.-Its Ravages upon Trees and Mode of destroying it. -The Social Principle among Caterpillars.-Mr. Rennie's Experiments.-The LACKEY MOTH.-Supposed derivations of its popular Name.-The Eggs, Larvæ, and perfect Insects.-Habits of the Moth.-The BROWN-TAILED MOTH.--Locality where it is found.-Its Ravages abroad.-Nests of the ICARIA as they appear in Branches.-The APOICA: its remarkable Nests.-Moth Nests from Monte Video.

WE have already seen several nests built by SPIDERS, some of which are made in the earth, others are strictly pensile, and others may fairly come into the present group. The specimens from which the drawings were made are in the collection of the British Museum, some in the upper and others in the lower

rooms.

Of the architects, the manner in which the nests were `made, and the reasons why they were so singularly constructed, I can say nothing, because no record is attached to the specimens. Still, they are so curious that they have found a place in the work, and it is to be hoped that the very fact of their publicity will induce travelers to search for more specimens and to describe their history.

Differing as they do in shape, color, and material, they have one object in common, namely, the rearing of the young. They are clearly nests in the true sense of the word, being devoted not to the parents, but to the offspring. At the upper part of the illustration may be seen a number of long, spindle-shaped bodies, suspended from a branch. These are drawn about half the full size, in order to allow other specimens to be introduced into the same illustration for the purpose of comparison. In color they are nearly white, with a slight yellowish tinge, and are very soft and delicate of texture, so that when viewed in a good light they form a very striking group of objects.

In the opposite upper corner of the illustration may be seen a remarkable nest, which few would recognize as the work of a spider. Such, however, is the case, the creature being urged by instinct to take several concave seed-pods, and to fix them together as seen in the drawing. The seed-pods are fasterred firmly together with the silken thread of which webs are made, and in the interior the eggs are placed. The drawing is reduced about one third in proportion to the actual object. Several of these singular nests are in the collection at the British Museum.

Occupying the lower part of the illustration is seen a leaf upon which are piled a number of fragments of leaves, so as to form a rudely conical heap. This is also the work of a spider, and is made with even more ingenuity than the two preceding speci

In the first instance the spider has spun a hollow case of silk, similar in principle of construction, though not in form, to the spherical egg cases made by several British spiders. In the second instance the creature has chosen a number of concave seed-pods, and, by adjusting their edges together and fastening them with silk, made a hollow nest, which only requires to be lined in order to make it a fit nursery for the young. But, in the present example, the work of nest-making has been much more elaborate, for the structure has been regularly built up of a great number of pieces, each being arranged methodically upon the

other, very much as children in the streets build their oyster-shell grottoes. The labor must have been considerable, even if the spider had nothing to do but to arrange and fasten together pieces of leaves which had already been selected.

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THE large, oval, cocoon-like nests which are seen in the accompanying illustration are made by the TUFTED SPIDER of the West Indies, a creature which derives its name from the remarkable tufts of stiff, bristle-like hairs which decorate the limbs. very fine specimen of this remarkable Spider is now before me, having been taken out of its bottle with extreme difficulty, owing to the great length of the limbs, and the weight of the prolonged abdomen.

The length of the body is one inch and a half, of which measurement the abdomen alone occupies two thirds. The average circumference of the abdomen is five sixths of an inch; and, as it

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