could be invented, provided that it be properly suspended, and the bird certainly deserves our gratitude, if it be only for the fact that it might have given the first hint on the subject.

It is one of the Honey-Eaters, and is called the LANCEOLATE HONEY-EATER (Plectorhynchus lanceolatus), on account of the

shape of its feathers. It is not a brilliantly coloured bird, its hues being only brown and white, diversified by a black line down the middle of each feather. It does not seem to be a very lively bird, being accustomed to sit on the very top of some lofty tree, such as an acacia or eucalyptus, and to remain almost motionless in one spot. So still and quiet is it that it would hardly be seen, were not its presence betrayed by an occasional powerful and shrilly-sounding whistle. Its food consists partly of insects, and partly of the pollen and sweet juices of flowers.

The wonderful nest of this bird was found by Mr. Gould on the Liverpool Plains, overhanging a stream, and being a beautiful

example of the pensiles. The materials of which it is made are grass and wool, intermingled with the pure white cotton of certain flowers. As the reader may see, by reference to the illustration, it is hung from a very slender twig, and only suspended at opposite extremities of the rim, the tree selected being the myall, or weeping acacia. The nest is rather small in proportion to the bird, and is very deep, so that when the mother is sitting on her eggs, or brooding over her young, she is obliged to pack herself away very carefully, her tail projecting at one side of the nest and her head at the other.

OUR last example of the Australian pensile nests is one which is made by the WHITE-SHAFTED FANTAIL (Rhipidura albica), a native of Van Diemen's Land and the southern and western portions of Australia. It is rather a pretty bird, being boldly marked with black and white, and is remarkable for the fact that the shafts and tips of the tail-feathers are pure white, the central feathers only excepted. It derives its popular name of Fantail from its habit of spreading its tail like a fan while descending, and as the tail is very broad, the action has a really remarkable effect.

The nest of this bird is of a figure not very easy to describe, but an idea of it may be formed from a common wine-strainer, with a very long and straight spout. The nest is attached to a branch rather below the middle of the cup, so that the long spout hangs down like a tail, quite independent of the bough. What can be the object of this appendage no one knows, and there is no purpose that it can even be imagined to fulfil, except perhaps that it may serve as a conductor. Like many other pensile nests, it is placed at a low elevation, and hung over water. Sometimes, however, it is found in a forest where no stream runs, but even in such a case it is suspended not many feet from the ground, though high enough to guard it against the attacks of any ordinary foe.

The materials of which the nest is made are the delicate inner bark of the gum-tree, together with mosses, and the soft down obtained from the tree-fern. These substances are interwoven with tough spiders'-web, which has the effect of binding them firmly together. This remarkable nest is mentioned in the present place because its peculiar shape bears some resemblance

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 XII.

PENSILE BIRDS (CONTINUED).

American Pensile Birds-Humming Birds, and the general structure of their nests-The LITTLE HERMIT, its colour, habits, and nest-The GREY-THROATED HERMIT and its hardihood-The PIGMY HERMIT and its seed-nest-The LONGTAILED HUMMING BIRD-Mode of building its nest-The WHITE-SIDED HILL STAR-Curious method of suspending its nest-The SAPPHO COMET-The CHIMBORAZIAN HILL STAR-Curious locality-Its habits, food, and nest-The SAWBILL and its singular nest-Habits of the Sawbill-The BRAZILIAN WOOD NYMPH-Use made of its plumage and its nest-The RUBY AND TOPAZ HUMMING BIRD-Stuffed Skins-The AZURE CEREBA, its colour, nest, and habits-The BALTIMORE ORIOLE Reason for its name-Its beautiful nest, and curious choice of materials-Familiarity of the Baltimore Oriole-The ORCHARD ORIOLE or BOB-O'-LINK - Various forms of nest-Why called Orchard Oriole-The CRESTED CASSIQUE, its size, form, and colours-Its remarkable nest-Difficulty of obtaining nests-The GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER, and its use of serpent-sloughs-The RED-EYED FLYCATCHER, WHIPTOM-KELLY-Low elevation of its nest-The WHITE-EYED FLYCATCHER, its nest, and fondness for the prickly vine-The PRAIRIE WARBLER, its habits and nest-The PINE-CREEPING WARBLER-The Asiatic pensiles-The BAYA SPARROW-Its colour and social habits-Singular form of the nest.

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

Among the multitudinous species of this wonderful group of birds are very many examples of pensile nests, that mode of structure being, indeed, the rule, and any other the exception. As is the case with the nests of the Australian birds, some are suspended from twigs, others from rocks, and others again from leaves, the last-mentioned plan being the most common. It is evident that, in order to enable a nest to be fastened to a leaf, some 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),