fabric from spoliation, she left off working, and fled from bush tc bush, for the express purpose of teasing him. Soon afterwards, having made matters up again, the female returned to her labour, and the male sang for several minutes in the most animated strains. After his song was concluded, he began again to occupy himself with the work, and with fresh ardour carried such materials as his companion required, till the spirit of frolic again became buoyant, and a scene similar to that which I have described occurred. I have witnessed eight interruptions of this kind in one morning. How happy birds are! They are certainly the privileged creatures of nature, thus to work and sport alternately, as fancy prompts them.

"On the third day the birds begun to rear the side walls of the nest, after having rendered the bottom compact by repeatedly pressing the materials with their breasts, and turning themselves round upon them in all directions. They first formed a plain border, which they afterwards trimmed, and upon this they piled up tufts of cotton, which was fitted into the structure by beating and pressing it with their breasts and the shoulders of their wings, taking care to arrange any projecting corner with their beaks, so as to interlace it into the tissue, and to render it more firm. As the work proceeded, the contiguous branches of the bush were enveloped in the side walls, but without damaging the circular cavity of the interior. This part of the nest required many materials, so that I was quite astonished at the quantity which they used.

"On the seventh day their task was finished, and, being anxious to examine the interior, I determined to introduce my finger, when I felt an egg that had been probably laid that morning, for on the previous evening I could see that there was no egg in it, as it was not quite covered in.

"This beautiful edifice, which was as white as snow, was nine inches in height on the outside, whilst in the inside it was not more than five. Its external form was very irregular, on account of the branches which it had been found necessary to enclose; but the inside exactly resembled a pullet's egg placed with the smaller end upwards. 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."

One of the most remarkable points of this singularly beautiful nest is the firm texture of the walls. Externally, the nest looks as if it were a mere large hollow bunch of cotton-wool with a hole near the top, and seems to be so fragile that the eggs would fall through the fabric. But when the inside of the nest is viewed, it is seen to be composed of a kind of felt, as firm and close as if it had been formed by human art, so that neither wind nor wet can penetrate; and it is capable of upholding a much greater weight than would be introduced into it. To pull out a tuft of the cotton-wool is impossible without tearing a hole in the fabric, so closely are the delicate fibres interwoven with each other.

IN the accompanying illustration are shown the nests of two species of Humming Bird.

The oddly-shaped nest which occupies the upper part of the drawing is made by the FIERY TOPAZ (Topaza pyra), one of the most magnificent of these lovely birds. Indeed, Prince Lucien Buonaparte calls it the most beautiful of the Trochilidæ, and it is hardly possible to imagine a bird that can surpass it in brilliancy. The body is fiery scarlet, the head velvet-black, the throat glittering emerald, with a patch of crimson in the centre; the lower part of the back is also green, and the long, slender, crossed feathers of the tail are purple with a green gloss. So magnificent a bird can have but few rivals, and there is only one species which even approaches it in beauty. This is the Crimson Topaz (Topaza pella), a bird which is nearly allied to it, and which much resembles it in general colouring. It may, however, be distinguished by the colour of the body, which is crimson instead of scarlet.

Curiously enough, although it is bedecked with resplendent hues, which seem to need the presence of daylight, and to be made expressly for the purpose of reflecting the brightest beams of the sun, yet the lovely bird is one of the night wanderers, being seldom seen as long as the sun is above the horizon, and preferring to seek its food while the world is shrouded in darkness. Perhaps the reader may remember that the sea-mouse, whose iridescent garment possesses all the tints of the rainbow, is also a darkness lover, and passes its life sunk in the black mud of the sea-shore.

The nest which is built by the Fiery Topaz is really a wonderful structure.

Its shape is remarkable, and is well shown in the illustration. It is fastened to the branch with extreme care, as is clearly necessary from its general form. The most curious point about the nest is, however, the material of which it is made. When it was first discovered no one knew how the bird could have built

so strange a structure. It looked as if it were made of very coarse buff leather, and was so similar in hue to the branches that surrounded it, that it seemed more like a natural excrescence than a bird's nest. The reason for this similitude was simple enough. It was made of a natural excrescence, and therefore resembled one.

When the Fiery Topaz wishes to build a nest, it goes off to the trees, and searches for a kind of fungus belonging to the genus boletus, and with this singular material it makes its home. It is tough, leathery, thick and soft, and in some curious manner

the bird contrives to mould the apparently intractable substance into the shape which is represented in the illustration. The non-botanical reader may form an idea of the appearance of the nest, by supposing it to be made of German tinder, which is, in fact, a kind of boletus which has been pressed, dried, and steeped in a weak solution of nitre.

The lower figure in the same illustration represents the nest of another Humming Bird (Phaethornis curynome), belonging to the pretty little group which are popularly called Hermits, and which may be recognised by the peculiar shape of the tail, which is regularly graduated, the two central feathers being, however, much longer than the others. They are inhabitants of Venezuela.

All the Hermits are remarkable for the beauty of their homes, and the present species is mentioned as affording a good example of nest-making. The nest is always long and funnel-shaped, and is hung either to a leaf or the delicate twig of a tree, according to circumstances. The materials of which the nest is made are rather various, consisting of vegetable fibres, especially those downy, cotton-like filaments which are furnished by so many plants, of small herbs, and spider webs. The last mentioned substance is employed for the purpose of binding the materials together, and is used also in fastening the nest to the support on which it hangs.

THERE is another species of this beautiful group, called the RUBY-THROATED HUMMING BIRD (Trochilus colubris), which is generally accepted as the typical species. This lovely bird is plentiful in many parts of America, and is sometimes seen as far north as Canada. It derives its popular name from the feathers of the throat, which glitter as if made of burnished metal, and glow with alternate tints of ruby and orange. The general colour of the body is green, and the wings are purple-brown. The two sexes are coloured after the same manner, with the exception of the ruby gorget, which only belongs to the male, and which is not attained until the second year. There is no species more common in museums and ornamental cases than this, because it is as plentiful as it is lovely. That it should be plentiful, or indeed that any species of Humming Bird should be anything but scarce, is matter of wonder, inasmuch as they never lay more than two eggs, and in all proba

bility do not rear more than three, or perhaps four, young in the course of a season.

The general habits of this tiny bird are well worthy of notice, but at present we must content ourselves with it as it appears in its nest-making capacity. Being a very small bird, only three inches and a half in total length, and very slenderly made, the uest is necessarily small. But, although we so often find that little birds build large nests, we cannot but notice that the nest of this Humming Bird is even smaller than the size of its occupant seems to require. It is round, neatly made, and has thick walls and a small hollow.

The bird has a wonderful power of concealing the nest, which cannot be discovered except by a practised nest-hunter, so closely does it resemble a knob upon a branch. So careful, too, is the female of her home, that she does not fly straight to it, but rises high in the air, and then darts down among the branches with such rapidity that the eye cannot follow her movements, and she is fairly seated in her nest before the spectator knows exactly in which direction she has gone.

This curious trait seems to have been discovered by Mr. C. W. Webber. He had successfully tamed some Ruby-throats, and determined to find a nest, so that he might obtain the young. After finding that a pair of Humming Birds had been seen near a certain spot on a river, he set himself determinately to discover the nest. By degrees they were watched to a point of the river, but there they always disappeared, as they had a habit of shooting perpendicularly into the air until their tiny bodies were lost to sight. At last, however, the patient watchfulness of the observer was rewarded by catching a glimpse of the female bird, as she descended perpendicularly from the height to which she had risen, and in this manner was the nest discovered.

The same agreeable writer relates an anecdote respecting the discovery of a nest belonging to the Emerald-throated Humming Bird, an edifice which is very similar to that which is made by the Ruby-throat. He had been in vain looking for a nest, when "chance favoured me somewhat strangely about this time. I had been out squirrel-shooting early one sweltering hot morning, and on my return had thrown myself beneath the shade of a thick hickory, near the bank of a creek. I lay on my back, looking listlessly out over the stream, when the chirp of the Humming