Albert R. Mann 
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OBFBEY AND OBAULES. 
 
HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 BEING A DESCEIPTION OP 
 
 THE HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS, ClASSED ACCORDING TO 
 THEIR PRINCIPLE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 THE REV. J. G. WOOD, M.A., F.L.S., Etc., 
 
 AUTHOE OF THE " ILLII8TBATED HATDEAI. HISTOEY," "COMMON OBJECTS Of THE BEA-BHOBE AHD 
 OOrSTET," ETC., ETC., ETC. '3 • 
 
 WITH NEW DESIGNS BY W. F. KEYL AND E. SMITH. 
 
 ENGEAVBD BY MESSES. PEARSON. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 H;AEPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 FBANELIN SQUARE. 
 
 1866. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The object of this work is so fully given in the title-page, that 
 little more remains to be said in the preface. 
 
 Beginning with the simplest and most natural form of habita- 
 tion, namely, a burrow in the ground, the work proceeds in the 
 following order: — 2d, those creatures that suspend their homes 
 in the air ; 3dj those that are real builders, forming their domi- 
 ciles of mud, stones, sticks, and similar materials; 4th, those 
 which make their habitations beneath the surface of the water, 
 whether salt or fresh ; 5th, those that live socially in communi- 
 ties ; 6th, those which are parasitic upon animals or plants ; 7th, 
 those which build on branches. The last chapter treats of mis- 
 cellanea, or those habitations which could not be well classed in 
 either of the preceding, groups. 
 
 In all these classes a definite order has been preserved, the 
 Mammalia having precedence, and being followed in regular or- 
 der by the other members of the group. Thus, in the first few 
 chapters, which treat of the Burrowers, the following system has 
 been observed : — First comes Man, the chief of all the mamma- 
 lia, and in due zoological order follow the Moles and Shrews, 
 the Foxes, the Weasels, the Eodents, and the Edentates. The 
 White Bear alone is removed from its legitimate place, on ac- 
 count of its singular habitation in the snow. The Burrowing 
 Birds come next in order, those which burrow in the earth tak- 
 ing precedence of those which make holes in wood. Burrowing 
 Eeptiles follow next in order; and then come the Burrowing 
 Invertebrates, headed by the Crustacea. The same system is 
 followed throughout, so as to give the reader a clear and defi- 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 nite idea of the subject. For this reason, a table of contents is 
 appended to the work, as well as an alphabetical index; the 
 one to enable the reader to form a general conception of the 
 subject, and the other to enable him to find out any particular 
 creature. 
 
 On perusing the work, the attentive reader will probably dis- 
 cover that various animals are placed in one class when they 
 might very well be in another. The reason is, that many crea- 
 tures, such as the wasp, the ant, the squirrel, etc., might with 
 equal propriety find a place in several of these classes, and I have 
 therefore placed them in that class of which some peculiarity in 
 nest-making renders them fit illustrators. 
 
 I must now return my thanks to the many friends who have 
 assisted me in the work, by the loan or gift of specimens, or by 
 affording valuable information. Among them I must especially 
 mention J. Gould, Esq., who kindly took an interest in the or- 
 nithological portion of the work ; F. Smith, Esq., of the British 
 Museum ; and the late Charles Waterton, Esq., who permit- 
 ted me the use of his museum, and gave me much interesting 
 and useful information. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 BDEROWINa MAMMALIA. 
 Introduction. — Man as a Burrower. — The Mole and its Dwel'-ng. — Difficulty of 
 observing its Habits. — Complicated structure of its Portress, and its Uses. — 
 Character of the Mole. — Adaptation of its Form to its mode of Life. — Common 
 Objects. — ^The Shrew Mole, Elephant Shrew, and Musk Rat. — The Arctic 
 Fox. — Structure of its Limbs. — Form of its Burrow. — Its Character, Fur, and 
 Flesh. — The common Fox. — Mode of Burrowing and economy of Labor. — The 
 young Family. — The Weasel, and some of its Habits. — The Badger and its 
 Burrow. — The Prairie Dog, or Wish-ton-Wish. — Dog-towns. — Unpleasant 
 Intruders. — The Babbit, and the Warren. — Self-sacrific6. — Study of animal Life. 
 — The Chipping Squirrel. — Curious form of its Dwelling. — Its subterranean 
 Treasures. — The Woodohuck, the Pouched Rat, the Camas Rat, the Mole 
 Rat, and the Sand Mole. — The White Bear. — Its curious Dwelling. — Snow as 
 a Shelter. — ^The Pichiciago. — Its Form, Armor, and Burrow. — The Armadillos 
 and their Habits. — The Manis. — The Aard Vark, its Food and Dwelling. — 
 The Mallangong. — Its strange Habits and its Burrow. — The Porcupine Ant- 
 EATEH.-^Its burrowing Powers , Page 19 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 BURROWING BIRDS. 
 The Sand Martin. — Mode of Burrowing and Shape of the Tunnel. — Enemies of the 
 Sand Martin. — Midges and Martins. — The Kingfisher and its Habits. — Its Bur- 
 row and peculiar Nest. — Number of the Eggs. — The Puffin a feathered Usurper. 
 — The Feroe Islands and the Puffins. — Pro aris et focis. — The Mutton Bird and 
 its Burrows. — Snakes and Birds. — The Jackdaw, Stockdove, and Sheldrake. 
 — Nest of the Sheldrake. — The Beb-eater and its Habits. — Its Burrow and Nest. 
 — The SiORMT Petrel. — Its Mode of Nesting and shallow Tunnels — Mode of 
 feeding its Young. — Evil Odor of its Burrow. — The Woodpecker. — Its Uses and 
 misunderstood Character. — Method of Burrowing. — The Fungus and the Wood- 
 pecker.— American Woodpeckers.— The Wrt-neck.— Its popular Names and Lo- 
 cality of its Nest. — The Starling. — Its social Character. — Locality of its Habita- 
 tion. — The Tree Creeper. — The Nut-hatch and the Hoopoe. — Curious Nest 
 of the Hoopoe. — The Cole-tit and its Habits.— A Cole-tit's Nest at Walton Hall. 
 — The Toucan. — The enormous Beak and its Uses. — Nest of the Toucan. — The 
 Swift. — Its Nest and Eggs. — Its curious Feet and their Structure 74 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 BURROWING REPTILES. 
 The Reptiles and their Hibernation. — The Land Tortoise and its Winter Dwell- 
 ing. — The Crocodiles. — Snakes. — The Yellow Snake of Jamaica. — Its gen- 
 eral Habits. — Its burrowing powers discovered. — Presumed Method of removing 
 the Earth 102 
 
VIU CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BURROWING INVERTEBRATES. 
 OBUSTACEA. 
 
 The Lakd Crabs and their Habits. — The Violet Land Crab. — Its Burrows, its 
 Combativeness, and its pedestrian Powers. — The Fighting Crab, why so called. 
 — The Eager Crab of Ceylon. — Its Burrows, and Mode of carrying oif the Soil. 
 — The EoBBER Crab. — Its Form and general Habits. — Food of the Eobber Crab. 
 — A soft Bed and well-stocked Larder. — The CHELnRA, and its Earages among 
 Timber. — The Geibblb and its Kin.. '. Page 104 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 BURROWING MOLLUSKS. 
 The Boeing Snail of the Bois des Eoches. — Opinions as to its Method of Burrow- 
 ing. — Shape of the Tunnels. — Solitary Habits of the Snail. — The Piddock, its 
 Habits and Appearance. — Structure of the Shell, and its probable Use. — Method 
 of Burrowing. — Use of the Piddock and other marine Burrowers. — The Balance of 
 Nature preserved. — The Wood-boebr and its Habits. — The Date Shell. — Its 
 extraordinary Powers of Tunneling. — The Eazob Shell. — Its Localities and 
 Mode of Life. — ^The Flask Shell and the 'Wateeing-pot Shell. — The Ship- 
 woEM. — Its Appearance when Young and Adult. — Its curious Development. — 
 Its Ravages, and the best Method of checking them. — Its Value to Engineers. 
 — The GiANi Teredo. — ^Form, Dimensions, and Structure of the Shell. — How 
 and where discovered 114 
 
 CHAPTEE VL 
 
 BURROWING SPIDERS. 
 The Scorpion and its Habits. — The Burrow of the Scorpion. — How detected. — 
 Suicide among the Scorpions. — Spiders and their Burrows. — The Atypus. — Ma- 
 dame Merian and her Book of the Bird Spider. — Mr. Bates's Discoveries. — Hair 
 of the Bird Spider. — The Tarantula. — Its Ferocity and Courage. — The Trap- 
 door Spider. — Its Tunnel and the Lining thereof. — Its Appearance under the 
 Microscope. — ^The " Trap-door" itself, and its Structure. — Curious Example of 
 Instinct. — Activity of the Spider. — Specimen in the British Museum. — Strength 
 and Obstinacy of the Trap-door Spider. — An Australian Trap-door Spider ... 128 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 BURROWING INSECTS. 
 HTMENOPTEEA. 
 
 The Sauba Ant and its Habitation. — Use of the "Parasor"Leaves. — Mr. Bates's 
 Account of the Insect. — Enormous Extent of the Dwelling. — The Dusky Ant. — 
 Its Strength and Perseverance. — Man and Insect contrasted. — The Beown Ant. 
 — Form of its Habitation. — ^Eegulation of Temperature. — Necessity of Moisture. 
 — How the Ant constructs Ceilings. — Mining Bees. — The Andrena and its bur- 
 rowing Powers. — The Ecceea. — Its Habitation and curious Method of liberating 
 the AntennsB.— The Soolia, its Burrows and its Prey.— The Indian Sphex and 
 its Ingenuity. — The Mellinus and Oxtbelus. — Curious Method of catching 
 Prey.— The Philanthus, its Burrow, and the Food of its Young.— The Humble- 
 BEE — its general Habits. — Locality of its Dwelling. — Development of the Young. 
 — The Lapidary Bee, its Colors, Disposition, and Habits. — The Wasp — its Food 
 and Habitation. — Materials and Architecture of the Nest. — Disposition, Form, 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 and Number of the Cells.— Biography of a Queen Wasp, and History of her Nest. 
 —Other British Wasps and their Homes.— The Monedeila and its Prey.— Bold- 
 ness of the Insect, and its Uses to Travelers.— The Bembex.— Its energetic Hab- 
 its, its Food, and Mode of storing the Nest Page no 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 BUEROWma BEETLES. 
 The Tiger Beetle and its Habits. — Beauty of the Insect, its Larva, and Mode of 
 Life. — Carious Form of its Burrow. — The Sexton Beetle and its Power of 
 digging in the Ground. — The Doe Beetle — its polished Surface, and the Sub- 
 stances in which it Burrows. — Use of the Dor Beetle. — The Scaeabjeus of 
 Egypt and its wonderful Instincts. — The Egg, the Grub, and the Cocoon. — Co- 
 coon in the British Museum. — The Mole-ckioket, its Form and elaborate 
 Dwelling. — Its general Habits and wide Distribution. — The Field-ceicket and 
 its Tunnels. — Structure of the Ovipositor. — The MiGKATORr LoctJST and its 
 Development. — The Ant-lion, its Form, Food, and Mode of Life.^-The Pitfall 
 and its Structure. — Mode of catching Prey. — Perfect Form of the Ant-lion.. 169 
 
 , CHAPTEE IX. 
 WOOD-BORINa INSECTS. 
 Beetles. — The usual Form of the Wood-borers. — The Scolttus and its Ravages. 
 — Mode of forming the Tunnels. — Curious Instinct. — Theories respecting the Scol- 
 ytus. — Worm-eaten Furniture, its Cause, and the best Method of checking the 
 Boring Insects. — Ginger and Cork Borers. — ^The "Petrified" Man. — The Meal- 
 worm and its Eavages. — Weevils. — The Palm Weevil of Jamaica. — Its Devel- 
 opment, and Uses as an Edible. — Its Cocoons. — The Wasp Beetle, its Shape, 
 Colors, and tunneling Powers. — The Musk Beetle. — Its Beauty and Fragrance. 
 — Difficulty of detecting the Musk Beetle. — Its Burrows and their Inmates. — 
 The Ehagium and its Cocoon. — The Haelequin Beetle. — Wood-boring Bees. — 
 Willow Bee, its Tunnel, and Mode of making the Cells. — Food of the Young. 
 — The PoppT Bee. — The Pith-boeing Bees and their Habits. — Structure of the 
 Cells and Escape of the Young. — Economy of Labor. — Shell-nests of Bees. — 
 Wonderful adaptation to Circumstances. — How the Bee burrows. — The Hoop- 
 shaver Bee. — Gilbert White's Description of its Habits. — The Sieex and its 
 Burrow. — Its Eavages among Fig-trees. — Formidable Aspect of the Insect. — The 
 two British Species. — Carpenter Bee. — Mode of making its Burrow. — Method- 
 deal Labor. — ^Food of the Young. — How to make a Ceiling. — ^Number of Cells in 
 each Burrow. — The Carpent^- Bee of Australia. — The PELOp.aEns as a Wood- 
 borer. — Its Tunnel, and Mode of making Cells. — The Sapbeda. — Damage caused 
 to Aspen and other Trees. — A useful Parasite. — The Goat Moth. — Wood-leopard 
 Moth. — Clear-wings and Honey-comb Moths 186 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PENSILE MAMMALIA. 
 
 The Haevbst-mouse — its Appearance. — Reason for its Name. — Mouse Nests. — 
 Home of the Harvest-mouse. — A curious Problem. — Food of the Harvest-mouse, 
 and its Agility. — The Squieebl. — Its summer and winter " Cage." — Boldness 
 of the Squirrel. — Materials for the Nest, and their Arrangement 213 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 PENSILE BIRDS. 
 Weaver Birds and their general Habits. — Bed-billed Weaver Bird. — Its bo- 
 vine Friends. — Its Use to the Buffalo. — Other parasitic Birds. — The Spotted- 
 backed Weaver Bird. — Its Nest and variable Method of Construction. — The 
 Mahali Weaver Bird. — Shape of the Nest. — Singular Defense. — Theories re- 
 specting the Structure. — Habits of the Bird. — Bemarkable Nests of Weavers. — 
 Account of Weavers engaged in Nest-building. — Very curious Contrivance. — 
 The Gold-capped Weaver. — Structure and Situation of the Nest. — The Taha 
 Weaver Bird. — Locality selected for its Nest. — Destructiveness to Crops. — The 
 Palm Swift. — Its general Habits. — ^The Nest and its variable Structure. — Sil£- 
 cotton. — The Tailor Bird. — Antiquity of Handicrafts. — Structure of the Nest. 
 — The Fan-xailed Warbler. — Singular Method of fixing its Nest. — The Pendu- 
 LINE Titmouse. — Its Habits and Food. — Remarkable Nest and its Form Page 219 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PENSILE BIEDS ^ContinuecO. 
 Australian Pensiles. — The Yellow-throated Sericornis. — Its Habits. — Singular 
 Position for its Nest. — Conscious Security. — The Rook Warbler. — Shape and 
 Locality of its Nest. — The Yellow-tailed Acanthiza. — Its Color and Song. — 
 Supplementary Nests. — The Pinc-pinc and its Home. — Supposed Use of the sup- 
 plementary Nest. — The SnjGiNo Honet-eatee and its Nest. — The Myall or 
 Weeping Acacia. — Various Materials. — ^The Lusulated Honey-eater. — A new' 
 Material. — The Painted Honey-eater, its Habits and Nest. — The Art of Pres- 
 ervation.— Nests and their Branches. — The Color of Eggs.— The White-throat- 
 ed Honey-eater and its Habits. — Its curious Nest. — Locality of the Nest. — The 
 Golden-crested Ween, and the Resemblance of its Nest to those of the Honey- 
 eater.— The Swallow DiCiEUM.- Its Song, and Beauty of its Plumage.— The 
 Nest, its Materials, Form, and Position. — The Malurus and its Nest.— The Ham- 
 mock Bird.— Singular Method- of suspending the Nest.— The White-shafted 
 Fantail.— Strange Form of the Nest.— The Appendage or TaU of the Nest.. 234 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 PENSILE BIRDS (CoWtjmcd). 
 American Pensile Birds. — Humming-birds, and the general Structure of their 
 Nests.- The Little Hermit, its Color, Habits, and Nest.— The Gray-throated 
 Hermit and its Hardihood.— The Pigmy Hermit and its Seed-nest.— The Long- 
 tailed HnMMiNG-BiRD.— Mode of building its Nest.— The White-sided Hill 
 Stab. — Curious Method of suspending its Nest. — The Sappho Comet. — The 
 CH1MB0RAZL4N 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 Ccereba, its Color, Nest, and Hab- 
 its. 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 Colors. — Its remarkable Nest. — 
 
 Difficulty of obtaining Nests.— The Great-crested Fly-catoher, and its use 
 of Serpent-sloughs. —The Eed-eybd Fly-catcher, Whip-Tom-Kellt. -Low 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 Elevation of its Nest. — The White-eted Flt-catchee, its Nest, and Fondness 
 for the Prickly Vine. — The Fbaibie Warelee, its Habits and Nest. — The Pine- 
 CRBEPiNG Wakelek.— The Asiatic Pensiles. — The Bata Sparrow. — Its Color 
 and Social Habits. — Singular Form of the Nest Page 249 
 
 CHAPTER XrV. 
 
 PENSILE INSECTS. 
 The Hymenoptera. — Australian Insects. — The Crematogastee and Negro-head. 
 — The Green Ant, its Habits and Nest. — An African Species. — Pensile Ants of 
 America. — ^The Abispa and its remarkable Nest. — Ingenious Entrance. — The 
 Tai0a, or DniCHMAN's Pipe. — Structure and Shape of its Nest. — Firmness of 
 the Walls. — Average Number of Cells in each Tier. — ^The common Wasp as a 
 Pensile Insect. — Gigantic Nest. — Union of three Colonies. — Character of the 
 Wasp. — The Norwegian Wasp. — Structure and Locality of its Nest. — Classifica- 
 tion of the Wasps. — ^The Campanular Wasp and the Northern Wasp. — The 
 Chaetbrgus, or Pasteboard Wasp. — Mode by which the Nest is suspended. — 
 Method of Structure. — Meaning of the Name. — Enormous Nest from Ceylon. — 
 Various Wasp Nests. — The Polistes as a Pensile Insect. — Singular Nest in the 
 British Museum. — The Gibbous Ant. — Honey Wasps, the general Characteris- 
 tics of their Nests. — The Mtrapetra. — Its singular Nest. — Structure of the 
 Walls and Use of the Projections. — The Nectarinia. — Why so called. — Locality 
 of the Nest. — Size of the Insect. — The Trigona and its Nest. — Ichneumon Flies. 
 — Different Species of Microgaster, and their Habitations. — The Pekilitus. — 
 Weevils. — Beautiful Cocoon of Clonus.— The Emperor Moth and its Home. — 
 The Atlas Moth and other Silk Producers. — ^The House-builder Moth and 
 its movable Dwelling. — The Tiger Moth and its Hammock. — The Burnet 
 Moths, and their curious Homes. — The Drinker Moth, its Cocoon and insect 
 Foes. — The Oak-eggee Moth. — Method of killing Insects. — Cocoon of the Oak- 
 egger. — Origin of its Name. — The Little Egger Moth. — Air-holes. — Nests 
 discovered by Mr.Bates. — The Cypress-spurge Moth. — Various Leaf-rollers. — 
 Suspended Cocoon. — Lbaf-bureowers and their Homes. — The Spider.... 269 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 BUILDERS. 
 Building Mammalia. —Definition of the Title. — Inferiority of the Mammalia as 
 Architects.— The Brush-tailed Bettong.— Its Structure and Color.— The Nest 
 of the Bettong, and its Adaptation to the Locality.— Singular Method of convey- 
 ing Materials.— Its nocturnal Habits.— The Rabbit-eared Bandicoot and its 
 Habitat.— The generic Title.— Curious Form of the Ears and Feet.— DifSculty in 
 discovering its Nest.— The Musquash, or Ondatra.— Its general Habits.— Its 
 burrowing Powers, and Extent of its Tunnels.— The Musquash as a Builder.— 
 Form and Size of its House.— Mode of Killing the Animal by Spear, Gun, and 
 Trap.— Its Flesh and Fur 323 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 BUILDING BIRDS. 
 
 The Oven Bird and its place in Ornithology.— Its general Habits. — Nest of the 
 
 Oven Bird. Curious Materials and historical Parallel. — The Specimens in the 
 
 British Museum.— The internal Architecture of the Nest.— Division into Cham- 
 bers.— The Pied Grallina.— The Specimens at the Zoological Gardens.— Mate- 
 
XU CONTENTS. 
 
 rials and Form of the Nest. — Boldness of the Bird. — The Sons Theitsh and its 
 Nest. — The Blackbikd and its clay-lined Nests. — Supposed Reasons for the Lin- 
 ing. — The Faiky Maktin. — Locality, Shape, and Materials of the Nest. — Social 
 Habits of the Bird. — How the Nest is built. — The Kufous-necked Swallow. — 
 Locality and abundance of its Nests. — Curious Habit of the Bird. — Audubon's 
 Account. — ^The Eufoits-bellied Swallow. — Supplementary Nest. — How the 
 Bird builds. — Popular Superstition and its Uses. — The House Maetin. — Mate- 
 rial of its Nest. — Favorite Localities. — Ingenuity of the Martin. — Adaptation to 
 Circumstances. — Parasitic Intruders, their Number, Dimensions, and Tenacity of 
 Life. — The Swallow. — Distinction between its Nest and that of the Martin. — 
 Why called the Chimney Swallow. — Tallegalla, or Beush Tobket. — The Il- 
 lustration explained. — Various Names of the Bird. — Its singular and enormous 
 Nest. — How the Eggs are laid and hatched. — Egress of the Young. — Remarkable 
 Instinct. — Austealian Jungle Fowl. — Shape, Size, and Position of its Nests. — 
 How the Eggs are discovered. — Leifoa, or Native Pheasant. — Its Mound-nest, 
 and general Habits Page 327 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 BUILDING BIRDS (.ConHnueO). 
 Nesting of the Hornbills. — Dr. Livingstone's Account of the Koewe, or Red- 
 BEEASTED HoRNBiLL. — The LoNG-TAiLED TiTMOusE. — Its general Habits. — Its 
 Use to the Gardener. — ^Number of the Toiing. — Form and Materials of the Nest. — 
 Localities chosen by the Bird. — How to prepare the fragile Eggs. — The Magpie. 
 — Its domed and fortified Nest. — The common Wkbn and its Nest. — Pseudo-nests 
 and their probable Origin. — The House Ween of America. — Its Habits and 
 Mode of Nesting. — Wilson's Account of the Bird. — Its Usefulness and quarrel- 
 some Nature. — The Lyre Bibd. — Origin of its Name. — Its domed Nest. — The 
 Albert's Ltee Bied and its Habits. — The Bower Bied. — Why so called.— 
 Civilization and social Amusement. — The remarkable Bower. — Its Materials and 
 Mode of Construction. — Use to which it is put. — The Bower Birds in the Zoolog- 
 ical Gardens, and their Habits. — Love of Ornament. — Meaning of the scientific 
 Name. — The Spotted Bowee Bied of New South Wales. — Its Bower. — ^De- 
 scription of the Birds, and their place in the present System 344 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 BUILDING INSECTS. 
 The Termite, or White Ant. — General Habits of the Insect. — African Termites 
 and their Homes. — Termites as Articles of Food. — Indian Termites. — Account 
 of their Proceedings.— American Termites. — ^Mr. Bates's Account of their Hab- 
 its. — European Tennites. — Their Ravages in France and Spain. — M. de Quatre- 
 fages and his History of the Termites of Rochefort and La Rochelle. — The Eu- 
 menes and its mud-built Nest. — The Trtpoxtlon of South America. — The Pb- 
 LOPJEUS and its curious Nest. — The Mud-daubee Wasp. — Mr. Goss's Account 
 of its Habits. — ^The Melipona of America. — Mr. Stone's Wasp Nests and their 
 History. — Difference of Material. — The Foeagino Ants of South America and 
 their various Species. — Nests and Habits of the Foraging Ants. — The Ageicul- 
 tukal Ant of Texas. — Dr. Lincecum's Accounts of its Habits SSO 
 
CONTENTS. xm 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SUB-AQUATIC NESTS. VERTEBRATES. 
 Fishes as Architects. — The Sticklebacks and their general Habits. — The Feesh- 
 WATEE Sticklebacks. — A jealous Proprietor. — Punishment of Trespassers. — 
 Form and Materials of the Nest. — Use of the Nest. — Cannibalistic Propensities. 
 — The Fifteen-spined Stickleback and its Form. — Its curious Nest. — Mr. 
 Couch's description of a Nest in a Rope's End. — Fishes of Guiana. — The Habsae 
 or Hardback, and its place in Zoology. — Nest of the Hassar. — Parental Watch- 
 fulness. — Singular Position of the Nest. — Habits of the Hassar Page 392 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 SUB-AQUATIC NESTS. INVERTEBRATES. 
 A Pool and its Wonders. — The Watee Spidee. — Its sub-aquatic Nest. — Convey- 
 ance of Air to the Nest. — The Diving-bell anticipated. — Character of the Air in 
 the Nest. — Mr. Bell's Experiments upon the Spider. — Life of the Water Spider. — 
 The Htdeachna. — The Caddis Flies and their Characteristics. — Sub-aquatic 
 Homes of the Larva. — Singular Varieties of Form and Material. — ^Life of a Cad- 
 dis. — ^Description of Nests in my own Collection. — Fixed Cases, and Modification 
 of Larva. — Singular Materials for Nest-building. — Coeals and their general His- 
 tory. — ^The Coral of Commerce. — Development and Extension of the Coral. — 
 How fresh Colonies are founded. — ^Various Corals and their Growth. — Submarine 
 Tube-makers. — The Sekphl^ and their general Habits. — The Operculum of the 
 Serpula. — The TEEEBBLLiE and their submarine Houses. — The Caddis Sheimp. 
 — Remarkable Analogy 397 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 SOCIAL HABITATIONS. 
 
 SOCIAI, MAMMALIA. 
 
 The Beavee. — Its Form and aquatic Habits. — Need for Water, and Means used to 
 procure it. — Quadrupedal Engineering. — The Dam of the Beaver. — Erroneous 
 ideas of the Dam. — How the Beaver cuts Timber. — ^The Beaver in the Zoological 
 Gardens. — ^Theories respecting the Beaver's Dam. — How the Timber is fastened 
 together. — ^Form of the Dam, and mode of its Enlargement. — ^Beaver-dams and 
 Coral-reefs. — ^The House or Lodge of the Beaver. — Its Locality and Structure. — 
 Use of a subterranean Passage. — How Beavers are Hunted. — Curious Supersti- 
 tion. — "Les Paresseux" 43I 
 
 CHAPTER XXn. 
 SOCIAL BIRDS. 
 The Sociable Weavee Bied and its Country. — Description of the Bird. — Nest of 
 the Sociable Weaver. — How begun and how carried on. — Materials of the Nest. 
 — The Tree on which the Nest is built, and its Uses. — Dimensions of the Nest and 
 disastrous Consequences. — A Hottentot and a Lion. — Supposed Object of the So- 
 cial Nest. — Average Number of Inhabitants. — Analdgy with Dyak Houses. — En- 
 emies of the Sociable Weaver, the Monkey, the Snake, and the Parrakeet 438 
 
 CHAPTER XXHL 
 
 , SOCIAL INSECTS. 
 
 Arrangement of Groups. — Nests of Poltbia. — Curious Method of Enlargement. — 
 Structure of the Nests. — How concealed.-^ Various Modes of Attachment. — A cu- 
 rious Specimen. — The Hive-bee, and its claims to Notice. — General History of 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 the Hiye. — Form of the Cells.— 'the royal Cell, its Structure and Use.— Xlses of 
 the ordinary Cells. — Structure of the Bee-cell. — Economy of Space. — How pro- 
 duced. — Theories of different Mathematicians. — Measurement of Angles. — A log- 
 arithmic Table corrected by the Bee-cell. — The "Lozenge" a key to the Cell. — 
 How to form it. — Beautiful mathematic Proportions of the Lozenge. — Method of 
 Making the Cell or a Model. — Conjectured Analogy between the Cell and certain 
 Crystals. — Effect of the Cell upon Honey. — The Hoknet and its Nest. — Its fa- 
 vorite Localities. — Difficulties of taking a Hornet's Nest. — Habits of the Insect. — 
 Mr. Stone's Method of taking the Nest. — The Stnceca and its Habitation. — Beau- 
 tiful Nests in the British Museum. — Description of the Insect. — Nest of the Etj- 
 CHEiKA. — Its external Form. — Curious Discovery in Dissection. — A suspended 
 Colony. — Conjectures respecting the Structure. — Nest from the Oxford Museum. 
 — Remarkable Form of its Doors, and Material of which it is made. — The Small 
 Ermine Moth and its Ravages. — Its large social Habitation. — General Habits of 
 the Larva. — Why the Sparrow does not eat them. — The Gold-tailed Moth and 
 its beautiful social Nest. — Description of a Specimen from Wiltshire. — Illustration 
 of the Theory of Heat. — The Bkown- tailed Moth and its Nest. — Social Habita- 
 tions of the Peach and Small Tortoise-shell BuTiERrLiES Page 442 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 SOCIAL INSECTS (.Cowtinwd). 
 A curious Ant from India {Myrmica Kirbii). — Locality of its Nest. — Description of 
 the Nest, its Material, and Mode of Structure. — A nocturnal Misadventure. — The 
 Driver Ant of Africa. — ^Description of the Insect. — Reason for its Name. — Its 
 general Habits. — Destructive Powers of the Driver Ant. — How the Insects devour 
 Meat and convey it Home. — How they kill Snakes. — Native Legend of the Py- 
 thon. — Their Mode of March. — Fatal Effects of the Sunbeams. — An extemporized 
 Arch. — Method of escaping from Floods. — Site of their Habitation. — Modes of 
 destroying them. — Living Ladders and their Structure. — Method of crossing 
 Streams. — Tenacity of Life. — A decapitated Ant. — Mode of Biting. — Description 
 of the Insect. — Curious Nest of a Brazilian Wasp. — Weight of the Nest and Meth- 
 od of Attachment. — Variety of Polistes Nest. — Polistes aierrimus and its singular 
 Nest. — Beautiful Structure of an unknown Polistes 468 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 PARASITIC NESTS. 
 Various Parasites. — Parasitic Birds. — The CtrcKoo and its Kin. — The Cow-bird 
 and its Nest. — Size of its Egg. — Comparison between the Cuckoo and the Ap- 
 teryx. — The JEptornis. — The Buje-paced Honet-eater or Batikin. — Gen- 
 eral Habits of the Bird.— Singular Mode of Nesting.— The Sparrow-hawk and 
 its parasitic Habits.— The Kestrel, its Quarrel with a Magpie. — The Pdrple 
 Grakle or Crow Blackbird. — Its curious Alliance with the Osprey. — Wilson's 
 Account of the two Birds. — The Sparrow as a Parasite. — Curious Behavior of 
 the Stork. — Parasitic Insects. — The IcHNEtnaoN Flies. — The Parasite of the 
 Cabbage Caterpillar. — Its Numbers and Mode of making its Habitation. — 
 Trap-doors of the Cells.-^The Australian Cocoon and its Parasites. — The Oak- 
 EOGER Moth, its Cocoons and Enemies. — The Puss Moth. — Its remarkable Co- 
 coon. — PowerfulJaws of the Parasite. — ^RnBY-TAiLED Flies and their Victims. — 
 Modes of Usurpation. — The CncKOO Flies or Tachinie. — Parasites within Pupa;. 
 —Parasites on Vegetables.— The Gall Flies and their Home.— British Galls, 
 their Shapes, Structures, and Authors. —Foreign Galls, and their Uses 487 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 PARASITIC NESTS iContinusd). 
 The Oak-tree, and its Aptitude for nourisliing Galls. — Compound Galls, or one 
 Gall within another. — The Sensitive Gall of Carolina. — The Fungus of Wine- 
 ranlts. — Galls and the Insects which caused them. — Colors of Galls. — ^Whence 
 derived. — The Galls of various Trees and Plants. — The Cynips parasites upon an 
 Insect. — Galls produced by other Insects. — Mr. Ronnie's Account of the Beetle 
 Gall of the Hawthorn. — The Beetle Gall of the Thistle. — Dipteeous Gall- 
 MAKEKS. — ^Leaf-miners and Galls. — Size of the Larvse of Leaf- miners. — The per- 
 fect Insect and their Beauty. — Method of displaying the Insect. — Social Leaf- 
 MiNEES. — Dipterous Leaf-mineks. — Animal Galls. — The Chigoe and its Hab- 
 its. — Its curious Egg-sac. — Difficulty of extirpating it. — The Penalty of Negli- 
 gence. — The Breeze Flies and their Habitations. — Wukeles and their Origin. 
 — ^Their influence upon Cattle. — The Cleeus and its Ravages among the Hives. 
 — The Deilus, its remarkable Form, and the difference between the Sexes. — The 
 curious Habitation which it makes Page 517 
 
 CHAPTER XXVn. 
 
 BRANCH-BUILDING MAMMALIA. 
 
 The Dormouse in Confinement and at Liberty. — Nest of the Dormouse. — Its Posi- 
 tion, Materials, and Dimensions. — Entrance to the Nest. — The winter Treasury. 
 — The Loire and the Leeot. — Man as a Branch-builder. — ^Moselekatze. — His 
 Conquests. — Effects upon the People. — Branch-houses. — Their Approaches.. 631 
 
 CHAPTER XXVm. 
 
 FEATHERED' BRANCH-BUILDERS. 
 The Rook and its Nesting-place. — Materials and Structure of the Nest. — Some 
 Habits of the Rook. — The Crow. — Difference between the Nest of the Rook and 
 the Crow. — The Heron and its Mode of Nidification. — The Heronry at Walton 
 Hall. — Rustic Ideas respecting the Heron's Nest. — The Chaffinch. — Locality 
 and Structure of its beautiful Nest. — Mode of obtaining Materials. — The Gold- 
 finch and its Home. — Distinction between the Nests of the Goldfinch and Chaf- 
 finch. — ^The Bullfinch. — Locality and Form of its Nest. — Variability of Struc- 
 ture. — ^The Blue-eted Yellow "Warbler. — Curious Materials of its Nest. — Its 
 remarkable Habits. — The Bald-headed Eagle. — Why so called. — Wilson and 
 Audubon's Account of its Nest. — The Golden Oriole and its beautiful Nest. — 
 Mode of catching the Bird. — The Red- winged Starling, its Value and Demer- 
 its. — Its gregarious Habits. — Locality and Structure of its Nest. — The Yellow- 
 breasted Chat and its odd Ways. — Its Courage and Affection for its Nest and 
 Young. — Structure of its Nest. — The Ringdove and its curious Nest. — The 
 Whitethroat. — Description of the Locality and Structure of the Nest. — Reasons 
 for its various popular Names. — The Mocking-bird. — The Water Hen and its 
 Nesting. — Its habit of covering the Eggs 538 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 FEATHERED BEANCH-BUILDERS (.Continued). 
 
 The Sedge Warbler. — Its Nest and Loquacity. — The Reed Warbler. — Use of 
 
 its peculiar Tail. — ^Localities haunted by the Bird. — Song of the Reed Warbler. 
 
 — Its deep and beautifully-balanced Nest. — Color of the Eggs. — The Indigo 
 
 Bird. — The Capooiee. — Familiarity of the Bird. — Le Vaillant's Experiments. — 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 How the Nest is made. — Division of Labor. — Lover's Quarrels.— Structure of the 
 Nest. — Humming-birds again. — The Fiekt Topaz. — Its nocturnal Habits. — Ap- 
 pearance of the Nest. — Its Shape, and the Materials of vfhich it is made. — The 
 Hebmit HnMMiNG-BiRDs and their Nests. — The KnBr-THKOATED Humming-bibd. 
 — Variable Dimensions of the Nest. — Concealment. — ^Mr. Webber and his Dis- 
 coveries. — Variable Form and Positions of the Nest. — Materials of which it is 
 made. — Its deceptive Exterior. — Feeding of the Young. — The Vervain Hum- 
 ming-bird. — How the Nest assumes its Shape. — The Red-backed Shrike. — Use 
 of the Shrike in Falconry. — ^Their singular Mode of Feeding. — ^Impaled Prey. — 
 Conspicuous Character of the Nest. — ^Popular Ideas concerning the Red-backed 
 Shrike. — Structure of the Nest. — The Hedge Sparrow. — Its proper Title. — Care- 
 lessness ahoutits Nest. — Foes of the Hedge Sparrow. — Its Fecundity.... Page 564 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 BEANCH-BUILDBKS. 
 
 SPIDERS AND INSECTS. 
 
 Remarkable Spider Nests in the British Museum. — Seed-nests and Leaf-nests. — 
 Nests of the Tuited 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 Mischootttarus and its 
 remarkable Form. — Nest of the Raphigaster. — Summary of the Argument. — 
 The Processionart Moth. — Reasons for its Name. — How the Larvse march. — 
 Damage done by them to Trees. — A natural Remedy. — ^The Calosoma and its 
 Habits. — The Gipst Moth. — Its Ravages upon Trees and Mode of destroying ill. 
 — The Social Principle among Caterpillars. — Mr. Rennie's Experiments. — The 
 Lackey Moth. — Supposed derivations of its popular Name. — ^The Eggs, Larvse, 
 and perfect Insects. — Habits of the Moth. — ^The Brown-tailed Moth. — Locality 
 where it is found. — Its Ravages abroad. — Nests of thelcARiA as they appear in 
 Branches. — The Apoica : its remarkable Nests. — Singular Nests from the British 
 Museum. — Nests discovered by Mr. Lord 582 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 MISCELLANEA. 
 
 The POLTZOA and their varied and beautiful Forms. — The Rapt Spider. — Why so 
 called. — Mode of obtaining Prey. — Mice and their Homes. — The Campagnol or 
 Harvest-mouse. — Its general Habits. — Its winter and summer Nest. — Its Store- 
 house and Provisions. — Entrance to the Nest. — The Wood Mouse and its Nest. 
 — Uses of the Field-mice. — The Domestic Mouse. — ^Various Nests. — Rapidity 
 of Nest-building. — A Nest in a Bottle. — The Cell of the Queen Termite. — Its 
 Entrances and Exits. — Size of the Inmates. — The Fungus Ant and its singular 
 Home. — Material, Structure, and Size of the Nest. — The Clothes Moths and 
 their various Species. — Habitations of the Clothes Moth, and the Method of For- 
 mation and Enlargement. — The Elk and its winter Home. — The Snow Fortress 
 and its Leaguers. — Its Use, Advantages, and Dangers. — The Albatross and its 
 Mode of Nesting.— Strange Scenes.— The Edible Swallow.— Its Mode of Nest- 
 ing. — Origin of its Name. — Description of the Nest. — Curious Legend respecting 
 the Bird. — The Eagle and its Mode of Nesting. — Difficulty of reaching the Eyrie. 
 — The Nightingale and its Nest.— Other ground-building Birds and their tem- 
 porary Homes. — The Noddy. — Perilous Position of the Eggs and Young. The 
 
 Coot, and its semi-aquatic Nest 608 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 OspRET AND Geakles (see page 
 
 494) Frontispiece. 
 
 Praikie Dog , 41 
 
 Giant Armadillo 61 
 
 HoBBEB Crab 110 
 
 Tbap-dook Spider... 135 
 
 scarab^us, etc 174 
 
 Xtlooopa, etc 202 
 
 Harvest-modse 215 
 
 African Weavers 221 
 
 Abispa, etc 271 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Tallbgalla 339 
 
 Termite 361 
 
 Stone's Wasp Nests 378 
 
 Sticklebacks 395 
 
 Corals, etc 410 
 
 Beaver 434 
 
 Social Lepidopteea 461 
 
 Dormouse 533 
 
 POLTZOA 610 
 
 Elk 629 
 
 Albatross 642 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT. 
 
 Fortress op the Mole 22 
 
 "Earth" op the Fox 34 
 
 The Rabbit Warren 44 
 
 Burrow and Store - houses op 
 
 Chipping Squirrel 50 
 
 Canada Pouched Rat (cmd plan 
 
 of Bwrrow) : 53 
 
 Polar Bear 55 
 
 PiCHICIAGO 59 
 
 Aard Vark 65 
 
 Mallangong ok Duckbill 67 
 
 Sand Martin 75 
 
 Kingfisher 78 
 
 PUPFIN 81 
 
 Petrel 86 
 
 Woodpecker 89 
 
 Toucan 99 
 
 Land Crab 105 
 
 Pholas in Wood. — Razor Shell. 
 
 — Pholas m Rock. — Lithodo- 
 
 MUS 119 
 
 Ship-worm 125 
 
 MVKMELEON. AmpULEX. SCOLIA. 148 
 
 Bombus Terresteis. — Bombus 
 Lapidarius 154 
 
 Wasp Nest 161 
 
 Cocoons or Scarab^us and Go- 
 liath Beetle 177 
 
 Grtllus depositing Eggs 181 
 
 B 
 
 soolttus 187 
 
 Rhagium, etc 194 
 
 SiREX 200 
 
 The Tailor Bird 232 
 
 Ptilotus Sonoeus. — Entomophila 
 Picta. — Entomophila Albogu- 
 LARis. — Sericornis Citreogd- 
 
 LAEis.— Origma Rubeicata 235 
 
 Swallow Dicjeum 245 
 
 Lanceolate Honet-eatee (^Plec- 
 
 tprhyndms lanceolatus) 247 
 
 Little Hermit (Phaethomis eremi- 
 
 ta) 250 
 
 Sawbill Humming-bird. — Brazil- 
 ian Wood Nymph. — White- 
 sided Hill Star 257 
 
 Crested Cassique. — Baltimore 
 
 Oriole 260 
 
 Bata Sparrow 268 
 
 Tatua Moeio 275 
 
 ChARTERGUS l^IDULANS 280 
 
 Nectarini A. — Mtr apetra 283 
 
 Nest of Polistes 295 
 
 OiKETicus AND Atlas Moths 300 
 
 Oven Bird 328 
 
 Fairy Martin. — Pied Grallina.. 330 
 
 The Long-tailed Titmouse 347 
 
 The Bower Bird 357 
 
 Eumenes and Agelbna 371 
 
XVIU 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Trtpoxtlon and Pelop^eus 372 
 
 EciTON 384 
 
 Watek Spider 399 
 
 Caddis 403 
 
 Teeebella Conchilega. — Serpo- 
 
 LA CONTORTUPUCATA. — SaBELLA 
 
 Unispira. — Sabella Alveola.- 
 
 RIA 415 
 
 Sociable Weaver Bird 439 
 
 Poltbia 443 
 
 Bee-hive 446 
 
 Hornet 458 
 
 Small Ermine Moth 465 
 
 Driver Ants 470 
 
 Mud Wasp 479 
 
 Nests. Polistes Ateekima, etc. 482 
 
 HONET-EATER IN NeST 491 
 
 Parasitic Insects. Cocoon op 
 Oak-eggee Moth (^Cryptus fu- 
 mipennis). — Cocoon from New 
 South Wales (Pimpla). — Co- 
 coon or Puss Moth (Paniscus 
 glaucopterus). — Cocoon of Goat 
 Moth (Lamprosa setosa) 497 
 
 British Galls. Leaf Galls of 
 Oak. — Bedeguar of Rose. — 
 Galls of Ctnips Kollari. — 
 Cynips Kollaei (slightly vmgni- 
 fied). — CuERANT Galls of Oak. 
 — Oak Apple 501 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Foreign Galls. Ink Galls. — 
 Dead Sea Apple. — Hungarian 
 Gall. — Galls of Ctnips Polt- 
 
 CERA 613 
 
 Leaf Miners and Eollees 522 
 
 Nest of the Chaffinch 545 
 
 Nest of the Goldfinch 547 
 
 Golden Orioles and Nest 553 
 
 Ringdove and Nest 559 
 
 Water Hen and Nest 562 
 
 Nest op the Reed Waeblee 565 
 
 PiERY Topaz and Hermit 571 
 
 Pensile Spider's Nest 582 
 
 Tufted Spider. — Spherical Spi- 
 der-nests 584 
 
 Mischocyttarus. — Icaeia. — Ea- 
 
 phigaster 586 
 
 Prooessionary Moth and Calo- 
 SOMA 590 
 
 ICARIAS 595 
 
 Apoioa 600 
 
 Raft Spider 612 
 
 Mouse-nest in Bottle 620 
 
 Termite Cell 622 
 
 Fungus Ant 624 
 
 Edible Swallow 633 
 
 Eagle 638 
 
 The Noddy 639 
 
 The Nightingale 640 
 
 The Coot , 644 
 
HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 BUEEOWING MAMMALIA. 
 Introduction.— Man as a Bnrrower.— The Mole and its Dwelling.— Difficulty of 
 observing its Habits. — Complicated structure of its Fortress, and its Uses. — 
 Character of the Mole.— Adaptation of its Form to its mode of Life.— Common 
 Objects.— The Shkew Mole, Elephant Shkew, and Musk Rat.— The Akciic 
 Fox.— Structure of its Limbs. — Form of its Burrow.— Its Character, Fur, and 
 Flesh.— The common Fox.— Mode of Burrowing and economy of Labor.— The 
 young Family. — The Weasel, and some of its Habits. — The Badger and its 
 Burrow. — The Pbaikie Dog, or Wish-ton-Wish. — Dog-towns. — Unpleasant 
 Intruders. — The Rabbit, and the Warren. — Self-sacrifice. — Study of animal Life. 
 — The Chipping Squirrel. — Curious form of its Dwelling. — Its subterranean 
 Treasures. — The Woodchuck, the Podched Rat, the Camas Eat, the Mole" 
 Rat, and the Sand Mole. — The White Beak. — Its curious Dwelling. — Snow as 
 a Shelter.— The Pichiciago. — Its Form, Armor, and Barrow. — The Armadillos 
 and their Habits. — The Manis. — The Aard Vaek, its Food and Dwelling. — 
 The Mallangong. — Its strange Habits and its Burrow. — The Porcupine Ant- 
 Eater. — Its burrowing Powers. 
 
 At some period of their existence, many of the higher animals 
 require a Home, either as a shelter from the weather, or a de- 
 fense against their enemies. Of all forms of habitation, the sim- 
 plest is a burrow, whether beneath the surface of the ground, or 
 into stone, wood, or any other substance. 
 
 The lowest grades of human beings are found to adopt this 
 easy and simple substitute for a home, and the Bosjesman of the 
 Cape, and the "Digger" Indian of America, alike resort to so 
 obvious an expedient. If the country be craggy and mountain- 
 ous, a casual cleft or hollow affords a habitation exactly suited to 
 a race of mankind who have never undergone any training in 
 industry, who never exert themselves until forced to do so by 
 some imperative demand of nature, and who reduce such exer- 
 tion to the minimum of labor which some present emergency 
 requires. 
 
2.0 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Such debased tribes of humanity will occasionally adapt to 
 their current circumstances the hole or crevice in which they 
 take up their residence, and which can scarcely be called a 
 home. No domestic associations hang around the habitation of 
 the earth -dweller. The cave in which he dwells, or rather, in 
 which he sleeps and shelters himself from inclement weather, 
 possesses none of the thousand little amenities which constitute 
 the home of man when even partially civilized. It is hallowed 
 by no domestic joys, sanctified by no domestic trials, and those 
 who take casual shelter therein know nothing of those "homely" 
 feelings which in ancient times made the hearth an inviolable 
 sanctuary, and which were outwardly symbolized by the Lares 
 and Penates that surrounded the sacred spot. The inhabitants 
 may adapt for the present, but they make no arrangements for 
 the morrow, and, indeed, their memories seem to be as forgetful 
 of the past and its lessons as their minds are incapable of fore- 
 thought for the future. 
 
 They may possibly remove a stone which incommodes them 
 while they seek repose, if, indeed, they can not contrive to ar- 
 range themselves so as to save the trouble of removing it ; and 
 if the labor should not be severe, i. e. if the whole tribe need not 
 do more work in a day than an English workman will perform 
 in an hour, they may possibly enlarge or slightly alter their sub- 
 terranean home. 
 
 Civilized man may, and does frequently, employ the rocky 
 cavern as his dwelling-place; but with this difference, that he 
 converts the rude cavern into a permanent home. Some of my 
 readers have probably seen those curious rock-houses in -Derby- 
 shire, which have been hollowed out of the solid sandstone, and 
 present to the astonished traveler a view of windows and doors 
 cut into the face of the rock, and of a chimney just projecting out 
 of the level ground above. Local traditions report that this pe- 
 culiar construction was intended for the purpose of affording gra- 
 tuitous nourishment to the inhabitants, who were supposed to 
 feed on the hares, rabbits, lambs, and other creatures that stum- 
 bled over the' chimney top and fell into the fire below. 
 
 Except, however, that the walls of these houses are carved 
 from the living rock, instead of being built up by successive series 
 of stones or bricks, there is nothing in them which differs from 
 the ordinary dwellings raised by builders, so that in reality they 
 have little in common with the rock habitations of savage tribes. 
 
UNDEKGEOUND RESIDENCES. 21 
 
 If the country iu which the earth-dweller is placed should not 
 be of a rocky or stony character, affording no caverns already 
 excavated by the hand of nature, the savage is obliged to do vio- 
 lence to his temperament, and to set to work. Furnished as he 
 is with the most miserable of tools — his usual implement, a stick 
 with a sharpened end charred in the fire to make it harder — he 
 can make but little progress, humble though the task may be. 
 The sandy nature of the soil in which he is generally placed of- 
 fers but little resistance to the rude tool with which he labors, 
 and as the savage is content with a mere apology for a dwelling- 
 place, his task- is soon accomplished. If he desires to be pecul- 
 iarly 'comfortable, he may stick a few dried bushes on the wind- 
 ward side of the hole, and hang a skin on them ; but it is only 
 on very wet and windy days that he will take so much trouble. 
 
 All subterranean dwellings are not of this simple nature. The 
 underground palaces of India are wonderful examples of work- 
 manship ; brut then they are nothing more or less than buildings 
 placed below the level of the ground, and inhabited in the hot 
 season by the luxurious. Even in such cases, however, the in- 
 herent defects of an underground dwelling make themselves 
 painfully apparent. The rooms, though cool, are close and de- 
 pressing in the extreme. Ventilation can not be properly ac- 
 complished — the coolness is but the damp chilliness of a cellar, 
 and brings no invigorating freshness to the languid frame, so 
 that the edifice is only inhabited occasionally for the sake of 
 grandeur, and the owner gladly retreats to the upper air, where 
 he seeks the needed coolness by means of fans and evaporating 
 water. 
 
 Human habitations, however, do not come within the scope of 
 the present work, which is restricted to those homes that are con- 
 structed without the aid of hands, and are planned, not by rea- 
 son, but by instinct. We pass, therefore, from the handiwork of 
 man to those dwellings which are constructed with feet, or jaws, 
 or beaks, and which are never marred by incompetence or im- 
 proved by practice. 
 
 Of all the mammalia, the Mole is entitled to take the first 
 place in our list of burrowers. 
 
 This extraordinary animal does not merely dig tunnels in the 
 ground and sit at the end of them, but forms a complicated sub- 
 terranean dwelling-place, with chambers, passages, and other ar- 
 
22 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Fortress of the Mole. 
 
 rangements of wonderful completeness. It has regular roads 
 leading to its feeding-grounds ; establishes a system of commu- 
 nication as elaborate as that of a modern railway, or to be more 
 correct, as that of the subterranean network of metropolitan sew- 
 ers ; and is an animal of varied accomplishments. 
 
 It can run tolerably fast, it can fight like a bulldog, it can cap- 
 ture prey under or above ground, it can swim fearlessly, and it 
 can sink wells for the purpose of quenching its thirst. It is, in- 
 deed, a most interesting animal, and our comparatively small 
 knowledge of its habits gives promise of much that is yet to be 
 made known. 
 
 Take the Mole out of its proper sphere, and it is as awkward 
 and clumsy as the sloth when placed on level ground, or the seal 
 when brought ashore. Replace it in the familiar earth, and it be- 
 comes a different being — full of life and energy, and actuated by 
 
THE MOLE. 23 
 
 a fiery activity which seems quite inconsistent with its dull as- 
 pect and seemingly inert form. The absence of any external in- 
 dication of eyes communicates a peculiar dullness to. the creature's 
 look, and the peculiar formation of the fore limbs gives an inde- 
 scribable awkwardness to its gait. 
 
 I have always taken much interest in this animal, and have 
 watched many of its habits, as far as can be done under the very 
 untoward circumstances that always must exist when the animal 
 to be watched is essentially subterranean in its habits. The Mole 
 can not develop its nature unless it is buried below the surface of 
 the ground, and when it is there, we can not see it. Many ma- 
 rine and aquatic animals can be tolerably watched by placing 
 them in the aquarium ; but when they ttike to burrowing, they 
 put an effectual stop to investigation. 
 
 To catch a living Mole without injuring it is not an easy task, 
 and when it is caught, the duty of supplying it with food entails 
 so severe a labor, and necessitates such very early rising, that no 
 one can hope for success who does not combine perseverance, pa- 
 tience, and resolution. 
 
 Dull and sombre as the Mole appears to be, it is by far the 
 fiercest and most active manimal within the British Isles. In- 
 deed, so remarkable is it for both those qualities, that I doubt 
 whether the great ferae of tropical climates can equal it either in 
 ferocity, activity, or voracity. We need not.pity the Mole for the 
 dull life which we suppose it to lead below the ground. There 
 the Mole is happy, and there only can it develop its various ca- 
 pabilities. We must not judge other beings by ourselves. We 
 are apt to envy the swallow for its sunny flight through the air 
 in chase of flies, and to pity the Mole for its darkling passage 
 through the earth in chase of worms. Yet, there is no doubt but 
 that both beings receive equal pleasure in carrying out the object 
 of their existence, and that the Mole feels no less gratification in 
 the capture of a worm, than the swallow in the capture of a fly. 
 Such, at all events, is the inferei;ice which is to be drawn from 
 the manner in which the Mole acts when it has seized a worm ; 
 for no one can witness the active eagerness with which it flings 
 itself upon its prey, and the evident enjoyment with which it 
 consumes its hapless victim, without perceiving that the creature 
 is exultantly happy. 
 
 The notion that worms must be miserable is a very natural 
 one. A very little boy of my acquaintance was lately excusing 
 
2-i HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 some contemplated acts of cruelty toward worms by saying that 
 they were already in misery under the stones, and therefore that 
 a little more pain would not be of much consequence to them. 
 
 We all know that the Mole burrows under the ground, and 
 that it raises those little hillocks with which we are so familiar ; 
 but we do not generally know the extent or variety of its tun- 
 nels, or that the animal works upon a regular system, and does 
 not burrow here and there at random. How it manages to form 
 its burrows in such admirably straight lines is not an easy prob- 
 lem, because it is always in black darkness, and we know of noth- 
 ing which can act as a guide to the animal. As for ourselves 
 and other eye-possessing animals, to walk in a straight line with 
 closed eyelids is almost an impossibility, and every swimmer 
 knows the difficulty of keeping a straight course under water, 
 even with the lase of his eyes. 
 
 The ordinary mole-hills, which are so plentiful in our fields, 
 present nothing particularly worthy of notice. They are the 
 shafts through which the quadrupedal miner ejects the materials 
 which it has scooped out, as it drives its many tunnels through 
 the soil, and if they be carefully opened after the rain has con- 
 solidated the heap of loose material, nothing more will be discov- 
 ered than a simple hole leading into the tunnel. But let us strike 
 into one of the large tunnels, as any mole-catcher will teach us 
 and follow it up until we come to the real abode of the animal. 
 
 A section of this extraordinary habitation is given in the illus- 
 tration. The hill under which this domicile is hidden is of con- 
 siderable size, but is not very conspicuous, because it is always 
 placed under the shelter of a tree, a shrub, or a suitable bank 
 and would not be discovered but by a practiced eye. The sub- 
 terraneous abode within the hillock is so remarkable that it in- 
 voluntarily reminds the observer of the well-known maze with 
 which the earliest years of youth have been puzzled throughout 
 many successive generations. 
 
 The central apartment, or keep, if we so term it, is a nearly 
 spherical chamber, the roof of which is nearly on a level with 
 the earth around the hill, and therefore situated at a considerable 
 depth from the apex of the heap. Around this keep are driven 
 two circular passages or galleries, one just level with the ceiling 
 and the other at some height above. The upper circle is much 
 smaller than the lower. Five short descending passages connect 
 
THE MOLE. 25 
 
 the galleries with each other, but the only entrance into the keep 
 is from the upper gallery, out of which three passages lead into 
 the ceiling of the keep. It will be seen, therefore, that when a 
 mole enters the house from one of his tunnels, he has first to get 
 into the lower gallery, to ascend thence to the upper gallery, and 
 so descend into the keep. 
 
 There is, however, another entrance into the keep from below. 
 A passage dips downward from the centre of the chamber, and 
 then, taking a curve upward, opens into one of the larger tunnels, 
 or high roads, as they have been appropriately termed. It is a 
 noteworthy fact, that the high roads, of which there are seven or 
 eight, radiating in different directions, never open into the gallery 
 opposite one of the entrances into the upper gallery. The Mole, 
 therefore, is obliged to turn to the right or left as soon as it enters 
 the domicile, before it can find a passage to the upper gallery. 
 
 By continual pressure of the Mole's fur, the walls of the pas- 
 sages and the roof of the central chamber become quite smooth, 
 hard and polished,so that the earth will not fall in even after the 
 severest storm. 
 
 The use of so complicated a series of cells and passages is ex- 
 tremely doubtful, and our total ignorance on the subject affords 
 another reason why the habits of this wonderful animal should 
 be better studied. The only object that ican at present be sur- ■ 
 mised is, that the rightful owner of such a stronghold may rest 
 safely in his middle chamber, tasting the reward of repose which 
 sweetens labor, and that in case of alarm, he might escape through 
 either of the many passages which surround his home. I do not 
 know, however, whether the Mole always retires to his fortress in 
 order to rest, but rather imagine that he contents himself with ly- 
 ing in the high road. Such, at all events, seems to be the opinion 
 of professional mole-catchers, who tell me that the Mole works 
 and rests at regular intervals of three hours, making no distinc- 
 tion whatever between day and night. 
 
 Wonderful as is this subterranean habitation, it is not the only 
 one which is constructed by the animal. It may be well adapted 
 to a solitary individual, but it is not at all suited for a family, for 
 whom a more extended nursery must be provided. The nursery 
 is much simpler than the habitation, consisting merely of a large 
 chamber, in which is laid a considerable mass of dried grass, the 
 young blades of corn being sometimes employed for that pur- 
 pose. The Mole chooses for this purpose the spot where two or 
 
26 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 more passages intersect each other, so that in case of alarm, the 
 mother and young may escape in the direction which seems far- 
 thest removed from danger. This nursery is almost invariably 
 placed at some distance from the fortress. 
 
 About the middle of June, or commencement of July, the 
 Moles begin to fall in love, and are as furious in their attach- 
 ments as in all other phases of their nature. At that time, two 
 male moles can not meet without a mortal jealousy, and they 
 straightway begin to fight, scratching, tearing, and biting with 
 such insane fury, that they seem to be unconscious of every thing 
 but the heat of battle. Not content with fighting in their bur- 
 rows, they often emerge into the open air, and may then be 
 caught without the least difiiculty. A few days before writing 
 this account, I heard that a pair of Moles were thus taken in the 
 fields near Brith, and one of my friends made a similar capture 
 on Shooter's Hill. 
 
 Indeed, the whole life of the Mole is one of fury, and he eats 
 like a starving tiger, tearing and rending his prey with claws and 
 teeth, and crunching audibly the body of the worm between the, 
 sharp points. Some writers say that the Mole eats snails and 
 other molluscs, but I am disposed to doubt that assertion. I 
 have kept several Moles, and never saw them eat any thing but 
 worms. They even rejected the julus millipede, kicking it aside 
 with utter contempt. 
 
 It is also asserted that the Mole skins the worm before he eats 
 it, " stripping the skin from end to end, and squeezing out the 
 contents of the body." To prove a negative is proverbially a dif- 
 ficult task, and therefore I will not venture to say that the Mole 
 does not trouble himself about stripping off the skin of the worm. 
 I do not see how it could do so, for even with the assistance of 
 knives, scissors and forceps, such a task presents many difScul- 
 ties, and how the Mole is to succeed in such an undertaking with 
 no tools but his teeth and claws, I can not comprehend. No 
 Mole that I have ever seen, gave the ^lightest indication of skin- 
 ning or emptying the worm, but proceeded without the least cer- 
 emony to devour its prey, and then looked out for another victim. 
 
 It is hardly possible to conceive, and quite impossible to de- 
 scribe the fury with which tha Mole eats. It hunches its back 
 in a most curious manner, retracts the head between the shoul- 
 ders, and uses its fore paws to assist it in pushing the worm into 
 its jaws. In this respect there is a singular resemblance between 
 
THE MOLE. 27 
 
 the Mole and the carnivorous chelodines of America. I have 
 kept several of them, and have always noticed that they ate ex- 
 actly after the fashion employed by the Mole, seizing their food 
 in their jaws, and tearing it to pieces by the aid of the armed 
 fore paws — one foot being applied at each side of the mouth, so 
 as to push the food forward, while the head draws it back. 
 
 How the Mole assumes this peculiar attitude I can not con- 
 ceive. I have often seen it engaged in eating, and have sketched 
 the creature while so employed ; but, when the Mole has been 
 dead, I have been unable to place it in the proper attitude, 
 though anxious to do so in order that the artist might be able 
 to make his drawing properly. 
 
 From seeing the animal eat, I can readily conceive the fury 
 with which it must be animated when it fights, and can perfect- 
 ly appreciate the truth of the assertion, that it has been observed 
 to fling itself upon a small bird, to tear its body open, and to de- 
 vour it while still palpitating with life. 
 
 Nothing short of this fiery energy could sustain an animal in 
 the lifelong task of forcing itself through the solid earth ; and 
 it may well be imagined that when two male Moles of equal 
 strength happen to meet, the combat must be of the most fu- 
 rious kind. 
 
 To those who are accustomed only to look at animals from 
 their own stand-point, these battles may appear too insignificant 
 to attract attention ; but to the eye of a naturalist, who instinct- 
 ively identifies himself with the nature of the animals which he 
 is observing, these combats lose all their insignificance, and even 
 partake in some degree of the sublime. Size is only of relative 
 importance ; and, in point of fact, a battle between two Moles is as 
 tremendous as one between two lions, if not more so, because the 
 Mole is more courageous than the lion, and, relatively speaking, 
 is far more powerful and armed with weapons more destructive. 
 
 Magnify the Mole to the size of the lion, and you will have a 
 beast more terrible than the world has yet seen. Though near- 
 ly blind, and therefore incapable of following prey by sight, it 
 would be active beyond conception, springing this way and that 
 way as it goes along, so as to cover a large amount ofspace, leap- 
 ing with li'ghtning quickness upon any animal which it met, 
 rending it to pieces in' a moment, thrusting its blood-thirsty snout 
 into the body of its victim, eating the still warm and bleeding 
 flesh, and instantly searching for fresh prey. 
 
28 HOMES 'WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Such a creature would, without the least hesitation, devour a 
 serpent twenty feet in length, and so terrible would be its vorac- 
 ity, that it would eat twenty or thirty of such snakes in the 
 course of a day. With one grasp of its teeth and one stroke of 
 its claws it could tear an ox asunder ; and if it should happen to 
 enter a fold of sheep or an inclosure of cattle, it would kill them 
 all for the mere lust of slaughter. Let, then, two of such animals 
 meet in combat, and how terrific would be the battle. Fear is 
 a feeling of which a Mole seems to be unconscious ; and when 
 fighting with one of his own species, he gives his whole energies 
 to the destruction of his opponent, without seeming to heed the 
 injuries which are inflicted upon himself. 
 
 From the foregoing sketch the reader will be able to estimate 
 the extraordinary energies of this animal, as well as the wonder- 
 ful instincts with which it is endowed. 
 
 What a surprising effort of intuitive skill is shown in the fort- 
 ress, with its central chamber and the circular galleries that sur- 
 round and defend it. How enormous is the space of ground 
 which a single Mole covers with its network of roads and gal- 
 leries, driven in every direction from the fortress, and sunk at 
 various depths, according to the state of the ground and the po- 
 sition of the worms. Sometimes it burrows along just at the 
 surface of the ground, its back visible as it passes along, and so 
 making a shallow trench rather than a tunnel. Sometimes, as in 
 very dry weather, it is obliged to dive deeply into the earth be- 
 fore it can find the worms, which detest drought, and can not ex- 
 ist but in damp situations. 
 
 How marvelous is the amount of muscular power that is con- 
 centrated into so small a space. Every one who has worked at 
 digging a pit is well aware of the labor involved in his undertak- 
 ing, even with the aid of crowbar, pickaxe, and spade. If the 
 reader should happen to excavate a cubic yard of earth, he will 
 know by experience the amount of muscular exertion that is re- 
 quired for the task, and will be the better able to appreciate the 
 tremendous powers of the Mole, which is able to drive its tun- 
 nels so rapidly through the solid earth, and to throw up at short 
 intervals those well-known mole-hills, which contain as much 
 earth as would make a heap twelve feet in height and twenty 
 feet in diameter, were a man to be the workman instead of the 
 Mole. 
 
 On looking over the list of burrowing mammalia, the observer 
 
THE MOLE. 29 
 
 can not but be struck witk the wonderful manner in which they 
 emerge from the earth with unsoiled fur. This capability is the 
 more remarkable in the animal now under consideration, be- 
 cause it is continually engaged in making new tunnels, and is 
 not content merely to pass up and down a passage already ex- 
 cavated. The sides of the passages, which are popularly known 
 as the high roads, are by degrees worn quite smooth by the at- 
 trition of the Mole's body, so that in them there is little danger 
 of injury accruing to the fur. But that an animal should be able 
 to pass unsoiled through earth of all textures is a really remark- 
 able phenomenon, which is partly to be explained by the charac- 
 ter of the hair, and partly by that of the skin. 
 
 The hair of the Mole is notable for its velvety aspect, and its 
 want of "set." The tips of the hairs do not point in any partic- 
 ular direction, but may be pressed equally forward or backward 
 or to either side. The microscope reveals the cause of this pe- 
 culiarity. The hair is extremely fine at its exit from the skin, 
 and gradually increases in" thickness. When it has reached its 
 full width, it again diminishes. This alternation of tenuity and 
 thickness occurs several times in each hair, and gives the pecul- 
 iar velvet-like texture with which we are all so familiar. There 
 is scarcely any coloring matter in the slender portions of the 
 hair, and the characteristic changeability of the blackish-brown 
 hues is owing to this structure. 
 
 Perhaps the reader may not have noticed that when the fur of 
 the Mole has been thoroughly cleansed, it has a strong iridescence 
 in. certain lights, assuming various beautiful tints, among which a 
 ruddy copper is the most prevalent. 
 
 Another reason for the cleanliness of the fur is the strong, 
 though membranous muscle beneath the skin. While the Mole 
 is engaged in tunneling, particularly in loose earth, the soil falls 
 upon the fur, and for a time clings to it. But, at tolerably regu- 
 lar intervals, the creature gives the skin a sharp and powerful 
 shake, which throws off at once the whole of the mould that has 
 collected upon the fur. Some amount of dust still retains its 
 hold, for, however clean the fur of a Mole may seem to be, if the 
 creature beplaced for an hour in water, a considerable quantity 
 of earth will be dissolved away, and fall to the bottom of the ves- 
 sel. The improvement in the fur after being well washed with 
 soft tepid water and soap, i^ almost incredible. 
 
 Many persons have been struck with such admiration of the 
 
30 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 fur of the Mole, that they have been desirous of having a num- 
 ber of the skins collected and made into a waistcoat. This cer- 
 tainly can be done, but is not a commendable plan, for the gar- 
 ments thus made are very hot, so that they can only be worn in 
 winter; they are very expensive, costing from two to three 
 pounds, and they possess but little lasting powers. There is 
 also a wonderfully strong smell' about the Mole, so strong, in- 
 deed, that dogs will sometimes point at Moles instead of game, 
 to the great disgust of their masters. This odor adheres ob- 
 stinately to the skin, and even in furs, which have been dried 
 for more than ten years, I have noticed this unpleasant savor. 
 
 The Mole is one of those animals which, like the sloth, are 
 formed expressly for the condition of life in which they are 
 placed. There are many burrowing animals, but 'the Mole is 
 emphatically the burrower, the very type of a creature which is 
 intended to pass the whole of an active existence under ground. 
 I say an active existence, because there are many other creatures 
 which lead a subterranean life, but which are comparatively 
 quiet and listless during their sojourn underground. But the 
 Mole absolutely riots in the exuberance of animal spirits and 
 muscular activity, passing through the earth almost like a fish 
 through the water, and giving to its strange, and apparently 
 sombre life, a poetry and an interest which we fail to find in 
 the lives of many creatures more richly endowed with external 
 beauty. 
 
 Let me recommend the reader to procure, or at all events to ex- 
 amine, the skeleton of a Mole, and to note the wonderful structure 
 by which such effects are produced. The enormous shoulder- 
 blades, projecting far above the spine, the short, bowed, and pow- 
 erful bones of the fore limbs, the wide, flattened palms, and the 
 strong, sharp, and curved claws, look almost like a miniature mod- 
 el of some machin6 invented for the purpose of tearing the stub- 
 born earth. 
 
 See how all the power is thrown into the fore quarters, while 
 the hind quarters are feeble, and, in comparison, common-place. 
 See how enormously strong must be the muscles of the neck 
 where the ligament (popularly called the paxwax) is hardened 
 into bone. The nose, too, is furnished with an accessory bone 
 which projects into the snout, and gives it that combined strength 
 and mobility which distinguishes the creature. Immediately aft- 
 er death the snout of the Mole is flexible and elastic, springinff 
 
THE MOLE. 31 
 
 back when bent, as if cut from solid India-rubber. But in a very 
 few hours it becomes stiff, unsightly, and shriveled, and loses all 
 its plump rotundity. Once lost, this is never restored. You may 
 immerse the Mole in water as long as you like, but as the shrivel- 
 ing is more from within than without, the moisture fails to pene- 
 trate the tissues, and to enable them to regain their pristine con- 
 tour. As to stuffed specimens, I never yet saw one in a museum 
 that gave much idea of the animal, and the snout in particular, is 
 always crumpled, black, and withered. 
 
 In order to give greater spread and power to the fore paws, 
 there is an accessory bone shaped something like a sickle, project- 
 ing from the carpus, and it will be found that in this extraordina- 
 ry animal still exist certain remarkable peculiarities of structure, 
 which are seen in no other living form, but have be^ discovered 
 in the fossil skeletons of animals long extinct. 
 
 I have given much space to the Mole on account of its many 
 claims to our notice. Had the creature been a rare and costly in- 
 habitant of the tropics, how deep would have been the interest 
 which it excited. How the scientific world would have crowded 
 to see the marvelous structure of a skeleton wherein are several 
 accessory bones, and which exhibit peculiarities hitherto found 
 only in fossil remains. How great would have been the admira- 
 tion evoked by its soft, velvet-like ,fur, its tiny eyes deeply hidden 
 in the fur, so as to be sheltered from the earth through which the 
 sinimal is continually making its way, the strange mixture of 
 strength and softness in the palms of its fore feet, and the elastic 
 springiness of its nose. 
 
 But, because it is a native of our own country, and to be found 
 in every field, there are but few who care to examine a creature 
 so common, or who experience any feelings save those of con- 
 tempt or disgust, when they see a Mole making its way over the 
 ground in search of a soft spot in which to burrow, or pass by the 
 place where the mole-catcher has strung up his victims on the 
 trees as Louis XL was accustomed to suspend the bodies of those 
 who had committed the crime of trespassing on the royal domains. 
 For my own part, I am but too glad that such wonderful beings 
 are common, and am thankful for so many opportunities of study- 
 ing the works of. Him who has made the lowly Mole as carefully 
 as the lordly man. 
 
 There are many other burrowing animals allied to the mole ; 
 
32 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 and although it will be impossible to give illustrations of their 
 burrows, they ought not to be passed by without a casual notice. 
 
 The Shrews, for example, are among the burrowers, and al- 
 though their eyes are full and round, their fore quarters of ordi- 
 nary proportions, and their fore feet of the usual shape, there is 
 something about the head, with its long mobile snout, which 
 strongly reminds the observer of the same member in the mole. 
 These pretty little creatures reside within their burrows during 
 the day, and are therefore seldom seen in a living state, except by 
 those who are in the habit of traversing the country by night in 
 search of specimens. Dead Shrews are common enough, having 
 probably been killed by predatory animals, but left uneaten on ' 
 the ground, in consequence of the powerful odor which they 
 evolve. 
 
 At the end of the burrow the Shrew makes its nest, which is 
 composed of dry grasses and other herbage, and is of a partly 
 globular form. 
 
 The Shrew Mole of North America {Scahps aquaticus) is one 
 of the best burrowers among this family, scarcely yielding to the 
 mole itself in the extent of the tunnels which it excavates. Like 
 the mole, it drives its burrows below the surface of the ground, 
 throws up hillocks at intervals, and feeds chiefly on earthworms. 
 The eyes of this creature are very minute, and deeply hidden in 
 the soft fur. Unlike the mole, however, it is in the constant hab- 
 it of coming to the surface of the ground, and passing into the full 
 blaze of the noontide sun. At that time of day the animal may 
 be caught by driving a spade under it, so as to cut oif its retreat, 
 and by flinging it to some distance from its tunnel. 
 
 Mr. Peale mentions that a Shrew Mole in his possession was 
 able to bend the snout to such an extent as to force food into its 
 mouth. The European mole, flexible as is its mobile snout, pos- 
 sesses no such power, but is obliged to perform that task with its 
 fore paws. 
 
 Then there is the Elephant Shrew of Southern Africa {Ma- 
 croscelides typicus), a thick-furred, long-snouted, short-eared bur- 
 rower, which has a rather remarkable method of sinking its tun- 
 nels, first boring a nearly perpendicular shaft, and then driving its 
 burrow at an angle. It is not so devoted to a subterranean exist- 
 ence as either of the preceding animals, and loves to come out of 
 its burrow and bask in j;he genial sunbeams. It is, however as 
 wary as the rest of its kindred, and at the least alarm darts off to 
 
THE MUSK EAT — THE FOX. 66 
 
 its subterranean .fastnesses. While basking in the warm rays, it 
 generally sits erect, facing the sun, so as to receive every ray. 
 
 Our last example of the Shrews is the remarkable animal which 
 is popularly called the MuSK Eat (Myogalea moschata), though it 
 is an insectivorous animal, and far removed from the rodents. 
 The river Wolga is the favorite resort of this curious quadruped, 
 which seems to hate dry land as much as the beaver, and to spend 
 the greater part of its time in the water. The Musk Eat is an 
 admirable burrower, making its tunnels of considerable length, 
 some of them extending to a distance of twenty feet. There is 
 only one entrance, which is always below the water ; and the bur- 
 row rises gradually upward, so that at the extremity the animal 
 is lodged on dry ground. It is instinctively careful to avoid too 
 close a proximity to the surface of the earth, lest the roof of its 
 home might fall, and disclose the interior to the unwelcome light. 
 
 The odor which has already been mentioned as belonging to 
 all the members of this family, is in the Musk Eat so powerful as 
 to raise the animal into an article of commerce, the musky scent 
 being nearly as powerful as that produced by the musk deer, and 
 the perfume obtained at a much cheaper rate. The well-known 
 Musk Eat of India belongs also to this odoriferous family. 
 
 The Fox is a well-known burrower, its " earth" being familiar 
 to many by sight, and to all by name. 
 
 Few persons, who do not know the history of the Fox, would 
 believe it to be capable of forming excavations of such extent. 
 The fore feet of the mole are clearly formed for digging, their 
 sharp claws penetrating the earth, their broad palms acting as 
 shovels, and their powerful muscles giving the needful force. 
 These limbs are essentially used for digging, and are but little 
 employed as means of locomotion. But the Fox is an admirable 
 runner, as any hunter can avouch, and its fore limbs are formed 
 for speed and endurance, their length enduing them with the one 
 quality, and their muscular lightness with the other. Yet, just as 
 the digging limbs of the mole are used for locomotion, and enable 
 the animal to proceed at no contemptible speed, so tbe running 
 limbs of the Fox are used for digging; and enable the creature to 
 excavate burrows of no contemptible dimensions. 
 
 The' Arctic Fox ( Vulpes lagopus), an animal which dwells in 
 the polar regions, is notable for the extent and structure of the 
 burrow. In order to shield itself from the inclemency of the- 
 
 C 
 
84 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 
 ' Earth" of the Fox. 
 
 climate, it digs to a considerable depth ; and it is rather remark- 
 able that a solitary burrow is seldom found, twenty or thirty 
 Foxes generally sinking their tunnels in close proximity to each 
 other. 
 
 Perhaps this semi -sociality may be accounted for in a very 
 simple manner, namely, the suitability of some particular piece 
 of ground, to which the Foxes flock by instinct, and in which 
 they drive as many burrows as the ground will accommodate. 
 This conjecture is the more likely to be true, because sandy spots 
 are always' chosen for this purpose, where twenty or thirty bur- 
 rows are often sunk in close proximity to each other. Such 
 spots would be peculiarly suitable to the Fox, because the sandy 
 soil is not so likely to be hardened by the frost as that of a more 
 compact and watery nature, and would be easily thrown out by 
 the small though powerful feet of the animal. 
 
.THE FOX. 35 
 
 If one of these little colonies could be laid open, a very cu- 
 rious sight would present itself. The earth would be seen to 
 be pierced with multitudinous tunnels, each complete and inde- 
 pendent in itself, and never interfering with burrows belonging 
 to other owners. Each burrow, too, is of a very complex char- 
 acter, and by no means consists of a single tunpel, with a rude 
 nest at the extremity. There are three or four distinct passages, 
 each of which opens into the common chamber, which is of con- 
 siderable' dimensions, and serves as a starting-place whence 'the 
 inhabitant can seek refuge in either of its passages, according to 
 the direction in which it apprehends danger. 
 
 This chamber is not, however, the nursery for the young, a 
 second cavity being used for that purpose. The nursery is not 
 of great dimensions, and communicates by a passage with the 
 chamber already mentioned. The reader will see, therefore, that 
 in some respects the habitation of the Arclic Fox corresponds 
 with that of the mole, both having a kind of fortress from which 
 a number of passages lead in different directions, and the nursery 
 being in both instances separate from the general habitation. 
 
 Five or six young ones are mostly bred in these subterranean 
 nurseries ; tod in the outer chamber, and in several of the pas- 
 sages that lead to it, are placed good stores of food. In one such 
 nest were found many bodies of two species of lemming, and sev- 
 eral stoats j and the abundance of bones belonging to hares, fish- 
 es, and ducks, showed that the wants of the young Foxes had 
 been amply supplied. 
 
 This Fox is a very intelligent animal, though the accounts of 
 the earlier Arctic voyagers would lead the reader to imagine that 
 it was peculiarly stupid. It could be caught without the least 
 dif&culty ; any rough contrivance answered for a trap, and any 
 number of Foxes might be taken in it. The hunter might make 
 a trap and bait it while the animal looked on, and as soon as he 
 retired, the Fox would walk into the snare. Fifteen have thus 
 been taken in four hours in a single trap. 
 
 Other voyagers tell very different tales of the same animal. 
 Their note-books abound in anecdotes of its exceeding craft, and 
 the diflaculty of catching it; and they tell us how the Arctic 
 Foxes learned to remove the baits without falling into the traps, 
 or being shot by the spring-guns. The reason is evident. Those 
 who commemorate its stupidity are the earlier voyagers — those 
 who describe its craft are the later travelers. Before the advent 
 
86 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 of the former, the Foxes knew nothing of the European, and his 
 traps and guns, and had no suspicion that a bait was meant for 
 any other purpose than to be eaten. Before the European came 
 into these northern regions, the Fox was very little molested ; 
 but when men found that its skin was a little fortune, and that 
 its flesh was generally eatable, the Fox was subjected to a mer- 
 ciless persecution. For, even in its ordinary state, the skin of 
 the Arctic Fox is in great favor as a fur ; but when it is bleach- 
 ed by the dread cold of the regions in which the animal resides, 
 and is of a pure snowy whiteness down to the very roots of the 
 hair, it is so exceedingly costly, that a mantle made of that fur is 
 only to be purchased by millionaires, or placed on imperial shoul- 
 ders. I am afraid to say how many thousand pounds have been 
 paid for a mantle of white fox -skins. In consequence of the 
 value of the fur, scarcely a Fox can show his sharp nose without 
 being tempted by baits or followed by riflemen ; and so many 
 have fallen victims, that the survivors have learned wisdom. 
 
 All persecuted animals learn wisdom. Try to catch an old 
 rat, and see how long you will have to wait before you see him' 
 in the trap. Try to snare an old raven, or even to hook an old 
 trout, and you will find that your best energies will be taxed, 
 and all your ingenuity tested, before you will succeed. So it has 
 been with the Foxes. They like the bait as well as ever, but 
 they have acquired a rooted distrust of wires, or sticks, or strings, 
 or indeed of any- thing to which they are not accustomed in their 
 everyday life, and therefore keep carefully aloof from every thing 
 that conveys suspicion to their eyes or nostrils. 
 
 The flesh of the young Fox is very good eating, but that of 
 the old animal is almost valueless except to starving men, being 
 hard and stringy, and having a very unpleasant flavor. Even ' 
 the water in which it has been boiled is acrid, and apt to blister 
 the mouth and gums, But, although the flesh is valueless, the 
 skin is almost beyond price, and the fur of a fine old Fox in'per- 
 fect condition is worth many times its weight in gold. 
 
 The habitation of the common Fox of this country is by no 
 means so complicated as that of the Arctic species. 
 
 Whenever it can, the Fox avoids the labor of burrowing, and 
 avails itself of the deserted home of a badger, or even a rabbit. 
 In the former case there is very little to be done to the burrow,' 
 and in the latter the cunning animal finds its labor greatly di- 
 
THE FOX. 37 
 
 minished ; for though the Fox is a much larger animal than the 
 rabbit, and needs a rather larger tunnel, it finds that the task of 
 enlarging a ready-made burrow is very much less than if it had 
 to drive a passage through solid ground. Every one who has 
 worked with carpenters' tools knows that a large gimlet passes 
 easily through wood, if it follows the track of a smaller one, and 
 on the same principle, the Fox passes easily through the earth on 
 the track of the rabbit. The burrow of the latter animal is more- 
 over much larger than is absolutely required for its passage, 
 while the former is quite satisfied if he can pass through the 
 tunnel with tolerable rapidity. 
 
 Sometimes, however, the animal is not fortunate enough to 
 find any ready-made habitation, and in such cases sets determ- 
 inately to work, and scoops out a burrow on its own account. 
 Herein' it lies asleep all day, as is the custom with most preda- 
 ceous animals, and only sallies forth at night. Herein the moth- 
 er produces and nurtures her young, and sometimes on a sum- 
 mer's evening, the whole family, the father, mother, and cubs, 
 come out to enjoy the fresh air. They never wander far from 
 the mouth of the burrow, and as the young are gamesome little 
 creatures, as playful as puppies, and much prettier, and the moth- 
 er helps her young ones in their sports as a good mother ought 
 to do, the group presents a very pretty sight. "When young the 
 cubs are certainly not prepossessing, and scarcely any one would 
 take the sprawling gray -coated, broad -muzzled creatures, with 
 their little short pointed tails and stumpy ears, for the young ot 
 the Fox, with its ruddy fur, its active limbs, its narrow muzzle, 
 its fine bushy tail, and its erect, intelligent-looking ears. 
 
 Though there is but one burrow for the nursery, the Fox gen- 
 erally has access to " earths," as they are called, at considerable 
 distances apart, and, as all huntsmen know, when he finds that 
 one of his earths is stopped, "will straightway start off for another 
 which may probably be at a distance of several miles, not to 
 mention his accurate knowledge of drains and similar places of 
 refuge. Therefore to keep an old experienced Fox above ground 
 is a task which needs great skill and considerable endurance, for 
 he is by no means above availing himself of clefts_ in rocks, 
 should the country be of a mountainous nature, or using holes 
 in decayed trees ; and, indeed, if within a radius of some ten or 
 twelve miles there is a cavity which is capable of concealing a 
 Fox, the cunning animal is sure to know it. 
 
38 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The Weasels have been said to be great burrowers, but I am 
 inclined to think that very few of them are in the habit of tun- 
 neling below the ground. The Otter is generally thought to be 
 a burrower because it has certain caves in the river banks, to 
 which it flies for refuge when pursued, and in which it produces 
 and rears its young. But I believe that in every instance the 
 animal takes advantage of some ready-made cavity, mostly con- 
 tenting itself with accepting the retreat, and at the best, merely 
 scraping and adapting the spot to suit its own purposes. 
 
 The Weasel is certainly no excavator. It takes up its habita. 
 tion in rocky crevices, under the gnarled roots of old trees, in the 
 interstices between stones, and similar localities, stone-heaps being 
 always favorite spots. Ladies who build their picturesque rock- 
 eries for the culture of ferns, would be very much surprised if 
 they knew how often the Weasel takes possession of the stones, 
 and how the interior of the mimic rock is tenanted by these 
 snake-necked, red-bodied, bright-eyed little creatures. Should 
 they perchance see a Weasel poking its intelligent little head out 
 of a crevice, they should not be alarmed, but do their best to en- 
 courage an animal so useful, a little ally that will do more toward 
 clearing the garden of mice and other nocturnal depredators than 
 all the ratcatchers in the neighborhood. 
 
 One of the Weasel tribe is, however, a most powerful and in- 
 dustrious excavator. This is the Badger {Meks iascus), an animal 
 which was formerly considered as our only surviving British rep- 
 resentative of the bear tribe, but is now found to belong to the 
 weasels. ^ 
 
 The Badger makes a most gloomy, dark, and tortuous burrow, 
 generally excavated in some retired and shadowy spot, such as 
 dense thickets, or the recesses of thickly-wooded forests. As is 
 the case with several burrowing animals, there are several cham- 
 bers in its domicile, one of which is- appropriated as a nursery, 
 and. is warmly padded with dry mosses and grass. 
 
 The Badger is an animal that can not live in close proximity 
 to human beings, and has, in consequence, been gradually ban- 
 ished from the greater part of England. Forest after forest falls 
 before the woodman's axe, mile upon mile of barren bog-land is 
 drained and converted into fertile, food-producing soil • and so 
 to the very great satisfaction of the political economist, and the 
 very great discomfiture of the naturalist, all our large carnivora, 
 whether furred or feathered, are gradually ousted from the soil 
 
THE BADGER— ^HE PRAIRIE DOG. 39 
 
 wherein they foi'merly exercised unquestioned sway. The Badger 
 has long ago been driven out of the land ; the otter is but seldom 
 seen in the rivers where it was once so plentiful ; the polecat and 
 martens have retired into the deepest recesses of the few forests 
 which are still left to us, but over which the demon of bricks and 
 mortar already casts a longing glance ; and the stoat and weasel 
 only hold their own on account of their diminutive size, and the 
 comparative ease with which they obtain a supply of food. They 
 are ai];iong the animals which 'are gradually eliminated out of ex- 
 istence by the encroachments of man, and it may- be that in a few 
 years a stoat or weasel may be as rare in England as a Badger is 
 at the present day. 
 
 The fossorial limbs of the Badger are useful in various ways ; 
 for not only do they enable their owner to dig a domicile which 
 none dare invade without the help of man, but they aid him in 
 obtaining a kind of food to which he is particularly partial. The 
 Badger is tolerably omnivorous, but has a special liking for in- 
 sects in their immature state, and will dig up the nests of wasps 
 and other subterranean hymenoptera, for the sake of devouring 
 the larvae. Some writers say that the Badger scrapes out the 
 wasp-combs on account of the honey contained in than, but as no 
 British wasp makes a cell that can hold honey, or is capable of 
 gathering and storing that sweet substance, the Badger might 
 scrape for a very long time before it earned a meal. 
 
 In like manner the Mink, the Vison, and other weasels of 
 Northern America are in the habit of retiring 4o holes and crev- 
 ices, but do not appear to form burrows for themselves. The 
 Honey Eatel {Mellivora EateT) does, it is true, scrape deep holes 
 in the ground with very great rapidity, but then the creature can 
 not be ranked among the true weasels, and by many authors is 
 thought to approach closely to the bears. 
 
 The exact classification of animal habitations involves a task 
 not easily accomplished, inasmuch as so many of them partake 
 of characteristics which might entitle them to be placed under va- 
 rious categories. The rabbit, for example, might be considered 
 either as a social or a burrowing animal, and the same may be 
 said of the common wasp, the humble bee, and many other insects. 
 
 The Prairie Dog {Spermophilus Ludovicianus) may, like the 
 rabbit, be considered equally as a burrower or a social animal, 
 and we will therefore place it in the former of these categories. 
 
40 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 This animal is sometimes called the WiSH-Toir-wlSH, but it is 
 usually known by the name of Prairie Dog, though it is a rodent 
 and not a carnivorous animal. The reason of its popular name 
 lies in the short yelping sound which it is fond of uttering, and 
 which bears some resemblance to the bark of a young puppy. 
 Even in captivity it utters this short, impatient yelp, which may 
 generally be extorted from the little animal by placing the hand 
 near the cage. Though so gentle and affectionate to its keeper, 
 it dislikes strangers ; and if their fingers approach the bars of its 
 house too closely, it barks at the intruders like an angry squirrel, 
 and scratches smartly at their hands with its sharp and powerful 
 claws. 
 
 It is a pretty, and rather curious animal, measuring about six- 
 teen inches in total length. Its general shape is round and flat- 
 tish, and the head is peculiarly flat, giving to the animal a very 
 remarkable aspect. The fur is grayish-red, with a grizzled effect, • 
 produced by the alternate chestnut and gray color of each hair. 
 The disposition of the Prairie Dog is pleasant and sociable, and 
 the little creature is very susceptible of domestication. There 
 are at the present time (July, 1863) two fine specimens of this an- 
 imal in the Zoological Gardens, and both of them are notable for 
 their tameness. The male (called Charley by the keeper), seems 
 remarkably fond of his master, and loves to be taken up and nes- 
 tle in his breast. The female is also a very tahie animal, and was 
 a great favorite of its late owner, following him about like a dog, 
 and residing chiefiy in his coat pocket. 
 
 In spite of the formidable foes by wTaich it is attacked, and 
 which take up their residence in the very centre of its habita- 
 tions, the Prairie Dog is an exceedingly prolific animal, multiply- 
 ing rapidly, and extending its excavations to vast distances. In- 
 deed, when once the, Prairie Dogs settle themselves in a conven- 
 ient spot, their increase seems to have no bounds, and the little 
 heaps of earth which stand near the mouth of their burrows ex- 
 tend as far as the eye can reach. 
 
 The burrows are of considerable dimensions, and evidently run 
 to no small depth, as one of them has been known to absorb five 
 barrels of water without being filled. It is not impossible, how- 
 ever, that there might have been a communication with some 
 other burrow, or that the soil might have been loose and porous 
 and suffered the water to soak through its substance. They are 
 dug in a sloping direction, forming an angle of about forty-five 
 
A PRAIEIB DOG- "TpWN." 
 
THE PRAIRIE DOG. 43 
 
 degrees with the horizon, and after descending for five or six feet, 
 they take a sudden turn, and rise gradually upward. Thousands 
 upon thousands of these burrows are dug in close proximity to 
 each other, and honeycomb the ground to such an extent that it 
 is rendered quite unsafe for horses. 
 
 The scene presented by one of these "dog towns" or "villages," 
 as the assemblages of burrows are called, is most curious, and 
 well repays the trouble of approaching without alarming the cau- 
 tious little animals. Fortunately for the traveler, the Prairie Dog 
 is as inquisitive as it is wary, and the indulgence of its curiosity 
 often costs the little creature its life. Perched on the hillocks 
 which have already been mentioned, the Prairie Dog is able to 
 survey a wide extent of horizon, and as soon as it sees an in- 
 truder, it gives a sharp yelp of alarm, and dives into its burrow, 
 its little feet knocking together with a ludicrous flourish as it dis- 
 appears. In all directions a similar scene is enacted. Warned 
 by the well-known cry, all the Prairie Dogs within reach repeat 
 the call, and leap into their burrows. Their curiosity, however, 
 is irrepressible, and scarcely have their feet vanished from sight, 
 than their heads are seen cautiously protruded from the burrow, 
 and their inquisitive "brown eyes sparkle as they examine the 
 cause of the disturbance. 
 
 A good marksman will take advantage of this peculiarity, and, 
 by aiming at the eye, will make sure of killing the animal on the 
 spot. It is marvelously tenacious of life, and unless its head be 
 almost knocked to pieces, is sure to escape into its home. A 
 pea-rifle is almost useless in shooting Prairie Dogs, a large bullet 
 being needed to produfce instantaneous death. 
 
 The Prairie Dog has not the privilege of possessing a home ex- 
 clusively devoted to its own use, for the Burrowing Owl, some- 
 times called the Coquimbo Owl {Athene cunicularia), and the ter- 
 rible rattlesnake, take forcible possession of the burrows, and 
 devour the inmates, thus procuring board and lodging at very 
 easy rates. The rattlesnake at all events does so, the bodies of 
 young Prairie Dogs having been found in its stomach. 
 
 On the discovery of owls and rattlesnakes within the burrows 
 of the Prairie Dog, it was generally thought that these incongru- 
 ous beings associated together in perfect harmony, forming in 
 fact a " Happy Family" below the surface of the ground. The 
 ruthless scalpel of the naturalist, however, effectually dissipated 
 all such romantic notions, and proved that the snake was by no 
 
44 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 means a welcome guest, but an intruder on the premises, self-bil- 
 leted on the inmates, like soldiers on obnoxious householders, 
 procuring lodging without permission, and eating the inhabitants 
 by way of board. 
 
 The reason for the presence of the owls is not so evident, 
 though it is not impossible that they may also snap up an occa- 
 sional Prairie Dog in its earliest infancy, while it is very young, 
 small, and tender. These winged and scaled intruders are not 
 found in all the burrows, though many of the habitations are in- 
 fested by them. 
 
 The general aspect of the Prairie Dog is not unlike that of its 
 near relative, the Alpine Marmot, so familiar in this country 
 through the mediumship of Savoyard boys, who carry the animal 
 about in a box, and exhibit it for halfpence. 
 
 The Rabbit Warren. 
 
 One of the most familiar of the British burrowing rodents 
 is the common Eabbit {Lepus cuniculus), an animal notable for 
 "sporting," as gardeners would say, into a vast number of varie- 
 ties, some of which are so unlike the original stock that they 
 seem to be species and not varieties, and indeed might have taken 
 
THE BABBIT. 45 
 
 rank as species, did they not invariably display a tendency to re- 
 cede to the ancestral short brown fur and upright ears of the wild 
 Eabbit. 
 
 This animal lives, as we all know, in burrows, and is mostly of 
 a social nature, a considerable number of burrows being gathered 
 together and known by the name of a Warren. Whenever the 
 Eabbits find an undisturbed spot, which combines the advantages 
 of a sandy situation with the vicinity of food, they establish them- 
 selves forthwith, and sink their multitudinous tunnels into the 
 ground. The favorite locality for the Eabbit is a loose, sandy, or 
 gravelly goil, covered with patches of furze bushes ; for the soil 
 is easily excavated, and is very dry, and the young shoots of the 
 furze yield a food equally grateful and nutritious. Moreover, the 
 tangled roots of the furze afford an excellent protection to the 
 burrows, and the overhanging branches, with their prickly ver- 
 dure, serve admirabFy to shelter the entrances. 
 
 When once they have established themselves, the Eabbits in- 
 crease with almost incredible rapidity, nearly rivaling the rats 
 and mice in fecundity, and converting the land into a very honey- 
 comb of burrows. Indeed, were not the flesh of the Eabbit mar- 
 ketable, and its fur .valuable — were not the stoat, the weasel, the 
 hawk, and other furred and feathered depredators extremely fond 
 of young Eabbits, the animals would spread so fast as to become 
 a positive nuisance. In some places they have increased to such 
 an extent, that the safety of buildings has been greatly endanger- 
 ed by the deep and ramifying tunnels which they have sunk be- 
 side the foundations ; and I know of a case where they have mul- 
 tiplied so inordinately, that the proprietor of the ground, albeit a 
 most stanch conservator of animal life, has been obliged in self- 
 defense to have them exterminated. 
 
 It is not a very easy matter to drive the creatures from any 
 place of which they have Already taken possession, and even after 
 employing all the paraphernalia of ferrets, nets, and guns, two or 
 three isolated individuals are apt to escape, and if they should 
 chance to be of opposite sexes, the Eabbit host is marvelously 
 soon reproduced. The creature becomes a parent at a very early 
 age, and by the time that a Eabbit is a year old it may have at- 
 tained the dignity of a grandparent. 
 
 As is the case with most animals, the Eabbit seeks a quiet and 
 retired spot for her littlb nursery. She does not produce her 
 young in any of the burrows to which the general Eabbit colony 
 
46 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 has access, but prepares an isolated tunnel, at the end of which 
 she forms her nest. The bed on which the young recline is beau- 
 tifully soft and fine, being' composed chiefly of the downy fur 
 which grows on the mother's breast, and which she plucks off 
 with her teeth in tufts of considerable size. Any one who keeps 
 tame Eabbits may see the female preparing her cradle with this 
 soft fur, and note how perseveringly she denudes her breast of its 
 covering. 
 
 Much stress has been laid on the self-sacrifice exhibited by the 
 animal, but I can not believe that there is any sacrifice in the 
 case. We know that if we were to pull out handfals of our hair, 
 we should suffer exceeding pain, and should, moreover, feel very- 
 uncomfortable for want of the locks which we had torn away. 
 But the case of the Eabbit has no real analogy with such a pro- 
 ceeding, for the fur of the animal is at that time so loosely attach- 
 ed to the skin that it falls off as easily as the hairs of a cat in sum- 
 mer, and its evulsion produces no such disastrous effects as would 
 follow the forcible plucking out of human hair. No raw and 
 bleeding surface is seen when the fur of the Eabbit is removed, 
 and scarcely a sign of inflammation is visible upon the skin. The 
 act is a purely instinctive one, involving no more self-sacrifice 
 than is occasioned by any other instinctive -act; and perhaps we 
 should not be very far wrong if we were to say that the animal 
 would experience more self-sacrifice in omitting than in commit- 
 ting the act in question. 
 
 The incubation of the eider duck presents similar features, the 
 parent birds stripping themselves of their down in order to form 
 a warm bed for their young. Yet, I do not think that there is 
 any self-sacrifice in the case, and fully believe that the creature 
 experiences a feeling of gratification rather than of inconvenience 
 when it plucks away the down and arranges it for the reception 
 of the eggs. And, even if we grant that the Eabbit or eider duck 
 did find that they were less comfortable after they had denuded 
 themselves than before, and, moreover, that they knew beforehand 
 what would be the effect of the operation, we are met by the fact 
 that they are obeying an impulse which they can not resist, and 
 that the idea of self-sacrifice is therefore untenable. A sacrifice 
 it may be, but not a self-sacrifice as we understand that phrase at 
 the present day. 
 
 In like manner, also, the beautiful gold-tail moth {Porthesia 
 ehrysorrhcea), so well known for the soft downy plumage of its 
 
THE BABBIT. 47 
 
 wings, and the large round tuft of golden hairs upon the end of 
 its body, robs itself of the latter adornment after it has laid its 
 eggs, and shelters the future brood with an elegant thatch, com- 
 posed of those downy hairs. Yet there is no self-sacrifice in- 
 volved in the act, which is as purely instinctive as that of laying 
 the eggs ; and I do not believe that the insect has the least idea 
 of the future prospects of the eggs, or possesses any foreknowl- 
 edge of the Snow and bitter frost of the coming winter. ^Bven if 
 she did know that she was depriving herself of a natural adorn- 
 ment for the sake of her offspring, the act would lose little of its 
 instinctive character, and may find a parallel in humanity, when a 
 fond mother devotes the once-cherished robes of her bridehood to 
 her babe, and feels the keenest enjoyment in wrapping the costly 
 furs and sheeny satins around its little limbs. 
 
 So with the ordinary incubation of birds. Didactic writers are 
 in the habit of holding up for our admiration the conduct of the 
 bird who leaves all her accustomed pleasures, and submits to a 
 voluntary imprisonment in her nest until her eggs are hatched. 
 These writers are entirely wrong, inasmuch as they assign to the 
 lower animals certain attributes which belong only to man. I do 
 not intend to depreciate in any way the faculties of the animal 
 creation. On the contrary, I believe that the lower animals are 
 endowed with gifts more extended than we generally suppose. 
 But, as has already been remarked, we must not judge them by 
 our own standard ; and, instead of elevating them to our position, 
 we should try to lower ourselves to theirs. By doing so there is 
 nothing derogatory to the pre-eminence of human nature. We 
 know that the best schoolmaster is not merely he who is the best 
 scholar, but he who possesses the faculty of descending from his 
 lofty elevation, of identifying himself with ,his pupils, and, for the 
 time, sharing their ignorance, and so placing himself in their po- 
 sition. In like manner, the best naturalist is not necessarily he 
 who has read the most about animals, nor he who attributes to 
 them the feelings which he himself would experience in similar 
 situations, but he who can divest himself, for the nonce, of his su- 
 periority, and conjecture the thoughts which would enter the lim- 
 ited minds of the creatures with which he is brought in contact. 
 
 Suppose, for example, that I am training a dog, which happens 
 to be the case at present. If I were to judge the motives of that 
 dog by my own ideas, I should fall into grievous errors, and fail 
 entirely in my object. " At present the animal commits various 
 
48 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 misdemeanors ; but; as he does not know them to be such, I 
 should be very wrong were I to punish him for them. He is at 
 present obedient to instinct alone, and, until his reasoning pow- 
 ers have been brought into play, I should not only have no right 
 to punish him for any instinctive act, but should greatly retard 
 the duration of his training. 
 
 Being unused to human society, he had no idea that he might 
 not jump on the table and help himself to meat; and his only 
 idea of shoes, shawls, and other articles of clothing was, that they 
 were charming playthings, which could lae bitten and shaken 
 without hurting his teeth. So, when I see him standing on the 
 table, busily at work on a joint, or come upon him in the act of 
 worrying my favorite shoe, I do not fly in a passion with him 
 and beat him, but quietly put a stop to his proceedings, and tell 
 him that he is not to do so again. Not being terrified by the 
 fear of ill treatment, he perfectly understands the sense though 
 not the ipsissima verba of the remonstrance, and proves his intel- 
 ligence by his acts. For example, if he takes another shoe and 
 is discovered, he immediately drops his tail and ears, and looks 
 like the culprit that he is. Being a delinquent, and knowing 
 that he is so, he receives the punishment due to the offense, and 
 ever afterward the very word " shoe" will make him look utter- 
 ly ashamed of himself 
 
 Again, if he scampers over my newly-dug flower-borders, and 
 lies down on my best bed of mignonette, I reflect that, in his po- 
 sition, I should have done just the same thing, not knowing that 
 there was any harm in it. So I call him off the flowers, and ex- 
 plain to him that he is to restrict his gambols to the gravel and 
 lawn. If, after the explanation, he persists in running over the 
 borders, he becomes a conscious delinquent, and is punished ac- 
 cordingly. 
 
 Moreover, I manage so that he fancies the punishment to be 
 inherent in the offense. For example, the animal at present in 
 training is a Skye puppy of the purest breed, and as such is lia- 
 ble to bte carried off by the numerous vagabonds who turn a dis- 
 honest penny by dog-stealing. His orders are, that he is not to 
 go into the road on any pretext whatever, and, as a necessary 
 consequence, he is always burning to do so. Therefore, I keep a 
 watch upon him, and as soon as he pushes his way under the 
 gate, he gets such a shower of swan-shot about his ears that he 
 yelps in sudden terror, and dives back again. On such occasions 
 
THE RABBIT. 49 
 
 he'always comes up to me, as if to report himself, and I always 
 pat him and pretend to know nothing about his intended escapade. 
 
 It is through the neglect of this simple principle that so many 
 animals are made savage, or sulky, or stupid, by the clowns — 
 whether in fustian or broadcloth — who have the charge of them. 
 They lay down certain arbitrary rules of their own, neglect to 
 teach these rules to the poor animals, and then ill-treat them 
 because they break the laws which have never been taught to 
 them. Farm laborers are, as a body, continually committing 
 this error, and it is to their mingled ignorance and obstinacy that 
 the savage nature of so many animals is due. A horse, for ex- 
 ample, strays into some spot where he has no. business, and is 
 immediately chased, and shouted at, and pelted with stones, and 
 struck with the first weapon that can be seized. Or he turns 
 his head to the right instead of the left, and straightway is 
 " chucked" by the bridle, and kicked, and anathematized with 
 that copious flow of foul language with which our unsophisti- 
 cated rural swains are so amply supplied. 
 
 Now the horse does not in the least know why he is thus 
 maltreated. He is unconscious of error, and can only attribute 
 the pain which he suffers to the arbitrary and inscrutable will 
 of the being whom he hates, but is mysteriously forced to obey. 
 He knows not that he has broken any law, or disobeyed any 
 command, and, in consequence, will probably repeat the offense, 
 and so earn the character of an obstinate and disobedient beast. 
 If he be a horse of some spirit (and such an animal is always the 
 • best servant when properly treated), he will resent the injustice 
 of which he is the victim, and bring hoofs or teeth to bear upon 
 his tormentor, thus earning the character of a savage as well 
 as an obstinate brute. So it happens, that a fine animal, which 
 would have cheerfally labored with all his vast strength in the 
 service of man, is prevented from assuming his rightful place 
 as a humble friend and servant, and is converted into a trem- 
 bling slave or a dangerous foe. Those who trained him have 
 not identified themselves with him. 
 
 So it is with the study of zoology ; and the only method of 
 gaining a true insight into the motives of anima,ls, and of identi- 
 fying ourselves with them, is to put ourselves, as far as possible, 
 in their condition, and to think how we should act under the 
 circumstances, were our instincts as powerful and our reason as 
 weak as theirs. 
 
 D 
 
50 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 NoETH America is peculiarly rich in burrowing animals be- 
 longing to this order— so rich, indeed, that many curious spe- 
 cies must be omitted for lack of space. 
 
 Burrow and Storehouses of Chipping Squirrel. 
 
 Among these burrowers, the Chippiitg Squirrel, or Hackee, 
 or Chipmuck {Tamias Lysteri), is peculiarly conspicuous. It is 
 a very pretty little creature, brownish -gray in color, with five 
 stripes of black and two of pale yellow drawn along the back 
 so that it can not be mistaken for any other animal. Below, 
 and on the throat, it is a pure snowy white. These are the nor 
 mal hues of the fur ; but it is somewhat variable in point of col 
 or, the gray and yellow being sometimes quite superseded by the 
 black. 
 
 The burrow of the Chipping Squirrel is rather complicated in 
 structure, and is always made under the shelter of a wall, an old 
 tree, or a bank. The hole descends almost perpendicularly for 
 nearly a yard, and then makes several devious windings in' a 
 slightly ascending direction. Two or three supplementary gal- 
 leries are driven from the principal burrow, and by means of 
 them the animal is able to escape almost any foe. The stoat. 
 
CHIPPING SQUIRREL — THE WOODCHUCK. 51 
 
 however, can not be deceived by this- complicated arrangement 
 of tunnels, but winds its lithe body through all the deviating 
 passages, and kills every Chipping Squirrel which it finds. One 
 of these bloodthirsty weasels has been known to enter the bur- 
 row of a Chipping Squirrel, and in a short time to leave it, hav- 
 ing in the space of a very few minutes killed six victims, a moth- 
 er and five young, whose lifeless bodies were found in the nurs- 
 ery when the burrow was opened. 
 
 The nest is made of dried leaves of various kinds, and in it the 
 mother and her offspring can rest in security from all ordinary 
 foes. Owing to the complexity of the burrow, no little skill ig 
 required to trace its various windings, and much exertion is 
 needed before they can all be laid bare. 
 
 Within this burrow the Chipping Squirrel lays \tp a wonder- 
 fully large store of food. It is, in fact, a perfect miser in respect 
 of provisions, gathering and secreting much more than it can 
 possibly eatj and never seeming to be satisfied so long as another 
 acorn or nut can ba obtained. The common beaked nut {Corylus- 
 rostrata) is a favorite article of food, and lest the sharp beak 
 should hurt its mouth, the Chipping Squirrel takes care to bite 
 off' the beak before putting the nut into the ample cheek-pouches 
 with which it is furnished. It is able to carry four nuts at a 
 time, three being held in the mouth and. the fourth between the 
 teeth. When thus laden, it presents a most absurd aspect, its 
 cheeks being so puffed out with its treasure, that it reminds the 
 classical observer of Alcmseon in the treasury of Croesus. Un- 
 classical observers may be reminded of a man suffering from a 
 severe attack of mumps. 
 
 The provisions are stored in the lateral galleries, and are of a 
 very mixed nature, so as to afford variety in diet to the animal. 
 In one burrow were discovered two quarts of buckwheat, some, 
 grass seeds, nearly a peck of acorns, some Indian corn, and a quart 
 of the beaked nuts already mentioned. 
 
 The popular names of Chipping Squirrel and Chipmuck are 
 given to this little animal on account of its cry, which sounds like 
 the cljirping of young chickens. It is a quick, lively little crea- 
 ture, ever on the move, and delighting to dart in and out of the 
 dense underwood. 
 
 The Woodchuck {Ardomys monax) is another well-known 
 burrower of America. On account of its whistling cry, it is called 
 
52 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 SiPFLEUE by the French ; and its peculiar form has earned for it 
 the somewhat inappropriate title of Gbound Hog. 
 
 The burrow of the Woodchuck is rather long, running to a dis- 
 tance of twenty or thirty feet from the entrance, which is almost 
 invariably placed under the shelter of a projecting rock, or on the 
 side of a hill. It descends obliquely for a few feet, and then rises 
 gradually toward the surface of the ground. At the extremity 
 of the burrow is placed the riest, which is a rounded chamber of 
 considerable dimensions. Here the young "Woodchucks are born, 
 and here they remain until they are about five months old, when 
 they separate from each other, and begin an independent exist- 
 ence, each digging a small hole about a yard in depth. Many of 
 these little burrows are made and left unoccupied. Digging out 
 WoodchucUs is a favorite amusement with boys. 
 
 Our next example is the Canada Pouched Eat {Pseudosioma 
 bursarim), sometimes called the Gophek, or MuLO. 
 
 This remarkable animal drives burrows of very great extent, 
 and whenever it gains admission into a garden, it .works much 
 damage to the roots of the plants. Every root that crosses the 
 tunnel the Pouched Eat will eat ; and not only herbs and flowers, 
 but even fruit trees of many years' growth have been killed by 
 this destructive anifnal. In such cases, the extremity of the bur- 
 row is always to be found among the roots of some tree, which 
 act at the same time as a defense and a larder ; for the Eat hides 
 itself under their protection, and eats away their tender shoots. 
 
 Like the mole, the Gopher throws up little hillocks at irregular 
 intervals, sometimes twenty or thirty feet apart, and sometimes 
 crowded closely together. The nest of the Gopher is made in a 
 burrow constructed expressly for the purpose, and is placed in a 
 small globular chamber about eight inches in diarneter. The bed 
 on which the mother and her young repose is made of dried herb- 
 age and fur plucked from the body. This chamber is the point 
 from which a great number of passages radiate, and from these 
 • other tunnels are driven. These radiating burrows evidently 
 serve two purposes, enabling the animal to escape in any direction 
 when alarmed, and serving to conduct it to its feeding grounds. 
 
 In two instances where the Gophers had entered a garden, their 
 tunnels were traced throughout the greater part of their extent , 
 and were found to be driven at an average depth of a foot or 
 eighteen inches below the surface, except when they crossed a 
 
THE CANADA POUCHED BAT — ^THE CAMAS EAT. 53 
 
 Canada Pouched Kat. 
 (.Plan 0/ Burrow.) 
 
 path, in which case they dipped to a much lower level. Two of 
 these burrows were opened, but in neither case was the animal 
 captured, as the lateral galleries ran on every side into the fields 
 and woods, so as to afford an easy mode of escape. 
 
 The Canada Pouched Eat is nearly a foot in length, and is no- 
 table for the great development of its incisor teeth, which project 
 beyond the lip, and for the dimensions of its cheek-pouches, which 
 measure- about three inches in length, and extend as far as the 
 shoulders. It was formerly thought that the animal employed 
 these pouches for the conveyance of earth out of its burrow, but 
 it is now known that it does not make any such use of those nat- 
 ural pockets. 
 
 Another species belonging to the same genus, the Camas Eat 
 {Pseudostoma borealis), is an indefatigable burrower, making tun- 
 nels at a very little distance below the surface of the ground, and 
 throwing up hillocks as it passes along. Like the rabbit, it is a 
 partially social animal, living in small communities, and probably 
 drawn together by no personal- affection, but by the convenience 
 
5-i HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 of the locality. The name of Camas Eat is derived from its food, 
 which consists chiefly of the quamash root {Scilla escj^enta). 
 
 One or two other burrowing rodents deserve a passing notice. 
 There is the Slepez, or Mole Rat of Asia {Spalax typhlus), an 
 animal which looks vei;y like a mole, though it belongs to the ro- 
 dents. It is even less capable of sight than the mole, for its eyes 
 are not only as small as those of that animal, but are actually cov- 
 ered by the thickly-furred skin. The burrow which it makes is 
 very like that of the Gopher, and consists of a series of tunnels 
 driven through the earth at no great depth from the surface, and 
 from which radiate a vast number of lateral passages. 
 
 The Sand Mole of Southern Africa {Baihyergus maritimus) is 
 another of these shallow burrowers, and by the abundance of its 
 tunnels, and the very trifling depth at which they are driven, ren- 
 ders the ground absolutely dangerous to horsemen. It is rather 
 a large animal, nearly equaling our wild rabbit in dimensions. 
 The fur of the Sand Mole is remarkable for its woolly texture. 
 
 Owing to the peculiar nature of the substance in which the 
 White Beae {Thalarctos maritimus) makes its curious burrows, I 
 have placed if after, instead of before the earth-burrowing rodents. 
 
 We are told by experienced travelers in northern climes that 
 nobody need be frozen to death in the snow. They look upon 
 such a misfortune with a species of contemptuous pity, compas- 
 sionating the victim of cold for his sufferings, but despising him 
 for his ignorance. The aboriginal Australian can not compre- 
 hend how a white man can be so foolish as to die of thirst while 
 there are so many water-bearing vegetables arouhd him ; the abo- 
 riginal American is at a loss to understand how a European can 
 perish of hunger while in the midst of plenty ; and those who 
 have passed much of their lives ami(^ the snow can hardly con- 
 ceive an act of such supreme folly as to be frozen to death while 
 the means of warmth are at hand. 
 
 There is no need of a constitution especially organized or sed- 
 ulously acclimatized to the snow; the benighted traveler who 
 loses himself in the white expanse, with the heavy flakes falling 
 thickly round him, need not possess the hardihood of the high- 
 land "reiver," who cares for no covering save his plaid, and 
 looks upon a snow -pillow as an effeminate luxury. He who 
 
THE POLAR BEAK. 
 
 55 
 
 # 
 
 
 ■vV '■ 
 
 f ,|i|JJ- . ■' ' ,; i(n I '' '' !■■ 
 
 • ';«•:■■'■■.', ., 
 
 The Polai- Bear. 
 
 finds himself in such a position, and knows how to avail him- 
 self of the means around him, will welcome every flake that falls, 
 and instead of looking upon the snow as an enemy whose white 
 arms are ready to inclose him in a fatal embrace, he hails the 
 soft masses as a means of affording him warmth and safety. 
 
 Choosing some spot where the snow lies deepest, such as the 
 side of a bank or a tree, or a large stone, he scoops out with his 
 hands a hollow in which he can lie, and •Wherein he is sheltered 
 from the freezing blasts that scud over the land. Wrapping 
 himself in his garments, he burrows his way as deeply as he 
 can, and then lies quietly, allowing the snow to fall upon him 
 unheeded. The extemporized cell in which he reclines soon 
 begins to show its virtues. The substance in which it is hol- 
 lowed is a very imperfect conductor of heat, so that the traveler 
 
56 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 finds that the caloric exhaled from his body is no longer swept 
 off by the wind, but is conserved around him, and restores 
 warmth and sensation to his limbs. The hollow enlarges slight- 
 ly as the body becomes warm, and allocs its temporary inhabit- 
 ant to sink deeper into the snow, while the fast falling flakes rap- 
 idly cover him, and obliterate the traces of his presence. 
 
 There is no fear that he should be stifled for want of air, for 
 the warmth of his breath always keeps a small passage open, 
 and the snow, instead of becoming a thick uniform sheet of white 
 substance, is broken by a little hole round which is collected a 
 mass of glittering hoar-frost, caused by the congelation of the 
 breath. There is no fear now of perishing by frost, for the 
 snow -cell is rather too hot than too cold, and the traveler can 
 sleep as warmly, if not as composedly, as in his bed at home. 
 
 The reader may possibly remember that, even in the British 
 Islands, the snow -bed is almost annually brought into requisi- 
 tion. 
 
 The use of snow as a warm mantle to protect the young crops 
 from the frost is familiar to all. Some of us have seen, and we 
 have nearly all read of, the wonderful scenes that take place 
 among the Scottish mountains, where the snow-drifts are heaped 
 like white hills by the wayward tempest, taking all kinds of fan- 
 tastic forms, and scooped into bays, and precipices, and- craggy 
 mountains, with outlines as bold and sharp as if cut in unyield- 
 ing granite. After such storms as raise these strange mockeries 
 of rugged landscape, whole flocks of sheep are missing, and must 
 be sought by the shepherd and his faithful dog. 
 
 As the two allies press onward in their quest, they walk at 
 random, for the snow masses have swept over hill and dale, have 
 obliterated all the well-known landmarks, raised hills where hoi-' 
 lows had been, and have changed the face of nature. Left to 
 himself the shepherd would scarcely discover a single sheep and 
 in all probability would find himself in the very predicament 
 from which he seeks to rescue his woolly charge. Were it not 
 for the fine instincts of the quadruped many a flock would be 
 l*st, for the dog sniffs and runs about, and raises his nose in the 
 air as the well-known odor salutes his nostrils, and finally dashes 
 forward and comes to a stand-still over a little hole in the snow 
 around which is gathered a slight incrustation of hoarfrost. This 
 is a sure indication that the sheep are below and still living and 
 then the shepherd breaks through the roof of the snowy cell with 
 
THE WHITE BEAR. 57 
 
 his pole, and rescues the starving animals from their perilous po- 
 sition. 
 
 The sheep which are thus preserved from the effects of the 
 cold do not voluntarily burrow into the snow. They are not 
 intended to pass a large portion of their lives in a subnivean 
 abode, and their presence under the snow is quite accid^tal. 
 Striving to avoid the chilling blasts of the wind, they crowd to- 
 ward any object that may shelter them from the cruel tempest, 
 and while huddled together, the snow-drifts are heaped around 
 them, and cover them effectually. Under such circumstances 
 they often die of starvation if they are left undiscovered for too 
 long a period, after having nibbled all the wool from each others' 
 backa 
 
 But the White Bear intentionally places herself in such a 
 position, and toward the month of December retreats to the side 
 of a rock, where, by dint of scraping, and allowing the snow to 
 fall upon her, she forms a cell in which to reside during the pe- 
 riod of her accouchement. Within this strange nursery she pro- 
 duces her young, and remains with them beneath the snow until 
 the month of March, when she emerges into the outer air, bring- 
 ing with her the baby bears, who are then about as large as or- 
 dinary rabbits. As the time passes on, the breath of the family, 
 together with the warmth exhaled from their bodies,, serves to 
 enlarge the cell, so that in proportion with their increasing di- 
 mensions, the accommodation is increased to suit them. As is 
 the case with the snow-covered sheep, the hidden Bear may be 
 discovered by means of the little hole which is made by the 
 warm breath, and is rendered more distinguishable by the hoar- 
 frost which collects around it. 
 
 This curious abode is not sought by every Polar Bear. Wone 
 of the males trouble themselves to spend so much time in a 
 state of seclusion ; and as the only use of the retreat is to shel- 
 ter the, young, the unmarried females roam freely about during 
 the yyinter months. The habit of partial hibernation is common 
 to most, if not to all true Bears, and we find that the White Bear 
 of the Polar regions, the Brown Bear of Europe, and the Black 
 Bear of Northern America, agree in this curious habit. Before 
 retiring into winter quarters, the,Bear eats enormously, and, driv- 
 en by an unfailing instinct, resorts to the most nutritious diet, so 
 that it becomes prodigiously fat. In this condition it is in the 
 best state for killing, as the fur partakes of the general fullness of 
 
58 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 the body, and becomes thick and sleek, as is needful when we 
 consider the task which it has to perform. 
 
 During the three months of her seclusion, the Polar Bear takes 
 no food, but exists upon the store of fat which has been accumu- 
 lated before retiring to her winter home. A similar phenomenon 
 mayjje observed in many of the hibernating animals, but in the 
 Bear it is more remarkable from the fact that she has not only to 
 support her own existence, but to impart nourishment to her off- 
 spring. It is true, that in order to enable them to find sufficient 
 food, they are of wonderfully small dimensions when compared 
 with the parent ; but the fact remains, that the animal is able to 
 lay up within itself so large a store of nutriment that it can main- 
 tain its own life and suckle its young for a space of three months 
 without taking a morsel of food. 
 
 It is worthy of notice, also, that in the Bears of the Old as 
 well as the New World, is found the curious phenomenon of the 
 "tappen," a hard concreted substance, which plugs up the intes- 
 tine, and seems to be of service in retaining the animal in condi- 
 tion. In Scandinavia, where the Bears of both sexes retire to 
 winter quarters, and remain in their hidden recesses for five full 
 months, the tappen is very seldom cast until the animal leaves 
 its den. In the rare instances where such an event has hap- 
 pened, the Bear is said to have become miserably thin and weak. 
 Full particulars of the tappen and the hibernating habits of the 
 Brown Bear may be found in Lloyd's "Field Sports of Northern 
 Europe." 
 
 There are other animals which burrow under the snow, 
 though they do so for the sake of finding food, and not of form- 
 ing a^habitation. Several of the Arvicol^, or field-mice of North 
 America, are in the habit of driving long tunnels under the snow 
 in search of food, and are so successful in this curious mode of 
 foraging that they in general become quite fat during the winter 
 months, when every green leaf has fallen, and every herb is cov- 
 ered with a thick mantle of snow. 
 
 From a work of this character, so remarkable an animal as 
 the PiCHiciAGO ought not to be omitted. Its scientific name is 
 Chlamyphoriis truncatus, and is very happily chosen, as will pres- 
 ently be seen. 
 
 The Pichiciago is not larger than an ordinary mole, and in its 
 
THE PICHICIAGO. 
 
 59 
 
 general habits somewhat resembles that, animal. The shape of 
 its body sufficiently indicates its burrowing propensities, and the 
 view of the skeleton confirms the aspect of its outward form. 
 The bones of the fore legs are short, thick, and arched in that 
 
 .manner which is so indicative of great muscular power, and even 
 those of the hind legs are remarkably strong in proportion to the 
 size of the animal. The fore paws are enorm6usly large, palm- 
 shaped, and furnished with five 'strong, curved, and compressed 
 claws, so as to form admirable digging instruments. The snout 
 is rather long and pointed, and, as in the mole, the eyes are very 
 small, and hidden under the soft dense fur. 
 It is a native of Chili, and seems to be of rare occurrence, 
 
 'though it may probably be more plentiful than is generally 
 imagined, its subterranean habits and timid nature seldom per- 
 mitting it to be seen. Like the mole, it lives beneath the earth, 
 scooping out long galleries in the soil, and probably feeding 
 upon insects like the rest of the edentate animals. 
 
 ■ r 
 
 4' --^-c> 
 
 "^ : ^Mim^^^'^ 
 
 Fichiciago. 
 
 The chief point of interest which strikes an observer, when 
 looking at a Pichiciago, is the cuirass with which its body is de- 
 
60 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 fended. It is made and afiranged in a very peculiar manner. The 
 cuirass looks as if a number of squared plates of horn had been 
 sewn upon short lengths of tape, and then the tape bands laid side 
 by side and fastened to each other. It is not fixed to the animal 
 throughout its whole extent, as might be supposed, but is only at- 
 tached along the spine, and on the top of th^ head. It does not 
 merely protect the back, but, when it reaches the insertion of the 
 tail, turns suddenly downward as if on hinges, and forms a kind 
 of flap over the hind-quarters, which are short and square, as if 
 abruptly cut off by a perpendicular blow with a sharp instrument. 
 This arrangement affords a perfect protection to the hind-quarters 
 while the animal is burrowing, and effectually repels any attack 
 that might be made from the rear, reminding the observer of the ' 
 shell with which the testacella is furnished. 
 
 This coat 'of mail is as flexible as the chain or scale armor of 
 the olden times, and accommodates itself to every movement of 
 the animal. The rest of the body is covered with a coat of soft, 
 yellowish fur, nearly as fine as that of the mole, and much longer, 
 but not so dense. The scientific name of the Pichiciago relates 
 to the mail-clad body and the peculiar form of the hind-quarters, 
 the generic title signifying "mantle -bearer," and the specific 
 name, " abruptly shortened." 
 
 The Armadillo can run with considerable speed, and some 
 species are^aid to fee able to outstrip a man. This may possibly 
 be the case in the native country of the animal, but those speci- 
 mens which have been brought to England in a living state would 
 certainly be overtaken by a man of ordinary powers. They get 
 over the ground at a sharp pace, using a queer little jog-trot kind 
 of movement, and display an easy flexibility of body and agility 
 of limbs, which never fail' to astonish those who have onl;^ seen 
 the stiffened specimens in a museum. 
 
 They are mostly nocturnal animals, concealing themselves in 
 their burrows by day, and coming out at night to search for food. 
 The burrows in which they live are generally about thirteen or 
 fourteen feet in length, descending in an abruptly sloping direc- 
 tion for some three or four feet, and then taking a sudden bend • 
 and inclining slightly upward. In these subterranean homes the 
 mother Armadillo produces and nurtures her young, which are 
 on an average about four or five in number. 
 
 All the Armadillos are natives of the tropical and temperate 
 regions of South America. 
 
IBS QIANT ARMADILLO. 
 
THE ARMADILLO. 63 
 
 The various species of Armadillo, all mailed animals, are mighty 
 burrowers, residing in holes which they have dug with their pow- 
 erful fore limbs, and' obtaining much of their food below the sur- 
 face of the earth. They are carnivorous beings, and feed upon 
 insects and all kinds of animal substances. One species, the Giant 
 Aemadillo {Priodonta gigas), is so determined a burrower, that it 
 has often been known to dig up dead bodies for the purpose of 
 feeding on them. All these creatures, however, are fond of ani- 
 mal substances, and many of them may be found upon the savan- 
 nas of South America, feasting greedily upon the bodies of the 
 cattle which are slaughtered so recklessly for the sake of their 
 hides. In all these animals the coat of mail is exceedingly hard, 
 so hard, indeed, that it is used for sharpening the long Spanish 
 knife, which is universally carried by the Gauchos. 
 
 Digging these animals out of their retreat is no easy business. 
 According to Mr. Waterton, the method adopted is simple, though 
 laborious. As the Armadillos burrow like rabbits in a warren, 
 the first point is to ascertain whether the inhabitant is at home. 
 This is done by pushing a stick into each hole, and watching for 
 mosquitoes. * If any of these troublesome flies emerge, the inhab- 
 itant is at home; if not, there is no use in searching farther. 
 "When the presence of an Armadillo is satisfactorily ascertained, 
 a long rod is thrust into the burrow in order to learn its direc- 
 tion, and a hole is dug in the ground so as to meet the end of the 
 stick. A fresh departure is taken from that point, the rod is again 
 introduced, and by dint of laborious digging the animal is at last 
 captured. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Armadillo is not idle, but continues to burrow 
 in the sand, in hopes of escaping its persecutors. It can not, how- 
 ever, dig so fast as they can, and is at last obliged to yield. Mr. 
 "Waterton mentions that he has been obliged to work for three 
 quarters of a day, and to. sink half a dozen pits before a single 
 specimen could be secured. 
 
 If an Armadillo should be surprised, and its retreat to the bur- 
 row intercepted, it at once sets to work at sinking a fresh tunnel. 
 So fast, indeed, does it excavate, that if a horseman sees one of 
 these animals, he must almost tumble from his steed if he wishes 
 to capture the active creature. And, when he has grasped it, he 
 must be careful about his hands, or he will suffer severe wounds 
 from the powerful claws of the Armadillo. As with the pichici- 
 ago, the coat of mail, which appears so hard and stiff in the stuffed 
 
64 HOMES "WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 specimen, is perfectly flexible during life, enabling the limbs of 
 the animal to enjoy their full play, and even permitting the owner 
 to roll itself into a ball when it is threatened with danger. 
 
 The different species of Manis deserve a passing notice. They 
 are all burrowers, and are furnished with armor even better cal- 
 culated for defense than that of the armadillo, inasmuch 'as it as- 
 sumes somewhat of an offensive as well as a defensive character. 
 All these animals are covered with large, sharp-edged scales, of 
 a stout horny consistence, which overlap each other like the tiles 
 of a house. They are of wonderful hardness, and form a buckler 
 which is impenetrable to any weapons possessed by the carnivo- 
 rous animals of the regions wherein it resides. A specimen of the 
 'Bajjeekeit, or Short-tailed Manis of India {Manis pentadac- 
 tyla), now before me, affords a good example of this weapcJn-resist- 
 ing power. Edwin Arnold, Esq., to whom I am indebted for this 
 specimen, possessed it in a living state for a considerable time, and 
 when he was about to leave India, determined to kill the animal 
 and take the skin with him. Accordingly, he fired three barrels 
 of a Colt's revolver pistol at the Manis, but without* the slightest 
 effect, and was at last obliged to introduce the point of a dagger 
 under the scales, and drive the weapon into the heart. On exam- 
 ining the interior of the skin, the wound caused by the double- 
 edged dagger is plainly perceptible, but I can not find the slight- 
 est trace of the bullets. One of the balls, indeed, recoiled upon 
 the intending destroyer. 
 
 .When the Manis is alarmed, it rolls itself up, wraps its tail over 
 the body, and lies in conscious security, the horny scales acting as 
 a buckler, and their sharp edges deterring enemies from the attack 
 as much as the quills of the porcupine or the spines of the hedge- 
 hog. ■ 
 
 The curious Aard Vaek of Southern Africa {Orycteropiis Oa- 
 pensis) is another of the earth-burrowers, residing, for the most 
 part, in great holes which it scoops in the ground. 
 
 The name Aard Yark is Dutch, signifying Earth-hog, and is 
 given to the animal on account of its extraordinary powers of ex- 
 cavation and the swine-like contour of its head. The claws with 
 which this animal works are enormous, as, indeed, is needful for 
 the task which they are intended to perform. They are by no 
 means intended merely to excavate burrows in soft or sandy soil. 
 
THE AARD VAHK. 
 
 65 
 
 tbough they are frequently employed for that purpose ; but they 
 are designed for labors far more arduous. By means of these im- 
 plements, the Aard Vark tears to pieces the enormous ant-hills 
 which stud the plains of Southern Africa — edifices so strongly 
 n^ade as- to resemble stone rather than mud, and capable of bear- 
 ing the weight of many men on their summits. These marvelous 
 dwellings (of which we shall see something in a future page) are 
 absolutely swarming with inmates ; and it is for the purpose of 
 feeding upon the tiny builders that the Aard Vark plies its de- 
 structive labors. 
 
 Toward evening the Aard Vark issues from the burrow where- 
 in it has lain asleep during the day, proceeds to the plains, and 
 searches for an ant-hill in full operation. With its powerful 
 claws it tears a hole in the side of the hill, breaking up the stony 
 
 E 
 
66 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 walls with perfect ease, and scattering dismay among the inmates. 
 As the ants run hither and thither, in consternation, their dwell- 
 ing falling like a city shaken by an earthquake, the author of all 
 this misery flings its slimy tongue among them, and sweeps them 
 into its mouth by hundreds.' Perhaps the ants have no concep- 
 tion of their great enemy as a fellow-creature, but look upon the 
 Aard Yark as we look upon the earthquake, the plague, or any 
 other disturbance of the usual routine of nature. Be this as it 
 may, the Aard Yark tears to pieces many a goodly edifice, and 
 depopulates many a swarming colony, leaving a mere shell of ir- 
 regular stony wall in the place of the complicated and marvelous 
 structure which had sheltered so vast a population. 
 
 The ant-hills thus destroyed are metamorphosed into caverns, 
 which form hiding-places for the jackals and other predaceous 
 beasts, and are resorted to by various serpents. The Kaffir tribes 
 often use them as extemporized burial vaults, and thrust into 
 them the dead bodies of their confrades. Owing to the great 
 burrowing powers of the Aard Yark, the capture of a living 
 specimen is a task of enormous difficulty, the claws being instru- 
 ments of excavation that conquer the spade of civilized man. 
 Unless disturbed, however, and forced to dig deeper through fear 
 of cq,pture, the Aard Yark makes but a shallow burrow, and lies 
 at a short distance from the surface of the earth. The excava- 
 tions are, however, deep enough and plentiful enough to be dan- 
 gerous to the traveler, causing the wheels of wagons to sink into 
 them, so that the i^achines capsize. Horses, too, frequently fall 
 into these treacherous pitfalls while the hunter is in full chase; 
 and severe injuries are sometimes the consequence of such a 
 mishap. 
 
 Theee are two large islands, one large enough to take rank 
 as a continent, which are pre-eminent for the strange character of 
 the creatures which inhabit them. Whenever an animal of more 
 than usual oddity is brought to England, we may safely conjec- 
 ture that it was taken either in Madagascar or Australia. The 
 creatures which we are now about to examine are natives of the 
 latter country. 
 
 Perhaps there never was a more extraordinary and unique 
 being than the well-known animal which is so familiar to us 
 under many titles. Some call it the Duckbill, on account of 
 its mandibles, which are ludicrously like those of the bird from 
 
THE DUCKBILL. 
 
 67 
 
 which it derives its name. Others call it the Water Mole, on 
 account of its aquatic habits and mole-like fur. 
 
 Some scientific naturalists have called it the OrnUhorhynchus 
 ■paradoxus ; others have given it the name of Platypy^ anatinus 
 — the former title being to my mitfd by far the more appropriate 
 and expressive of. the two. The natives of Australia have sev- 
 eral na,mes for this remarkable animal ; some calling it Mallan- 
 gong, others Tambreet, and others Tohunbuck — the second of 
 these titles being most generally in use. 
 
 ./ i 
 
 Mallangong or DuckbilL 
 
 Until Dr. Bennett prosecuted his well-known researches in 
 Australia, no European knew precisely whether the Duckbill 
 was a burrower, or, indeed, whether it had a home of any kind. 
 The natives were well aware of the fact that the animal dug 
 tunnels into the ground, and showed great address in discover- 
 ing the burrows and unearthing the inmates. There, however, 
 their knowledge seemed to end. The only value of an animal 
 to a native Australian is its capability of being eaten, and the 
 only lore which an Australian troubles himself to acquire is the 
 knowledge of the habits of the animal with reference to catching 
 
68 ' HOMES WITHOUT' HANDS. 
 
 it. When he knows where to look for an animal, and. how to 
 kill it, he has reached the limit of his education, and never troub- 
 les his brain about any branch of learning which does not- assist 
 him in procuring something to eat. 
 
 In accordance with this principle, Dr. Bennett found that the 
 native Australians were admirable assistants and safe guides up 
 to a certain extent. They could discover the hidden burrows 
 of the Duckbill with instinctive certainty, and could then dig out 
 the animal with their pointed sticks faster than the Europeans 
 with their spades. They knew, moreover, that the burrow had a 
 very evil savor, as is the case with many burrows, and cautioned 
 Dr. Bennett not to thrust his hand into the tunnel, because " he 
 make smell hand." But in all points of abstract natural history, 
 they were totally at fault. 
 
 They did not agree as to the domestic economy'of the Duck- 
 bill, and were not at all sure whether the young were born alive 
 or hatched from eggs. Some advocated the latter opinion, and 
 said that "old woman have eggs, there in so many days;" but 
 their ideas of the eggs in question were exceedingly vague, oval 
 and spherical eggs being eqjially declared to belong to the Duck- 
 bill. Others rejected the egg theory. "Bel cambango (no egg)," 
 said they, "tumble down; pickaninny tumble down." And, as 
 if to show the value of inductive reasoning, it more than opce 
 happened that when the natives positively averred that the 
 Duckbill could not possibly be hidden in certain localities. Dr. 
 Bennett conjectured that she was very iikely to be there, and 
 succeeded in finding her in the very spot which he had pointed 
 out. 
 
 On looking at a living Duckbill, few would set it down as an 
 excavator of the soil ; yet it is a burrower, and makes tunnels 
 of great length and some complexity. The soft broad membrane 
 that extends beyond the claws while the animal is walking or 
 swimming, and in the latter case forms a paddle by which the 
 creature can propel itself swiftly through the water, falls back 
 when the foot is employed for digging, and aids the animal in 
 flinging back the soil which its claws have scraped away. The 
 rotund body is admirably adapted for traversing the burrows 
 though the stuffed specimens which generally are seen in mu- 
 seums give but little idea of such capability. As a general rule 
 these stuffed specimens are much too long, too stiff, too straight 
 too flat, and too shriveled. During life, the body is round and 
 
THE DUCKBILL. . 69 
 
 tlie skin hangs in loose folds around it, having a very curious as- 
 pect when the creature is walking upon the land. The Duckbill 
 is, in. fact, so very odd a being, that dogs who see it for the first 
 time, as it scrambles along with its peculiar waddling gait, will 
 sit and prick up their ears, and Ijark at the strange animal, but 
 will not dare to meddle with it ; while cats fairly turn tail, and 
 scamper away from so uncanny a beast. The hair with wliich 
 the body is so densely covered is admirably suited to an animal 
 which passes its time in the water or underground. Next the 
 skin there is a thick, close coating of woolly fur, through which 
 penetrates a second coat of long hairs, which are very slender at 
 their bases, and can therefore turn in any direction, like those of 
 the mole. The eyes are fuller and rounder than might be ex- 
 pected in an animal that passes so much of its time underground ; 
 but they are defended from the earth by a remarkable leathery 
 flap, which surrounds the base of the mandibles, and looks very 
 like the leathern guard of a foil. This curious appendage has 
 probably another use, and is intended to prevent the bill from 
 being thrust too deeply into the mud when the animal is engaged 
 in searching for food. 
 
 The wonderful duck -like mandibles into which the head is pro- 
 longed are sadly misrepresented in the stuffed specimens which 
 we generally see, and are black, stiff, and shriveled, as if cut from 
 shoe-leather. The dark color is unavoidable, at all events in the 
 present state of taxidermy. Bare skin invariably becomes black- 
 ish-brown by lapse of time, no matter what the previous color 
 may have been, so that the delicate tints of an English maiden's 
 ^cheek and the sable hue of the blackest negro would, in a few 
 years, assume the same dingy color, and become quite undistin- 
 guishable from each other. But there ils no excuse nowadays 
 for allowing the bare skin to become shriveled. The colors we 
 can not preserve, the form we can and ought to reproduce. No 
 one would conceive, after inspecting a dried specimen, how round, 
 full, and pouting were once those black and wrinkled mandibles, 
 and how delicately they had been colored while the animal re- 
 tained life. Their natural hue is rather curious, the outer surface 
 of the upper mandible being very dark gray, spotted profusely 
 with black, and its lower surface pale flesh-color. In the lower 
 mandible the inner surface is flesh-colored, and the outer surface 
 pinky white, sometimes nearly pure white. 
 
 Having now glanced at the general form of the Duckbill as it 
 
70 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 is in life, and not as it is in museums, we will pass to the habita- 
 tion which it constructs. 
 
 Being a peculiarly aquatic animal, the Duckbill always makes 
 its home in the bank of some stream, almost invariably at those 
 wider and stiller parts of the, river which are popularly called 
 ponds. There are always two entrances to the burrow, one below 
 the surface of the water and the other above, so that the animal 
 may be able to regain its home either by diving, or by slipping 
 into the entrance which is above the surface. This latter en- 
 trance is always hidden most carefully under overshadowing 
 weeds and drooping plants, and is so carefully concealed that the 
 unaccustomed eyes of a European can very seldom find it. 
 
 When the grasses, etc., are put aside, there is seen a hole of 
 moderate size, on the sides of which are imprinted the footmarks 
 of the animal. By the dampness and sharpness of these impres- 
 sions, the natives can form a tolerably accurate opinion whether 
 the creature is likely to be at home or not, as, in the former case, 
 the footmarks which point upward are fresher and wetter than 
 those which point downward. While digging out the Duck- 
 bill, they occasionally pull out a handful of the clay, inspect the 
 marks, and then fall to work afresh. From this hole the burrow 
 passes upward, winding a sinuous course, and often running to a 
 considerable length. From twenty to thirty feet is the usual av- 
 erage, but burrows hav€; been opened where the length was full 
 fifty feet, and where the course was most annoyingly variable, 
 bending and twisting about so as to tire the excavators, and make 
 them quite disgusted with their work. The natives never dig 
 out the entire burrow, but push sticks along it, and sink shafts 
 upon the sticks; just, in fact, as a boy digs out a humble bee's 
 nest, by inserting twigs into the hole, and digging down upon 
 them. 
 
 This serpentine form of burrow is in all probability attributa- 
 ble in a great degree to the peculiar instincts of the animal. As, 
 however, the course of the tunnel is extremely variable, and no 
 two burrows have precisely the same curves and windings, it is 
 likely that various obstacles, such as roots and stones, may turn 
 the animal out of its course while engaged in digging its subter- 
 ranean home, and therefore that the shape of the burrow may in 
 some measure depend upon the character of the ground. 
 
 At the upper extremity of the burrow is placed the nest, an ex- 
 cavation of a somewhat oval form, much broader than the width 
 
THE DUCKBILL. 71 
 
 of the burrow, and well supplied with dry weeds and grasses, upon 
 which the young may rest. They appear to remain in these bur- 
 rows until they have attained half their full growth, for Dr. Ben- 
 nett captured a pair of young Dsckbills, ten inches in length, 
 which seemed not to have left tha burrow. Sometimes there are 
 four young in one nest, and sometimes there is only one, but the 
 usual number is two. 
 
 The Duckbill is a far more active animal than could be con- 
 ceived merely by looking at its form. It is very powerful in pro- 
 portion to its size, so strong, indeed, that it can not be held in the 
 hands without great dif&culty, slipping through the grasp almost 
 as if it were oiled. The loosely-hanging integuments aid it in 
 this method of escape, and under them may be felt the powerful 
 subcutaneous muscles working with vast energy. It is an admi- 
 rable climb*, not only in its wild state, but among civilized ob- 
 jects. Dr. Bennett found that a pair of tame Duckbills, which 
 he kept for some time, were in the habit of clambering to the tops 
 of bookshelves and other articles of furniture, achieving this feat 
 by a process similar to that which is employee? by chimney-sweep- 
 ers, and those whose business calls upon them to ascend narrow 
 perpendicular passages — namely, by placing their backs against 
 the wall and their feet against the bookcase, and so working their 
 way upward, in a strictly vermicular fashion. 
 
 I remember that during my childhood I was frequently found 
 upon the roof of a stable by my parents; who could not conceive 
 the method by which so small a boy could have reached so great 
 an altitude. The fact was, that a summer-house had been built 
 within a foot or two of the stable-wall, so that by means of placing 
 my feet against one wall and my back against the other, I was 
 soon deposited on the roof of the summer-house. A jump and a 
 clutch then transferred me to the stable-roof, where the grapes grew ; 
 whereby was manifested the practical advantage of watching the 
 climbing boys ascend the chimney. 
 
 This mode of climbing may probably be called into operation 
 while the animal is engaged in ascending the almost perpendicu- 
 lar part of the burrow, just above the water's edge. 
 
 The whole life of this animal is very similar to that of the 
 musk-rat, already mentioned, and is an alternation between the 
 water and the burrow. While swimming, the animal hardly 
 looks like a living and breathing creature, but bears a great re- 
 semblance to the loose bundles of weeds that float vaguely in the 
 
72 HOMES "WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 water. Though decidedly aquatic in its habits, the Duckbill can 
 not withstand a very long immersion in the water ; and Dr. Ben- 
 nett found that few of them could endure an immersion of fifteen, 
 or at the most twenty minutes, without being much fatigued by 
 the exertions which they made in order to keep themselves 
 afloat. Several persons who have procured living specimens 
 have drowned them by placing them in water from which there 
 was no mode of escape. 
 
 There is another strange Australian animal, also remarkable 
 for its power of burrowing. This is the creature which is known 
 as the PoECUPiNE Ant-eater {Echidna hystrix), and is called by 
 the very erroneous names of Porcupine, or Hedgehog. The na- 
 , tives have several names for it, some calling it Nicobejan, others 
 Jannocumbine, and others Cojera. 
 
 Here I may mention the curious circumstance that in three or- 
 ders of animals, widely separated from each other in structure, 
 habits, and locality, the hairs of the back are greatly enlarged, 
 and developed int^ stout and sharp spines. There are several 
 species of hedgehog, natives of Europe, and -the Tanrecs of Mada- 
 gascar, all insectivorous animals ; there are the various porcupines 
 which inhabit Africa, Asia, Southern Europe, and America, and 
 belong to the rodent group ; and there is the Echidna, one of the 
 monotrematous animals which is found only in Australia. 
 
 The Echidna is a wonderful burrower, and, in spite of its small 
 size, can make its way through very hard ground. It can pull 
 up stones of great size if it can only contrive to insert its paws 
 and find a convenient crevice for them, and is so quick at this 
 task that to confine the animal is by no means an easy matter, 
 even a paved yard affording but a poor safeguard against its es- 
 cape. In the open country it digs with such extreme rapidity 
 that it can hardly be captured, gathering its back into an arched 
 form, collecting the legs under the body, scratching away with 
 the feet, and sinking like a stone in a cup of treacle. 
 
 These paws are not only potent in digging, but in clinging to 
 any object, and their hold is so wonderfully firm that they can 
 not be disengaged even from smooth boards without very great 
 trouble. To grasp the creature is impossible, because the sharp 
 points of the projecting spines are capable of inflicting painful 
 wounds, and its feet are so completely hidden under the body 
 that they can not be separately detached. Dr. Bennett gives a 
 
THE PORCUPINE ANT-EATEE. 73 
 
 very graphic account of its clinging powers : — " When one of 
 these animals was given to me, and placed in the box of the gig 
 to bring home, on arriving there I could not by any effort re- 
 move it, from its^ adhering to the boards like a limpet to the 
 rocKs (the head and snout being drawn in). Only a formidable 
 array of prickles was visible, so sharp that on the least touch 
 they left a very painful feeling on the hands. So firmly was the 
 animal fixed, that it was impossible to stir it from that position. 
 At last, the method of removing limpets and chitons from the 
 rocks was resorted to, and a spade being inserted gradually at 
 one extremity of the animal, it was scraped from its position with 
 some difficulty, and even then it was some length of time before 
 we succeeded in grasping the hind legs, and conveying the troub- 
 lesome creature to the place of confinement allotted to it." 
 
 Grasping it by the hind leg is the only method of conveying 
 this animal with safety, for it kicks so hard with "its powerful and 
 armed feet, that the hands and clothes will suffer severely from 
 the strokes ; while the violent plunges of the body are sure to 
 bring the pointed prickles into unpleasant contact with the fin- 
 gers. In spite of the difficulty of procuring living specimens, 
 and the interest which attaches itself to an animal of whose hab- 
 its so little is known, Dr. Bennett was not very sorry when his 
 specimen — which we can not call a tame one — was one day 
 found dead; for its burrowing propensities were so destructive, 
 and its prickles so annoying, that it made itself into a positive 
 nuisance. 
 
 If attacked when on ground into which it can not burrow rap- 
 idly, the Porcupine Ant-eater immediately curls itself into a ball, 
 hedgehog-wise, and sets its foes at defiance. The large perfora- 
 ted spur with which the hind feet of the male are armed, and 
 through which is poured a liquid secreted by a gland of consid- 
 erable size, is a very formidable-looking weapon, but to all ap- 
 pearances is really harinless. Dr. Bennett often handled the ani- 
 mal, but never saw it attempt to use the spur, and found that 
 the duckbill, which is armed in a similar manner, was equally 
 innocuous. 
 
 At the present date, January, 1864, the living animal may be 
 seen in the collection at the Zoological Gardens. 
 
HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 BURROWING BIRDS. 
 
 The Sand Martin. — Mode of Burrowing and Shape of the Tunnel. — Enemies of the 
 Sand Martin. — Midges and Martins. — The Kingfisher and its Habits. — Its Bur- 
 row and peculiar Nest. — Number of the Eggs. — The Puffin a feathered Usurper. 
 — The Feroe Islands and the Puffins. — Pro aris et focis. — The MnrroN Bird and 
 Its Burrows. — Snakes and Birds. — The Jackdaw, Stockdove, and Sheldrake. 
 — Nest of the Sheldrake. — The Bee-eater and its Habits. — Its Burrow and Nest 
 — The Stormy Petrel. — Its Mode of Nesting and shallow Tunnels — Mode of 
 feeding its Young. — Evil Odor of its Burrow. — The Woodpeokek. — Its Uses and 
 misunderstood Character. — Method of Burrowing. — The Fungus and the Wood- 
 pecker. — American Woodpeckers. — The Wkt-neck. — Its popular Names and Lo- 
 cality of its Nest. — The Starling. — Its social Character. — Locality of its Habita- 
 tion. — The Tree Creeper. — The Nut-hatch and the Hoopoe. — Curious Nest 
 of the Hoopoe. ^The Cole-tit and its Habits. — A Cole-tit's Nest at Walton Hall. 
 — The Toucan. — The enormous Beak and its Uses. — Nest of the Toucan. — The 
 Swift. — Its Nest and Eggs.— Its curious Feet and their Structure. 
 
 We now take leave of tte furred burrowers, and proceed to 
 those which wear feathers instead of hair. 
 
 One of the best examples of Bird Burrowers is the well-known 
 Sand Martin ( Cotile rvparia), so plentiful in this country. The 
 powers of this pretty little bird seem to be quite inadequate to 
 th6 arduous labors which it performs so easily, and few would 
 suppose, after contemplating its tiny bill, that it was capable of 
 boring tunnels into tolerably hard sandstone. Such, however, 
 is the case, for the Sand Martin is familiarly known to drive its 
 tunnels into sandstone that is hard enough to destroy all the 
 edge of a knife. 
 
 The bird does not prefer a laborious to an easy task, and if 
 it can find a spot where the soil is quite loose, and yet where 
 the sides of the burrow will not collapse, it will always take ad- 
 vantage of such a locality. I have frequently seen such in- 
 stances of judgment, where the birds had selected the sandy in- 
 tervals between strata of stone, and so saved themselves from any 
 trouble except scraping and throwing out the loose sand. 
 
 When, however, the Sand Martin is unable to find such a sit- 
 uation, it sets to work in a very systematic fashion, trying several 
 
THE SAND MARTIN. 
 
 75 
 
 successive spots with its beak, until it discovers a suitable local- 
 ity. It then works in a circular direction, using its legs as a 
 pivot, and by dint of turning round and round, and pecking 
 away as it proceeds, soon chips out a tolerably circular hole. 
 After the bird has lived for some time in the tunnel, the shape 
 of the entrance is much damaged by incessant passing to and fro 
 
 of the inmates, but while the burrow is still new and untenant- 
 ed, its form is almost cylindrical. In all cases the tunnel slopes 
 gently upward, so as to prevent the lodgment of rain, and its 
 depth is exceedingly variable. About two feet and a half is a 
 fair average length. Generally, the direction of the burrow is 
 quite straight, but sometipies it takes a curve, where an obstacle, 
 such as a stone or a root, has interrupted the progress of the bird. 
 Should the stone be a large one, the Sand Martin usually aban- 
 
76 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 dons the burrow, and resumes its labors elsewhere, and in a piece 
 of hard sandstone rock many of these incomplete excavations 
 may be seen. 
 
 At the farthest extremity of the burrow, which is always rath- 
 er larger than the shaft, is placed the nest — a very simple struc- 
 ture, being little more than a mass of dry herbage and soft feath- 
 ers, pressed together by the weight of the bird's body. Upon 
 this primitive nest are laid the eggs, which are very small, afld 
 of a delicate pinky whiteness. 
 
 Few foes can work harm to the Sand Martin during the task 
 of incubation. Eats would find the soft sandy soil crumble away 
 from their grasp; and even the lithe weasel would experience 
 some difficulty in gaining admission to the nest. After the 
 young Sand Martins are hatched, many foes are on the, watch 
 for them. The magpie and crow wait about the entrance of the 
 holes, in order to snap up the inexperienced birds while making 
 their first essays at flight; and the kestrel and sparrow-hawk 
 come sweeping suddenly among them, and carry off spme help- 
 less victim in their talons. 
 
 Man is perhaps the worst foe of the Sand Martin, for there is 
 a mixture of adventure and danger in taking the eggs, which is 
 irresistible to the British schoolboy. To climb up a perpendicu- 
 lar rock, to cling with ^one hand, while the other is thrust into 
 the burrow, and to know that a chance slip will certainly snap 
 the invading arm like a tobacco-pipe stem, is a combination of 
 joys which no well-conditioned boy can withstand. 
 
 Fortunately for the Sand Martins, many of their nests are 
 placed in situations which no boy ca.n reach, and there are hap- 
 pily some instances where the services which they render to 
 mankind are properly appreciated. Mr. C. Simeon, in his "Stray 
 Notes on Fishing and Natural History," gives an interesting ac- 
 count of some Sand Martins whichmswere thus gratefully protect- 
 ed : 
 
 " While waiting for the train one afternoon at "Weybridge, I 
 amused myself with watching the Sand Martins, who have there 
 a large establishment on either side of the cutting, and got into 
 conversation with one of the porters about them. On my say- 
 ing, I supposed that the boys robbed a good many of the nests, 
 he answered, ' Oh, sir, they would if they were allowed, but the 
 birds are such good friends to us, that we won't let any body 
 meddle with them.' I fancied at first that he spoke of them as 
 
THE -klNGFISHEE. 77 
 
 friends in the way of company only, but he explained his mean- 
 ing to be, that the flies about the station would be quite intol- 
 erable if they were not cleared off by the Martins, which are al- 
 ways hawking up and down in front of it ; adding, that even 
 during the few hot days which occurred in the spring before 
 their arrival, the flies were becoming very troublesome. 'Now,' 
 he said, 'we may now and then see one, but that is all.' 
 
 " It was a bright sunny day in July, and the scene was a very 
 lively and interesting one. The mouths of the holes on both 
 sides of the cutting were crowded with young martins — as many 
 perhaps as four or five in each ^sunning their barred white 
 breasts, and waiting to be fed : the telegraph wires formed perch- 
 es, of which advantage was taken by scores of others more ad- 
 vanced in growth, and of old ones reposing after their exertions ; 
 while the air was filled' with others employed in catering for 
 their families. All of a sudden the'yoUng ones retreated into 
 ■ their holes; the wires were deserted, and only a few remained 
 describing distant circles. I thought that a hawk must have 
 made his appearance, but it turned out that the alarm had been 
 caused by two men walking over the heath above, and approach- 
 ing the holes. The young ones in the holes had no doubt felt 
 ^the jar caused by their tread, and those on the wing, who saw 
 them, had probably given warning, by note, to the others perched 
 on the wires, who could not have seen, nor, I should think, heard 
 their approach." 
 
 Although the Kingfisher {Alcedo ispidd) does not excavate 
 the whole of the burrow in which it resides, it does, at all events, 
 alter and arrange a ready-made burrow to suit its own necessi- 
 ties. 
 
 This lovely bird, which is one of the few indigenous British 
 species that can vie with the bright -feathered denizens of the 
 tropics, is happily very plentiful in England, scarcely any stream 
 or lake being without its Kingfishers. 
 
 All who are fond of angling, or of walking by the side of 
 streams, must have noticed the Kingfisher as it sits motionless 
 on a stone or overhanging branch, peering eagerly into the water 
 beneath, and watching the fish as they pass and repass its place 
 of vantage. Brilliant in color though the bird may be, its azure 
 back and red belly seldom betray it except to a practiced eye, so 
 immovable is its attitude. Suddenly, down it drops into the wa- 
 
78 HOMES WITHOUT HAND^. 
 
 ter, splashes furiously for a few seconds, emerges with a small 
 fish in its mouth, and then returns to land. Sometimes it seeks 
 again the perch from which it descended, and then, throwing in 
 the air the fish, which has all the while been held across the 
 beak, catches it dextrously head downward, swallows it with a 
 few eager gulps, and then looks out for another victim. Some- 
 
 Eingfisher. 
 
 times it darts with lightning spped along the bank, and, with a 
 quick flash of the azure plumage, settles for a moment upon the 
 bank, looks cautiously round, and then pops swiftly into a little 
 hole. Into this hole we will follow the bird. She always 
 chooses her residence by the water side, and selects for nidifica- 
 tion the deserted hole of some quadrupedal burrower. I have 
 even seen a Kingfisher's nest made in the side of a tiny riVulet 
 across which a child could step, and which served to conduct the 
 drainings of an upper to a lower field. 
 
THE KINGFISHER. 79 
 
 Generally, the nest is placed in the deserted burrow of a water- 
 vole, but in this instance it had been made in the empty tunnel 
 of a water-shrew, so that the hole was of comparatively small di- 
 mensions, and would not admit my hand and arm without some 
 artificial enlargement. In all cases, the bird takes care to in- 
 crease the size of the burrow at the spot where the nest is made, 
 and to choose a burrow that slopes upward, so that however high 
 the water may rise, the nest will be perfectly dry. 
 
 That the eggs are laid upon dry fish-bones is a fact that has 
 long been known, but for an accurate account of the nest we are 
 indebted to Mr. Gould, the eminent ornithologist. 
 
 Until he succeeded in removing the nest entire, no one had 
 been able to perform such a feat, and so well known to all bird- 
 nesters is the difi&culty of the task, that a legend was, and per- 
 ' haps is Btill, current in various parts of England, that the author- 
 ities of the British Museum had offered a reward of 100/. to any 
 one who would deposit in their collection a perfect nest of the 
 Kingfisher. This feat has been admirably accomplished by Mr. 
 Gould. 
 
 Having discovered the retreat of a Kingfisher, and ascertained 
 by digging down upon the nest that the bird was laying, he re- 
 placed the earth, and waited for three weeks before attempting 
 any farther operations. The chief difficulty was, of course, to 
 prevent the earth from falling into the nest, and becoming mixed 
 with the delicate bones of which it was composed. In order to 
 obviate such a mishap, Mr. Gould introduced a quantity of cot- 
 ton wool into the burrow, pushing it to the extremity with a 
 fishing-rod. He then dug down upon the nest, and captured the 
 female, who was sitting upon eight eggs. With very great care 
 he removed the fragile nest, and transferred it to the British Mu- 
 seum, where it may be seen by any. one who will look for it in 
 the room devoted to such objects. 
 
 The nest is composed wholly of fish-bones, minnows furnishing 
 the greater portion. These bones are ejected by the' bird when 
 the flesh is digested, just as an owl ejects the pellets on which her 
 eggs are laid. The walls of the nest are about half an inch in 
 thickness, and its form is very flat. The circular shape and slight 
 hollow show that the bird really forms the mass of bones into a 
 nest, and does not merely lay her eggs at random upon the eject- 
 or. The whole of these bones were deposited and arranged in 
 the short space of three weeks. 
 
80 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 It may possibly be owing to these bones and the partial decom- 
 position which must take place during the time occupied in dry- 
 ing, that the burrow possesses so exceedingly evil an odor. This 
 unpleasant effluvium , which may indeed be called by the stronger 
 name of stench, is wonderfully enduring, and clings to the bird as 
 well as to its dwelling. The feathers of the Kingfisher are most 
 lovely to the eye, but the proximity- of the bird is by no means 
 agreeable to the nostrils, the " ancient and fishlike smell" being 
 extremely penetrating. I have now before me a stuffed and 
 perfectly dry skin of a Kingfisher, which has been washed and 
 soaked in water for many hours, and yet retains the peculiar odor, 
 which is so strong that, after I had prepared it, many and copious 
 ablutions were required to divest my hands of the horrible ema- 
 nation. 
 
 To those who collect eggs, and care for numbers, the discovery 
 of a Kingfisher's nest is a singular boon. Not only does the bird 
 lay a great number of eggs, the aggregate mass of which exceeds 
 her own dimensions, but she is a fearless and indefatigable layer, 
 and if the eggs are removed with proper care, she will produce an . 
 enormous number in the course of a season. 
 
 The comical little Puffin {Fratercula arciica). may be reckoned 
 among the true burrowers, possessing both the will and the power 
 of excavation, but exercising neither unless pressed by necessity. 
 
 As is the custom with most diving birds, the Pufiin lays only 
 one egg, and always deposits it in some deep burrow. If possi- 
 ble, the bird takes advantage of a tunnel already excavated, such 
 as that of the rabbit, and " squats" upon another's territory, just 
 as the Coquimbd owl takes possession of the excavations made by 
 the prairie dog. The rabbit does not allow its dominion to be 
 usurped without remonstrance, and accordingly the bird and the 
 beast engage in fierce conflict before the matter is settled. Al- 
 most invariably the Puffin wins the day, its powerful beak and 
 determined courage being more than a match for the superior size 
 of its antagonist. 
 
 When it is unable to obtain a ready-made habitation, it sets to 
 work on its own account, and excavates tunnels of considerable 
 dimensions. 
 
 The Feroe Islands are notable haunts of the Puffin, because the 
 soil, which is in many places soft and easily worked, is favorable 
 for its excavations. The male is the principal excavator, though 
 
THE PUFFIN. 
 
 81 
 
 
 WM^rt^'^^ 
 
 Puffin. 
 
 he is assisted by the female; and so intent is the bird upon its 
 work, that it may be paptured by hand by thrusting the arm into 
 the burrow. The average length of the tunnel is about three 
 feet, and it is seldom straight, taking a more or less curved form, 
 and being furnished with a second entrance. No nest of any 
 kind is used, but the egg is laid on the earth, at the end of the 
 burrow, so that, although it is at first beautifully white, it becomes 
 in a short time stained so deeply that it can seldom be restored to 
 its primitive purity. 
 
 So deeply do the burrows run, that when a passenger is walk- 
 ing near the edge of the precipice upon which the Puf&ns breed, 
 he can hear the old birds grunting below his feet, angry because 
 they are disturbed by the footsteps above them. 
 
 The young Puf&n has many foes, who endeavor to seize it be- 
 fore its bill has attained its full proportions and its muscles have 
 gained their full pow.ers. The parent birds, however, bravely de- 
 fend their young, and have been known, as a last resource, to 
 grasp the invader in the beak, and hurl themselves and the foe 
 into the sea. Once among the waves, the Puf&n is in its natural 
 element, for it is an admirable swimmer and practiced diver, being 
 
 F 
 
82 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 able to catch, the swift-finned fishes and bear them home to its 
 nest. The foe, therefore, must either remain on dry land* or lose 
 the victory, if not its life, for there are few enemies for which the 
 Puffin is not more than a match when in the water. 
 
 Mr. M'GriLLiVBAT, in his " Voyage of the Eattlesnake," gives a 
 curious account of the nesting-place of an allied bird, which bur- 
 rows in Goose Island, off the North Australian coast. 
 
 " The rock is a coarse syenite, forming detached bare masses 
 and ridges, but none of considerable height. In the hollows the 
 soil appears rich, dark, and pulverulent, with much admixture of 
 unformed bird guano. The scanty vegetation is apparently lim- 
 ited to a grass growing in tussocks, and a few maritime plants. 
 The ground resembles a rabbit warren, being every where under- 
 mined by the burrows of the Mutton Bird {Puffinus hrevicau- 
 dus) the size of a pigeon. A person in walking across the island 
 can scarcely avoid frequently stumbling among these burrows, 
 from the earth giving way under his feet ; and I was told by the 
 residents that snakes are very numerous in these holes, living, 
 upon the Mutton Birds. I myself trod upon one which, fortu- 
 nately, was too sluggish to escape before I had time to shoot it, 
 and ascertain it to be the well-known ' blacksnake' of the Aus- 
 tralian colonists {Acanthophis iortor), a very .poisonous species. 
 
 "... About dusk, clouds of Mutton Birds came in from the 
 sea, and we amused ourselves with chasing them over the ground 
 among their burrows, and as many specimens as I required were 
 speedily provided by knocking them down with a stick. As 
 usual with the petrel tribe, they bite severely if incautiously han- 
 dled, and disgorge a quantity of offensive oily matter, the smell 
 of which pervades the whole island, and which the clothes I then 
 wore retained for a long time afterward." The curious associa- 
 tion of the burfowi^g bird and the venomous snake is very re- 
 markable, and reminds the observer of the burrowing owl and 
 the rattlesnake which inhabit the tunnels of the prairie dog. 
 
 There are many other birds which pass a semi-burrowing life, 
 making their nests in hollows already excavated, and either using 
 them without adaptation or altering them very slightly for the 
 purpose of depositing their eggs and rearing their young. The 
 Jackda-w, for example {Gorvus monedula), is frequently one of 
 the semi-burrowers, making its nest within deserted rabbit bur- 
 
THE SHELDRAKE — THE BEE-EATER. 83 
 
 rows, when it can find no more congenial locality. The Stock- 
 dove (Columba cenas) is frequently found in similar situations, 
 placing its rude platform of sticks within the burrow ; and the 
 common Sheldrake {Tadorna Yulpanser) possesses the same 
 habit. 
 
 The nest of the last-mentioned bird is always placed close to 
 the water, so that the young may be fed with marine crustag 
 The female is accustomed to cover the eggs with down pluc 
 from her own breast. Eabbit warrens upon sea-edged cliffs are 
 favorite resorts of the Sheldrake. In default, however, of rabbit 
 burrows, the Sheldrake is well content with any moderately deep 
 holes in the shore, and therein lays her enormous deposit of eggs, 
 which are from ten to fifteen in number, and of a white color. 
 Burrows thus tenanted may be found in many situations, espe- 
 cially on the banks of estuaries, localities which are always shel- 
 tered, and almost always produce an abundant supply of food for 
 the bird and its young brood. 
 
 There is a bird which sometimes visits our island, and which 
 is more lovely in color than the kingfisher, and far more elegant 
 in shape. This is the Bee-eater {Merops apiaster), so common in 
 the warmer parts of the Old World. Not only is it rich in color 
 and delicately shaped, but it is most graceful in its movements, 
 sweeping through the air with the ease and rapidity of the swift, 
 and much resembling that bird in the character of its flight. 
 
 It is not a large bird, being about the size of the common 
 thrush, and formed in a more slender manner. Its feathers are 
 colored in the most exquisite manner, green, azure, yellow, or- 
 ange, and*chocolate-brown, being mixed in a singularly harmo- 
 nious manner, and relieved by a little white on the forehead, and 
 a narrow band of deep blue-black under the throat. When the 
 sunbeams fall on these gorgeously decorated feathers, the eflcct is 
 magnificent in the extreme, for there is not only the light azure 
 hue which gives to our kingfisher so brilliant an aspect, as it 
 darts along in its meteor-like flight, but with every movement 
 of the bird the colors change like those of " shot" silk. 
 
 The peculiarly graceful flight of these birds is calculated to 
 display their lovely colors to the best advantage, and as they 
 are partially gregarious in their habits, and love to assemble in 
 little flocks, they afford a magnificent spectacle as they sweep 
 through the air in devious flight, crossing and recrossing each 
 
84 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Other's course, rising and sinking on facile wing, wheeling swift- 
 ly, as some more active insect strives to escape from the lovely 
 destroyers, and ever and anon shooting with arrowy speed as 
 their ruby -cinctured eyes catch a glance of some distant prey. 
 •Were it not for their harsh, screaming notes, they would, seem 
 almost too beautiful to belong to this world. The splendor of 
 
 sir plumage is quite tropical, and though the Bee-eater may 
 I possess the metallic radiance of the humming-bird, the ex- 
 treine beauty of the silken plumage, which shines in the sun- 
 beams like spun glass, can not be surpassed, and is far too subtle 
 to be approached by human art. The greatest master of the 
 brush, aided by all the resources of the chemist, can do no more 
 than indicate the wondrous beauty of this bird. 
 
 The bird does not restrict itself to insects. My friend, E. Ar- 
 nold, Esq., tells me that in India he has seen the Bee-eater catch 
 and devour small fish equal in dimensions to the well-known 
 minnow of England. These fish are €aten by human beings as 
 well as by birds, and seem to be intermediate between the smelt 
 and the white-bait. Among the residents they are known by the 
 quaint name of " Havildar-and-ten," because a dish consists of 
 eleven or twelve fishes. In the Indian army the Havildar is 
 equivalent to our sergeant, and has ten men under him, so that 
 a " Havildar-and-ten" signifies a sergeant and his guard, making 
 altogether eleven men. The external resemblance between the 
 Bee-eater and the kingfisher is patent to all, in spite of the short, 
 clumsy-looking body and stunted tail of the one, and the slight, 
 elegant form and lengthened tail of the other ; and it is sufficient- 
 ly curious, that a light and airy bird, like the Bee-eater, which 
 feeds upon the most active insects, and catches them oi#the wing, 
 should invade the realms of the kingfisher, and procure a meal 
 from the water. 
 
 Near the spot wherq the Bee-eater hovers about in search of 
 its daily food, the nest may be found. 
 
 As the bird is generally as gregarious in its nesting as in its 
 flight, there is little difficulty in finding the locality in which it 
 has formed its temporary home. The Bee -eater is one of the 
 true burrow'ers, excavating a hole in some bank, and depositing 
 its eggs therein. The burrow is not a deep one, seldom exceed- 
 ing a foot in length, so that the sitting bird is plainly visible 
 from the exterior.' The extremity of the hole is floored and par- 
 tially lined with moss, upon which are placed five or six eggs, of 
 
THE PETREL. 85 
 
 pearly whiteness. Whenever the bank happens to be a conven- 
 ient one, it is pierced with holes as numerous as those of the 
 sand martin of our own country ; and if the observer can manage 
 to conceal himself in close proximity to the nest, and will remain 
 perfectly quiet, he will witness a scene which is unsurpassable* 
 for beauty. 
 
 Although gifted with the rapid wing of the swift, the Bee- 
 eater does not possess the untiring flight of that bird, and, there- 
 fore, is accustomed to repose at short intervals, whenever it has 
 caught a butterfly, or some large and active insect. Numbers of 
 these lovely birds may be seen perched in rows upon the branch- 
 es of neighboring trees, exhibiting masses jaf color that have a pe- 
 culiarly magnificent effect to the eye. Here they sit for the pur- 
 pose of eating the prey which they have captured, and the ground 
 beneath these favored branches is thickly strewn with wings of 
 butterflies and other insects which they have devoured. 
 
 I do not think that the Bee-eater ever makes its nest in En- 
 gland, for it is only an occasional visitor, and is generally shot 
 before it has passed many days, or even hours, in this country. 
 Bu-t its nest may be plentifully found in the warmer latitudes of 
 Europe, and many parts of Asia and northern Africa. 
 
 We often find burrowers where we least expect them. 
 
 Who would think, on inspecting a specimen of the well-known 
 Stobmy Petrel {TJialassidroma pelagica), that it was able to dig 
 into the ground, and form the burrow in which it makes its nest? 
 Such, however, is the case, and the pretty little traverser of the 
 ocean shows itself to ' be as accomplished in excavating the 
 ground as it is in flitting over the waves with its curious mix- 
 ture of flight and running. If the Stormy Petrel can find a bur- 
 row already dug, it will make use of it, and accordingly is fond 
 of haunting rocky coasts, and of depositing its eggs in some suit- 
 able cleft. It will also settle in a deserted rabbit -bui'row,- if it 
 can find one sufficiently near the sea, and is found breeding in 
 many places which would equally suit the pufl&n. 
 
 Failing, however, all natural or ready-made cavities, the 
 Stormy Petrel is obliged to excavate a tunnel for itself, and 
 even on sandy ground is able to make its own domicile. Off 
 Cape Sable, in Nova Scotia, there are many low -lying islands, 
 the upper parts of whi6h are of a sandy natilre, and the lower 
 composed chiefiy of mud. Not a hope is there in such localities 
 
86 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 of already existing cavities, and yet to those islands the Petrels 
 resort by thousands, for the purpose of breeding. The birds set 
 resolutely to work, and delve little burrows into the sandy soil, 
 seldom digging deeper than a foot, ajud, in fact, only making the 
 • cavity sufficiently large to conceal themselves and their treasure. 
 
 Petrel. 
 
 Each bird lays a single egg, which is white, and of small di- 
 mensions. The young are funny-looking objects, and resemble 
 puffs of white down rather than nestlings. The parent attends 
 to its young with great assiduity, feeding it with the oleaginous 
 fluid which is secreted in such quantities by the digestive organs 
 of this bird. So large indeed is the amount of oil, that in some 
 parts of the world the natives make the Stormy Petrel into a 
 lamp, by the simple process of drawing a wick through its body. 
 The oil soon rises into the wick, and burns as freely as in any 
 
THE PETREL. 87 
 
 of the really rude and primitive, though ornamental lamps of the 
 ancients. 
 
 Many shore-going birds are equally notable for their capacities 
 of producing fat in large quantities when they procure a plenti- 
 ful supply of food. The common sand-piper, for example, which 
 haunts the muddy shores of tidal rivers, and feeds upon the va- 
 rious living creatures with which the mud is peopled, accumu- 
 lates fat to such an extent that to skin the bird properly is al- 
 most impossible, the thick coating of fat between the skin and the 
 flesh melting by the heat of the fingers, and running like oil over 
 the feathers. I could never bring myself to believe in the petrel- 
 lamp until I had opened the sand-piper when in full condition. 
 
 The Petrel only feeds its young by night, remaining on the 
 wing during the day, and flying to vast distances from the land. 
 Owing to this habit, and its custom of taking to the sea during 
 the fiercest storms, it has long' been an object of dread to sailors, 
 whose illogical minds are unable to discriminate between cause 
 and effect, and fancy that the Petrel, or Mother Carey's Chicken, 
 as they call the bird, is the being which, by the exercise of some 
 magic art, calls the storm into existence. They even fancy that 
 the Petrel never goes ashore nor rests ; and will tell you that it 
 does not lay its egg in the ground, but holds it under one wing, 
 and hatches it while engaged in flight. To the vulgar mind, ev- 
 ery thing incomprehensible is fraught with terrors, and so the 
 harmless, and even useful Petrel, is hated with strange virulence. 
 
 The bird is essentially a storm-lover, for by the violence of the 
 wind upon the waves the substances on which the bird feeds are 
 thrown to the surface, and can be snapped up before they sink 
 again. The Petrel knows by some innate faculty the approach 
 of a storm, and its appearance is the signal for the careful mariner 
 to reduce his sails. The ignorant sailors, who know, from long 
 experience, that the Petrel is the forerunner of a storm, salute it 
 by the title of Devil's bird, together with sundry other epithets, 
 all very forcible, but on that very account not to be printed. 
 
 Throughout the breeding season the Petrel is indefatigable in 
 search of food, and will follow ships for considerable distances, in 
 hopes of obtaining some of the offal that is thrown overboard by 
 the cook. Even if a cupful of oil be emptied into the water, the 
 Petrel will scoop it up in its bill, and take it home to its young. 
 During the night it mostly remains with its offspring, feeding it, 
 and making a curious grunting noise, something like the croaking 
 
88 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 of frogs. This noise is continued throughout the night, and those 
 who have visited the great nesting-places of the Petrel, unite in 
 mentioning it as a loud and peculiar sound. The ordinary cry is 
 low and short, something like the quacking of a young duck. 
 By day, however, the birds are silent, and only those who keep 
 nightly watch on the ship's deck can have an opportunity of hear- 
 ing their chattering cry. 
 
 The burrow in which the young Petrel is hatched is extremely 
 odoriferous, the oily food on which the bird lives having itself a 
 very rancid and unsavory scent ; and in consequence of feeding 
 upon this substance, both the habitation and the inmates are ex- 
 tremely offensive to the nostrils. The young bird is at first very 
 helpless, and remains in its excavated home until it is several 
 weeks of age. One of these birds was seen on the Thames in the 
 month of December, 1823, where it attracted some attention, its 
 peculiar mode of pattering over the water causing it to be taken 
 for a wounded land bird, and inducing many persons to go in 
 vain pursuit of the supposed cripple. 
 
 The birds that have hitherto been mentioned are either bur- 
 rowers into the earth, or adopters of burrows which have been 
 maiGe and deserted by fossorial mammalia. Those which now 
 come before us are burrowers into wood, and either form their 
 tunnels with their own beaks, or adapt to their purposes the ex- 
 cavations made by other creatures, and the hollows formed by 
 natural decay. 
 
 ' The first in order of these birds are necessarily the Woodpeck- 
 BES, examples of which are found in most parts of the world. 
 They are easily-distinguished from any other birds by the pecul- 
 iar construction of the beak, the feet, and the tail ; the beak ena- 
 bling them to chip away the bark and wood, the feet giving them 
 the power of clinging to the tree-trunk, and the tail helping to sup- 
 port them in the attitude which gives to their strokes the great- 
 est force. Their beaks are long, powerful, straight, and pointed ; - 
 their feet are formed for grasping, and are set far back upon the 
 body ; and their tails are short and stiff, and act as props when 
 pressed against the roiagh bark. 
 
 Froni England, the Woodpeckers are fast disappearing, and ex- 
 cept in the few forests and woods that still remain, a Woodpecker 
 is now seldom seen in this country. The birds, however, possess 
 that remarkable instinct which tells them where they will be safe ; 
 
THE WOODPECKEE. 
 
 89 
 
 Woodpecker. 
 
 and any one who possesses a sufficiency of trees surrounded by a 
 wall, and who will not permit a gun to be fired within thoSe pre- 
 cincts, will not have to wait very long before his eyes are glad- 
 dened by the bright colors of the Woodpecker's plumage as it 
 darts from tree to tree, and his ears gratified by the rapid tattoo 
 of its beak upon the wood. 
 
 We should probably have possessed many more specimens of 
 the Woodpecker, had it not been subjected to such persecution. 
 It was universally thought to be very hurtful to trees, and its re- 
 iterated blows were considered as so many direct injuries. If the 
 observer could quietly make his way to a tree on which the 
 Woodpecker was at work, he would find great flakes of bark ly- 
 ing on the ground, as marks of the bird's industry, and might be 
 led to suppose that, in separating them from the trunk, the bird 
 ■was inflicting a positive injury upon it. If, however, he should 
 examine the flakes of bark, he would find that they had already 
 been separated from the tree in the course of nature, and that they 
 were mere useless excrescences upon its surface. Under these 
 bark-flakes whole tribes of insects find a shelter, and it is in order 
 to obtain the insects that the Woodpecker removes the flakes. 
 
90 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 As is well known, this bird makes its nest in a tunnel which it 
 hollows in the tree, and to a superficial observer might easily be 
 reckoned among the enemies of the forest. If it were to burrow 
 into sound timber, as is often supposed to be the case, it would 
 certainly rank among the deadliest foes of our trees ; for, in the 
 spots where it still resides, its burrows may be seen in plenty, per- 
 forating the trunks and branches of the finest and most pictur- 
 esque trees. But, in point of fact, none of the British Woodpeck- 
 ers are able to cut so deep a tunnel into sound and growing wood, 
 and are perforce obliged to choose timber which is already dead, 
 and which has begun to decay. 
 
 Sometimes, the bird selects a spot where a branch has been 
 blown down, leaving a hollow in which the rain has lodged and 
 eaten its way deeply into the stem. In such places the wood is 
 so soft that it can be broken away with the fingers, or scraped out 
 with a stick ; and in many a noble tree, which seems to the eye 
 to be perfectly sound, the very heart-wood is being slowly dis- 
 solved by the action of water, which has gained access through 
 some unsuspected hole. Water, when thus admitted to the inte- 
 rior of a tree, fills its centre with decay ; and if a perforation be 
 made through the trunk, so as to let out the contained fluid, gal- 
 lon after gallon of dark brown water will gush forth, mixed with 
 fragments of decayed wood, and betray, by its volume and con- 
 sistency, the extent of the damage which it has occasioned. 
 
 Oftentimes a large fungus will start from a tree, and in some 
 mysterious manner will sap the life-power of the spot on which it 
 grows. When the fungus falls in the autumn, it leaves scarcely 
 a trace of its presence, the tree being apparently as healthy as be- 
 fore the advent of the parasite. But the whole character of the 
 wood has been changed by the strange power of the fungus, beirig 
 soft and cork-like to the touch-. Although the eye of man can 
 not readily perceive the injury, the instinct of the Woodpecker 
 soon leads the bird to the spot, and it is in this dead, soft, and 
 spongy wood that the burrow is made. Mr. Waterton, who, I be- 
 lieve, was the first to point out this fact, has shown me many ex- 
 amples of the fungus and its ravages among the trees, several fine ' 
 ash-trees and sycamores having been reduced to mere stumps by 
 the silent operation of the vegetable parasite. 
 
 It is, by the way, a rather remarkable fact, that a tree which 
 has been penetrated by water can be relieved of its burden by 
 the hand of man. An auger, or long-shanked centre-bit, judi- 
 
THE WOODPEOKBR. 91 
 
 ciously inserted, will draw off the water, and if the aperture 
 through which it gainfed admission be carefully trimmed and cov- 
 ered, so as to prevent any further lodgment of moisture, the bark 
 will roll over the orifice, and soon obliterate it. The same pro- 
 cess of self-repair will heal the smaller aperture made by the au- 
 ger. Sometimes, when a semi-burrowing bird, such as the tit- 
 mouse, enters a hollow thus formed, and builds its nest therein, 
 the bark grows over the entrance, and so buries the nest in the 
 hollow of the tree. Sawyers not unfrequently find various ob- 
 jects in the trunks of trees, which have been imbedded by the 
 curative powers of the tree. ■ ; 
 
 Should, however, a fungus show itself^ the tree is doomed. 
 Perhaps the parasite may fall in the autumn, and the tree may 
 show no syijiptoms of decay ; but at the first tempest that it may 
 have to encounter, the trunk snaps off at the spot where the fun- 
 gus has been, and the extent of the injury is at once disclosed. 
 As long as any portion of that tree retains life, it will continue to 
 throw out these destructive fungi, and even when a mere stump 
 is left in the ground, the fungi will push themselves out in pro- 
 fusion. 
 
 The pickaxe-like beak of the Woodpecker finds no difficulty in 
 making its way through the decayed wood, and thus the bird is 
 enabled to excavate its burrow without very much trouble. The 
 nest itself can scarcely be called by that name, being nothing more 
 than a collection of the smaller chips which have fallen to the ex- 
 tremity of the tunnel while the bird was engaged in the task of 
 excavating. The burrow of the Woodpecker is as unpleasantly 
 odorous as that of the kingfisher. The eggs are pure white. 
 
 In the British Museum may be seen samples of the burrows 
 made by this bird, a portion of the tree having been cut off, and 
 a section made, so as to show the shape, direction, and interior 
 aspect of the hole. The specimens were obtained by Mr. Gould, 
 the celebrated ornithologist, and the illustration was drawn from 
 them. 
 
 According to Wilson and Audubon, some of the Woodpeckers 
 of North America are able to excavate tunnels in the sound and 
 still undecayed wood. They do not, however, select the hard 
 wood in preference to that which is decayed, but always give the 
 precedence to the latter. Still, they are often obliged to bore 
 through several inches of solid wood, in order to reach the de- 
 cayed portion in the centre. 
 
92 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The burrowing powers of the great Ivory-billed Woodpecker 
 are marvelous, its chisel-like beak having been known to chip 
 splinters from a mahogany table, and to cut a hole fifteen inches 
 in width through a lath-and-plaster partition. Even the small 
 Downy Woodpecker is able to bore its way through solid wood, 
 and to make a most ingenious nest, the burrow sloping for some 
 six or eight inches, and then being driven perpendicularly down 
 th-e tree. The bird takes care to make the sloping tunnel only 
 just large enough to admit the passage of its body ; but the per- 
 pendicular hole, in which it resides, is quite large and roomy, so 
 as to deserve the name of a chamber. When first made, the hole 
 through which the bird enters its nest is as truly circular as if 
 cut by a centre-bit; but it loses the sharpness of its outline after 
 it has been in use for any length of time. Both the male and fe- 
 male Woodpecker work at this task of excavation, laboring alter- 
 nately, relieving each other in regular rotation, and pecking con- 
 tinually until the burrow is finished, even though they should 
 occupy several days in completing their home. They are so in- 
 tent upon their labor, that they work all day and far into the* 
 evening, hammering away like carpenters at the bench. 
 
 The nest is not unfrequently stormed and seized by a usurp- 
 er, diminutive in size, but unconquerable in spirit. This is the 
 common house- wren, which is fond of building in holes and cran- 
 nies, and is by no means particular as to its domicile. Kind- 
 hearted persons are in'the habit of nailing boxes to poles in their 
 gardens for the use of this little bird, which is sure to take im- 
 mediate possession, and to repay them for their benevolence by 
 ridding their plants of noxious insects. Empty cocoa-nuts, 
 gourds, earthen pots, and similar objects, are eagerly appropria- 
 ted by the wren ; and, in default of better premises, it will build 
 in old hats, or in the sleeves of coats that have been hanging un- 
 disturbed on their pegs. 
 
 The burrow of tlie Woodpecker is far too comfortable a dwell- 
 ing to be neglected by the wren, who allows the Woodpecker to 
 proceed with its labors until he thinks that the hole is large 
 enough for his purpose, and then assaults the unfortunate bur- 
 rowers, driving them ofi" to seek another and a less disturbed lo- 
 cality. In one case, a pair of Woodpeckers began to make their 
 tunnel in an apple-tree, and were driven from the spot by the 
 house-wren. They then pitched upon a pear-tree, completed 
 their burrow, and had laid one egg, wKen they were again at- 
 
THE WRY-NECK. 93 
 
 tacked by the fiery little bird, and obliged to abandon the locili- 
 ty altogether. 
 
 Safe as the habitation of the Woodpecker may seem, it is in 
 America exposed to many and strange dangers. One of the per- 
 ils which environ the burrows of this bird has already been men- 
 tioned, but a worse remains to be told. The blacksnake espies 
 the parent birds as they enter and leaVe their nest, presses its 
 sombre body against the tree, glides slowly up the trunk, and 
 enters the apartment of the Woodpecker. Eggs or young are 
 equally acceptable to the snake, which, finding itself in a com- 
 fortable and sheltered spot, coils itself round and abandons itself 
 to repose. " The eager schoolboy," writes Wilson, " after hazard- 
 ing his neck to reach the Woodpecker's hole, at the triumphant 
 moment when he thinks the nestlings his own, and strips his arm, 
 launching it down into the cavity, and grasping what he con- 
 ceives to be the callow young, starts with horror at the sight of a 
 hideous snake, and almost drops from his giddy pinnacle, retreat- 
 ing down the tree with terror and precipitation. 
 
 " Several adventures of this kind have come to my knowledge, 
 and one of them that was attended with serious consequences, 
 where both snake and boy fell .to the ground, and a broken thigh 
 and long confinement cured the adventurer completely of his am- 
 bition for robbing woodpeckers' nests." The unlucky bird-nester 
 might have saved himself a fall, had he been any thing of a nat- 
 uralist. The blacksnake which is mentioned in the anecdote 
 (Coryphodon constrictor) is as harmless as the common snake of 
 England, though it is a fierce-looking reptile, and very irascible 
 of temper, darting with open mouth at the hand of any one who 
 annoys it, and making believe to bite. It is sometimes called the 
 racer snake, on account of its swiftness. 
 
 There are' many birds which make use of holes in trees for the 
 deposition of their eggs, but which seldom, if ever, excavate the 
 burrow by their o^n exertions. One of the best known exam- 
 ples of these birds is the Wry-neck ( Yunx torquilld) or Emmet- 
 eater, a pretty though not a gorgeously-decorated creature. In 
 Wales it is known by the name of Gwas-y-gog, or Cuckoo's 
 knave, because it is said to follow the cuckoo as a servant follows 
 a master. It is a rather elegantly-shaped bird, with plumage 
 beautifully mottled with various shades of brown, and with a 
 kind of low crest on the head, movable at pleasure. This bird 
 
94 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 selects for its home some hollow in a tree, sometimes taking the 
 deserted burrow of a woodpecker, when it is fortunate enough to 
 secure so convenient a residence. Any holes in trees, however, 
 are used by the Wry-neck ; and it is very fond of those hollowed 
 places where a branch has been broken away, and the interior of 
 the tree has in consequence begun to decay. In such cavities 
 the bird makes its nest, 'or rather, lays its eggs, for it is quite sat- 
 isfied with chips of decayed wood for a bed whereon to place its 
 numerous white eggs; and, like all those birds which build in 
 burrows, it cares little about an elaborate nest. It will, however, 
 take advantage of the nest which has been made by some other 
 bird, and has been known to deposit its eggs in the deserted hab- 
 itation of a red-start. 
 
 Though a timid bird, it is never slow in defense of its home 
 and its numerous young ; and though its slight beak can inflict 
 but very trifling damage upon ordinary foes, it often frightens 
 away the novice who has approached its domicile, by writhing its 
 neck, darting its head forward, ruffing its crest, and hissing like 
 an angry viper. On account of this habit, it is known in many 
 parts of England by the popular name of Snake-bird. The head 
 and neck of the bird have quite a formidable aspect as they thus 
 present themselves at the orifice of the burrow, and at a little dis- 
 tance the writhing neck and angry hiss give to the creature a 
 very sanguinary character. 
 
 Among the semi-burrowers we may rank the Starling {Stur- 
 nus vulgaris), as this bird invariably lays its eggs in a hollow of 
 some kind. 
 
 Its instinct teaches it to select spots wherein it can be hidden ; 
 and the deeper the burrow, and the narrower the entrance, the 
 better does the Starling seem to be pleased. In all kinds of 
 places the Starling makes its home, and its pale blue eggs may 
 be found wherever there is a hole that will contain them. Under 
 the eaves of houses the Starling contrives to creep, and finds 
 some retired spot where it can sit in security and tend its young. 
 Oftentimes when it resides in towns it displays so much ingenuity 
 in concealing the locality of its habitation, that the impatient cry 
 of the young birds affords the first indication of a nest. Fre- 
 quently it gets into pigeon-cotes, and associates quite amicably 
 with the rightful inmates. It has a great liking for the same 
 domicile as the jackdaw, and there is often a trial of skill between 
 the birds, each trying-to gain the disputed nesting-place. 
 
THE STARLING. 95 
 
 In tovyers, old trees, and similar places, th'e jackdaws endeavor 
 to supplant %he owls, and the Starlings endeavor to extirpate the 
 jackdaws. On the ground under such places may be seen whole 
 heaps of sticks, dropped by the jackdaw while endeavoring to 
 make its nest, and showing how strangely circumscribed are the 
 reasoning powers of lower beings. 
 
 In many things the jackdaw is a wonderfully clever bird, dis- 
 playing such an amount of ingenuity in its actions, that its ra- 
 tional capacities are evidently very great. But, however clever 
 a bird may be, and however admirably it may adapt its actions 
 to surrounding circumstances, it is sure to break down suddenly 
 in an unexpected manner, and to fail in the easiest part of its 
 task. A jackdaw, for example, will go afield in search of sticks, 
 and will spend some time in selecting a branch that will serve its 
 purpose. It lifts, and drops, and turns, and weighs the branch, 
 displaying great acumen in its task, and occupying much time 
 in making a proper selection. When it has chosen a suitable 
 branch, it flies away to the spot it has chosen for its nest. 
 
 When taking up the branch, the jackdaw mostly carries it by 
 the middle, because it can be easily balanced when so held. But 
 the bird fqrgets that a branch held crosswise will not enter a 
 small aperture, and accordingly it finds itself checked when en- 
 deavoring to gain admission to its domicile. It flutters about in 
 great dismay, and tries with all its powers to force the branch 
 into the hole ; but it never thinks of the simple expedient of tak- 
 ing the branch by the end, and pushing it lengthwise through 
 the entrance ; and after it has wearied itself out in vain attempts, 
 it drops the branch and goes off for another. Beneath the many 
 nesting-places at Walton Hall may be seen ■ a wonderful number 
 of sticks which have been thus dropped. Mr. Waterton lately 
 drew my attention to a rapidly-accumulating pile of dead branch- 
 es, which had been dropped by a jackdaw which was making its 
 nest in a small window in the stable front. In this favored place 
 the birds know that they will not be injured, and so they permit 
 their proceedings to be watched without exhibiting any shyness. 
 
 Old towers are very favorite haunts of the Starling, who builds 
 in close proximity to the owl and jackdaw, neither of the three 
 appearing to be disturbed by the presence of the others. In for- 
 est lands the Starling lays its eggs in old trees ; and I have fre- 
 quently looked into a little hole high on the trunk, and seen the 
 eggs lying far below, out of the reach of any foe except the rat, 
 
96 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 the weasel, and the British schoolboy, with his fertile invention 
 and ready limbs. Starlings which choose such situations are 
 strangely indifferent to observation, and are so noisy in all their 
 conversation, that they may be heard at a distance of several 
 hundred yards. 
 
 One or two other British birds must be mentioned, because 
 they lay their eggs in excavations either natural or artificiaL 
 There is the elegant little Tree Creeper {Certhia familiwis), so 
 well known for its delicate form, its slender and slightly-curved 
 beak, and the great agility with which it traverses the trunks of 
 trees. The nest of this bird is mostly placed in the hollow of 
 some decaying tree, and is of rather more ambitious a character 
 than is generally found with birds which lay their eggs in simi- 
 lar situations, being formed of moss, grass, and other soft vegeta- 
 ble substances, and lined with downy feathers. There are ab6"uf 
 seven or eight eggs, which are small and of a light gray, varie- 
 gated with brownish dots. 
 
 The short-bodied, stout-beaked, strong-limbed Nut-hatch {Sit- 
 ia Europcea) is another example of the semi-burrowers, inasmuch 
 as it always chooses the hollow of a decaying tree for its nursery. 
 The general habits of tTiis curious little bird are very well known, 
 and as they bear but very slightly on the principle of nesting, 
 there is no need to mention them in this place. 
 
 The cavity which the bird selects is usually one which has but 
 a very small entrance; and it is said that when the orifice is too 
 large, the mother bird lessens it by kneading clay into the sides. 
 It has already been mentioned that the wry-neck defends its nest 
 by the simulation of offensive powers, though it is,^in truth, a 
 very harmless bird, without the means to work an injury to an 
 enemy. The Nut-hatch defends its home with equal success, but 
 not by the same deception ; for whenever an enemy approaches 
 too closely to the nest, out dashes the bird in a state of wild ex- 
 citement, darts at the intruder, and pecks so fiercely with its pow- 
 erful beak, that it can drive away any ordinary foe. The bite 
 which the Nut-hatch can inflict is of no trifling force ; for the 
 beak is strong enough to crack the shell of any nut, and when 
 employed on softer substances, is very apt to leave behind it a 
 tangible mark of its powers. 
 
 The nest of the Nut-hatch is hardly deserving of the name, for 
 
THE HOOPOE — COLE-TIT. 97 
 
 it merely consists of a few dried leaves, intermingled with little 
 bits of decaying wood. 
 
 Another of these semi-burrowing birds is the Hoopoe {Upupa 
 epops), one of the handsomest, though not the most brilliant, of 
 English birds. It is now very rare in this country, and, from all 
 appearances, is unlikely to become plentiful. 
 
 The Hoopoe makes its nest in some decaying tree, and often 
 prepares the hollow for its nest, though without intending to do 
 so. The food of the bird consists chiefly of insects, in various 
 stages of existence, most of which are dug by the long bill from 
 the decayed wood wherein they burrow. The larvae of many 
 beetles exist in such localities, and as they are mostly fat and 
 plump, they afford abundant nourishment to their destroyer. In 
 dislodging these larvae frorri their strong-holds, the Hoopoe not 
 only enlarges the hollow, but flings a quantity of small chips of 
 the spongy wood to the bottom of the cavity. The nest is made 
 of grass, feathers, and similar materials, and in many cases is 
 placed upon the layer of dried fragments. 
 
 The cavity in which the Hoopoe makes its nest is notable for 
 a liiost horrible stench, which, in countries where the bird is plen- 
 tiful, has become proverbial. The odor which emanates from the 
 kingfisher is most unsavory, but it does not possess the pungent 
 offensiveness which distinguishes that of the Hoopoe. The food 
 of the Hoopoe was long considered to be the cause of this unpleas- 
 ant peculiarity ; but as the bird lives entirely on insects, it is evi- 
 dent that some other cause must be sought. This is found in 
 certain glands near the tail, which secrete a substance that cer- 
 tainly must be useful to the bird in some mysterious way, just as 
 the odorous secretion of the musk-deer must be beneficial to the 
 animal ; but it possesses a singularly offensive smell, and renders 
 the nest unendurable to human nostrjls. 
 
 One or two of the Titmice are in the habit of making their 
 nests in similar situations. The Cole -tit {Pariis ater) will al- 
 ways take advantage of hollow places, though it is perfectly ca- 
 pable of building a nest among the dense underwood, and its 
 habitation may be mostly found in such localities. Young fir 
 plantations are favorite resorts of this bird, which finds a con- 
 genial resting-place among the low, horizontal branches. 
 
 In Mudie's " Feathered Tribes of the British Islands," there is 
 
 G 
 
98 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 a brief and valuable summary of the bird-attracting powers of 
 the fir in its different stages of development. " In a fir planta- 
 tion, whicli is neither so low as to partake of t£e mushroom 
 growth of pines (especially Pinus sylvestris) upon too rich soils, 
 nor too inland and upland, there is a succession of birds. Lin- 
 nets and other brake -birds come to them as long as they are 
 mere bushes ; but the note of the cuckoo is not heard in them. 
 After a while the Cole -tit becomes one of their most plentiful 
 inhabitants ; and by that time the cuckoo perches and sings on 
 the margin. A few years longer, and the ringdove moans in the 
 tops of the trees, which have then begun to open toward the sur- 
 face of the ground, and the covers for the brake-birds, and rest- 
 ing-places for all birds that build hideling and near the earth, are 
 gone. The cuckoo is then heard less frequently, unless there are 
 coppices of deciduous trees, qr young pines come up in succes- 
 sion, in the vicinity. If the trees form a belt between rich 
 grounds, the magpie, though he loves the ' home' trees better, 
 will sometimes come, a little after the Wood-pigeon; and if the 
 plantation is deep and secluded, the jay will, perhaps, come a lit-^ 
 tie earlier. To all these succeeds the rook, which nestles in the 
 mature trees, with the long boles clear of branches, and he quits 
 them not until they are cut down or perish in the lapse of time." 
 In my note-book there is a sketch of a curious habitation occu- 
 pied by a Cole - tit. One of the large trees at Walton Hall had 
 been infested by the fungus, which has already been mentioned, 
 and had broken asunder some eighteen or twenty feet from the 
 ground. Several spots where these fungi had softened the wood 
 were excavated by Mr. Waterton, in order to make nesting-places 
 for various birds. In such spots the owls come and breed, and 
 so do the jackdaws, starlings, and other birds. To one of these 
 cavities Mr. Waterton fitted a door, composed of bark, and in the 
 upper part of the door he cut a little circular hole. The Cole-tit 
 soon found out the hollow, and discovering that the cavity would 
 make a good dwelling-place, and that the hole afforded an easy 
 mode of entrance and egress, she proceeded to make her nest 
 therein. When I saw the tree, the Cole -tit had not begun to 
 build, but the pieces of the old nest were there, and could easily 
 be seen by opening the door. 
 
 , Another example of birds that make their nests within the hol- 
 low of trees is the strangely -formed Toucan {Eamphasios Ariel). 
 
THE TOUOAH". 
 
 Toucan. 
 
 There are many species of Toucan, all of which are easily re- 
 cognizable on account of the colors of the beak, for in all these 
 birds the enormous bill is decorated with strangely brilliant tints. 
 In one species the bill is rich orange and black, in another it is 
 scarlet and yellow, and in another it is green and red ; and in all 
 it is of enormous dimensions when compared with the body, and 
 is of great strength, though very light. Indeed, it is but a mere 
 shell lof horny substance, in some places not thicker than writing 
 paper, and colored by means of certain membranes in the interior, 
 which shine through the semi-transparent horn. 
 
 It has long been known that the Toucan nested in hollow /trees, 
 and that it preferred those cavities which could only be entered 
 by a small aperture, the reason for this predilection being rather 
 absurd. It was supposed that the young of the Toucan were lia- 
 ble to the attacks of monkeys and large birds of prey, and that 
 whenever the parent bird was alarmed, all she had to do was to 
 poke her beak out of the aperture. The assailant, on seeing such 
 a huge bill, fancied that an animal of corresponding size must be 
 behind it, and therefore fled from so doughty a foe. One writer 
 puts this idea in a very quaint manner. The monkeys, he says, 
 
100 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 are very noisome to young birds, and try to pull the unfledged 
 Toucans out of their nests. But the mother bird, when she sees 
 a monkey approaching, "so settles herself in her nest as to put 
 her bill out at the hole, and gives the monkeys such a welcome 
 therewith, that they presently pack away, and glad they escape 
 so." 
 
 According to some writers, the Toucan makes the burrow for 
 itself, using the huge beak as the tool wherewith it excavates its 
 work. I very much doubt, however, whether the bird has the 
 power of doing so, and think that, at the most, it only adapts and 
 slightly alters the interior of the hollow in order to suit its own 
 purposes. 
 
 The Toucan is always a tree-loving bird, and does not wander 
 from the forests. It is a native of South America, and may gen- 
 erally be seen perched on the topmost boughs of the lofty mora- 
 tree, far beyond the reach of the shot-gun, and requiring a single 
 bullet, or the Indian's tiny poisoned arrow, to bring it from its 
 lofty elevation. It flies only by jerks, takes no long aerial jour- 
 neys, and its body always seems overweighted by the enormous., 
 beak, which makes the head bow downward as the bird passes 
 through the air. 
 
 Perhaps the Swift (Cypselus apus) may take rank among the 
 semi-burrowing birds. 
 
 It always lays its long white eggs and makes its simple nest in 
 holes, and in some cases is able to form the tunnel in which it 
 breeds. When it takes up its habitation far from human abodes, 
 it contents itself with crevices in rocks, hollow trees, and similar 
 localities. But, when it resides near the habitations of man, it at- 
 taches itself to him like the swallow and the martin. Slates and 
 tiles have, however, driven the Swift away from many a spot 
 wherein it was once plentiful, for it loves to penetrate into thatch 
 and therein to rear its hungry brood. 
 
 I can well remember the gradual ejection of the Swifts from a 
 country town on account of architectural improvements. For- 
 merly, when all the less pretending houses were covered with 
 thatch, the Swifts had their nests in every roof, and the " Jacky 
 Screamers," as the peasants called the birds, used to hunt for flies 
 in the streets, and boldly carry their prey to their young. The 
 houses were so low that a man could touch the eaves merely by 
 standing on a chair, and the habits of the birds were easily watch- 
 
THE SWIFT. 101 
 
 ed. Their nests were frequently, robbed, but the birds seemed to 
 care little for their bereavement, and when the eggs were re- 
 moved, would quietly lay another couple or so. I seldom found 
 more than three eggs in a nest. 
 
 By watching the Swift enter the tunnel leading to its nest, the 
 object of the oddly -formed feet is clearly ascertained. The legs 
 are very short but strongly made, and the toes are all furnished 
 with strong curved claws, and directed forward, so that the bird 
 is unable to clasp a branch with its feet. This structure enables 
 it to scramble through its tunnel with .great rapidity, and it is 
 most interesting to see the Swift wheel round in the air with a 
 piercing cry, answered by a little complacent chirrup from its 
 mate within the nest, then dart into the hole as if shot from a 
 bow, closing its wings as it enters the tunnel, and then scramble 
 away with a quick aad certain gait that never fails to excite ad- 
 miration. 
 
 The nest itself is a very simple affair. Any soft material seems 
 to suit the Swift, which brings hay, flakes of wool, bits of rag, 
 feathers, paper, string, and many other substances into the bur- 
 row. With these materials it makes a tolerably compact nest, 
 which is generally to be found at a distance of eighteen inches or 
 two feet from the entrance of the burrow. The holes which have 
 been made by rats are mostly used for this purpose, but if the 
 bird can not find a hollow already existing, it is quite capable of 
 forming one for itself, and by dint of pulling out the straws in 
 some weak spot, and pushing aside those which it can not ex- 
 .tract, it soon makes a burrow large enough for its purpose. 
 
102 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 BUEEOWING EEPTILES. 
 
 The Reptiles and their Hibernation. — The Land Tortoise and its Winter Dwell- 
 ing. — The Crocodiles. — Snakes. — The Yellow Snake of Jamaica. — Its gen- 
 eral Habits. — Its burrowing powers discovered. — Presumed Method of removing 
 the Earth. 
 
 The Eeptiles are, as a body, not remarkable for the burrows 
 which they make. 
 
 Many of them bore their way into the ground, pass a few 
 months in a state of torpidity, and then push their way out again. 
 But the hole which they make in the earth j^ scarcely to be called 
 a home, inasmuch as the inhabitant merely enters it as a conven- 
 ient place wherein it may become torpid, and abandons it as soon 
 as the ordinary functions of the system are restored by the 
 warmth of the succeeding year. 
 
 The common Land Tortoise, for example {Testudo GroBca), is in 
 the habit of slowly digging a burrow with almost painful deliber- 
 ation, and then concealing itself below the surface of the earth 
 during the cold months of winter. Many Tortoises which have 
 lived in this country have been noticed to perform this act, and 
 I have lately seen a very good example of a burrow which had 
 been sunk amid some strawberry plants, and from which the in- 
 mate had just emerged. 
 
 Many other reptiles follow a similar course of action. The 
 crocodiles, for example, burrow themselves deeply in the mud, 
 and have more than once caused much alarm by awakening out 
 of their hibernation, and protruding their unwelcome snouts from 
 the mud close to the feet of the astonished spectator. 
 
 Snakes are accustomed, in like manner, to conceal themselves 
 during the period of their hibernation, resorting to hollow trees, 
 holes in the ground, and similar localities. Laborers, while en- 
 gaged in digging, especially in breaking down banks, frequently 
 unearth a goodly assemblage of snakes, all coiled up in an unsus- 
 pected cavity, which they must have entered through the desert- 
 ed burrow of a mouse or some other little anims,!. But that a 
 snake should be able to form its own burrow is a feature so re- 
 markable in herpetology, that a single accredited example must 
 not be passed without notice. 
 
THE YELLOW SNAKE. 103 
 
 In his very interesting work on' the natural history of Jamai- 
 ca, Mr. Gosse gives a curious account of a burrow made by the 
 Yellow Snake {GMlabothrus inornatus). This snake is very 
 plentiful in Jamaica, and is perfectly harmless to man, being des- 
 titute of poison-fangs, and not reaching a size which would render 
 it formidable to human beings; Its average length, when full- 
 grown, is eight fept. So far, indeed, from being obnoxious to 
 man, it may rank among his best friends, as being a determined 
 . foe to rats, feeding largely upon l^em, and even entering houses 
 in search of its prey. Like the weasel, indeed, of our own coun- 
 try, which feeds mostly on mice and other destructive animals, 
 but occasionally makes a raid upon the fowl-house, the Yellow 
 Snake enters the farm-yard, and, instead of eating rats as it ought 
 to do, proceeds to the hen-roosts, and robs them. No less than 
 seven eggs have been found inside a single Yellow Snake, and 
 not a single egg was broken. 
 
 There is now (1863) a good specimen in the Eeptile-room of 
 the Zoological Gardens of London. 
 
 One of these snakes was seen to crawl out of a hole in the side 
 of a yam-hill — i. e. a bank of mould prepared for the purpose of 
 growing yams — and when the earth was carefully removed, a 
 large chamber was discovered in the middle of the hill, nicely 
 lined with strips of half-dried plantain leaves, technically called 
 "trash," and containing six eggs, all fastened together. Just 
 outside the hole was a heap of loose mould, which had evidently 
 been thrown out when the excavation was made. 
 
 The Yellow Snake generally makes its home in the deep spaces 
 between the spurs of the fig or the buttresses of the cotton-tree, 
 and always lines it with "trash;" but that the creature should be » 
 able to excavate a burrow, and throw out the earth, seems almost 
 incredible. How did the snake remove the earth? As the rep- 
 tile -was not seen in the act of excavating, this question could not 
 be precisely answered. Mr. Hill, however, to whom the subject 
 was referred, gave as his opinion that the snake loosened the 
 earth with its snout, and then worked' the loose soil out of the 
 hollow by successive contractions of the segments of the abdomen, 
 which would thus " ddiver" the soil after the manner of the Ar- 
 chimedean screw. 
 
 The eggs which were found in the chamber were removed, and 
 from one of them, which was opened, was taken a young snake, 
 about seven inches in length. 
 
104 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 BDEEOWING INVERTEBEATES. 
 
 CEpSTACEA. I 
 
 The Land Crabs and their Habits. — iThe Violet Land Crab. — Its Burrows, its 
 Combativeness, and its pedestrian Pfl(vers. — The Fighting Ckab, why so called. 
 — The Racer Crab of Ceylon. — Its Barrows, and Mode of carrying off the Soil. 
 — The Robber Crab. — Its Form and general Habits. — Food of the Robber Crab. 
 — A soft Bed and well-stocked Larder. — The Chelhba, and its Eavages among 
 Timber. — The Gribble and its Kin. 
 
 The reader will doubtless perceive that among such a multi- 
 tude of mammals and birds, each of which has some habitation, it 
 is impossible to give more than a selection of some of the more 
 remarkable examples. Although, therefore, there are many other 
 burrowing and semi-burrowing vertebrates, we must leave the 
 furred, feathered, and scaled tribes, and pass to those which oc- 
 cupy a lower place in the animal kingdom. 
 
 Among the Crustacea, there are very many species which form 
 burrows, and which conceal themselves under the sand or mud. 
 As, however, these creatures can not be said to form their habita- 
 tions, and the burrows are mostly obliterated by the return of the 
 water, they can scarcely be reckoned among those which make 
 " homes without hands." Some, however, there are which are as 
 fully entitled to be ranked among the true burrowers as any crea- 
 ture which we have mentioned, digging a regular burrow in the 
 . earth, residing in their subterranean home, issuing, forth to pro- 
 cure food, and retiring to it when alarmed. These are the crea- 
 tures so widely famous as Land Crabs (Gecarcmm), respecting 
 which so many wonderful tales are told, some true, some false, 
 and many exaggerated. The Land Crabs are found in various 
 parts of the world, and are notable for very similar habits. They 
 all burrow in the ground, run with very great speed, bite with 
 marvelous severity, and associate in considerable numbers. As 
 a general fact, they are considered as great dainties, and when 
 properly prepared, may be ranked among the standing luxuries 
 of their country. 
 
 As the Violet Land Crab of Jamaica {Gecarcinus ruricola), is 
 the most familiar of these creatures, we will take it as our first 
 
THE LAND CKAB. 
 
 105 
 
 ^B^„ 
 
 Land Grab. 
 
 example of the burrowing Crustacea. This species, -vyhich is 
 , sometimes .called the Black Crab, and sometimes the Toulourou, 
 is exceedingly variable in its coloring, sometimes black, some- 
 times blue, and sometimes spotted. Whatever may be the color, 
 some tinge of blue is always to be found, so that the name of Vi- 
 olet Crab is the most appropriate of the three. "Wherever the 
 Land Crab makes its home, the ground is filled with its burrows, 
 which are as thickly sown as those of a rabbit warren, and within 
 these habitations the crabs remain for the greater part of the day, 
 coming out at night to feed, but being always ready to scuttle 
 back at the least alarm. 
 
 Should, however, their retreat be intercepted, they are as ready 
 to fight as to run, and have a curious habit of seizing the foe with 
 one of the large claws, and then shaking off the limb at its junc- 
 tion with the body. As the muscles of the claw retain their ten- 
 
106 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 siou for some little time after the connection with the body has 
 been severed, the enemy feels as much pain as if the crab were 
 still living ; and in the momentary confusion caused by the bite, 
 the crab takes the opportunity to conceal itself in some crevice. 
 As is the case with all crustaceans, it suffers but a temporary loss, 
 a new limb soon sprouting out, and taking the place of the dis- 
 carded member. 
 
 Although these warrens are Adorn less than a mile from the 
 sea, and are often made at a distance of two or even three miles, 
 the Land Crabs are obliged to travel to the shore for the purpose 
 of depositing their eggs, which are attached to the lower surface, 
 of the abdojjaen, and are washed off by the surf. Large numbers 
 of the crabs may be seen upon their journey, which they prose- 
 cute so eagerly that they suffer no opposition to deter them from 
 their purpose. This custom has probably given rise to the greatly 
 exaggerated tales that have been narrated respecting these crabs, 
 and their custom of sealing perpendicular walls rather than turn 
 aside from the direct line of their route. 
 
 Twice in the year the Land Crabs become very fat and heavy, 
 and are then in the best condition for the table, their flesh being 
 peculiarly rich and loaded with fat. No one seems to be tired 
 of the Land Crab, and new-comers are apt to indulge in the novel 
 dainty to such an extent that their internal economy is sadly de- 
 ranged for some little time after the banquet. 
 
 About the month of August the Land Crab is obliged to cast 
 its shell, and for that purpose retires to the burrow, which has 
 been well stocked with grass, leaves, and similar materials. It 
 then closes the entrance, and remains hidden until it has thrown « 
 off its old shell, and indued its hew suit, which is then very soft, 
 being little but a membranous skin, traversed by multitudinous 
 vessels. At this time the crab is thought to be in the best condi- 
 tion for the table. Calcareous matter is rapidly deposited upon 
 the membrane, and in process of time the new shell becomes even 
 harder and stronger than that which has been rejected. 
 
 Many species of Land Crab are known, some of which T30ssess 
 rather curious habits. The Fighting Crab {Gehsimns hellator), 
 is a good example of them. This species possesses one very large 
 and one very little claw, so that it looks as if a small man were 
 gifted with one arm of Hercules and the other of Tom Thumb. 
 As it runs along, with the wonderful speed which belongs to all 
 its kin, it holds the large claw in the air, and nods it continually. 
 
THE BACER — THE EOBBER CEAB. 107 
 
 as beckoning to its pursuer. While so engaged it has so absurd 
 an aspect that it has earned the generic title of Gelasimus, i. e. 
 laughable. As may be conjectured from its popular name, it is a 
 very combative species, holding its fighting claw across its body, 
 just as an accomplished boxer holds his arm, and biting with 
 equal quickness and force. It is also a burrower, and lives in 
 pairs, the female being within, and the male remaining on guard 
 at the mouth of the hole, his great fighting claw across the en- 
 trance. 
 
 Another Land Crab, which has earned the generic title of Ocy- 
 pode, or Swift-footed, and is popularly called the Eager, from its 
 astonishing speed, is a native of Ceylon, where it exists in such 
 numbers that it becomes a terrible nuisance to the residents. 
 Having no respect for the improvements of civilization, this crab 
 persists in burrowing into the sandy roads, and is so industrious 
 at its excavations that a staff of laborers is constantly employed 
 in filling up the burrows which these crabs have made. Were 
 not this precaution taken, there would be many accidents to 
 horsemen. ^ 
 
 The mode of excavation employed by this creature is rather 
 peculiar. It " burrows in the dry soil, making deep excavations, 
 Taringing up literally armfuls of sand, which, with a spring in the 
 air, and employing its other limbs, it jerks far from its burrows, 
 distributing it in a circle to the distance of many feet." 
 
 There is a very remarkable burrowing crustacean, called the 
 EoBBER Crab {Birgus latro). This creature is of a strange, weird- 
 like shape, difScult to explain, but easily to be comprehended by 
 reference to the illustration. The reader can, however, form some 
 notion of its general form by removing a common hermit crab 
 from its residence, and laying it flat before him. The Eobber 
 Crab, however, does not live in a shell, and 'its abdomen is conse- 
 quently defended by hard plates, instead of being soft and unpro- 
 tected like that of the hermit crab, to which it is closely allied. 
 ' The Eobber Crab inhabits the islands of the Indian Ocean, and 
 is one of those Crustacea which are able to exist for a long time 
 without visiting the water, the gills being kept moist by means of 
 a reservoir on each side of the cephalothorax, in which the organs 
 of respiration lie. Only once in twelity-four hours does this re- 
 markable crab visit the ocean, and in all probability enters the 
 water for the purpose of receiving the supply which preserves 
 , the gills in working order. 
 
108 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 It is a quick walker, though not gifted with such marvelous 
 speed as that which i^ the property of the racer and other land 
 crabs, and is rather awkward in its gait, impeded probably by the 
 enormous claws. While walking, it presents a curious aspect, 
 being lifted nearly a foot above the ground on its two central 
 pairs of legs, and if it be intercepted in its retreat, it brandishes 
 its formidable weapons, clattering them loudly, and always keep- 
 ing its face toward the enemy. Some writers aver that it is capa- 
 ble of climbing up the stems of the palm-trees, in order to get at 
 the fruit, but this assertion seems to require very strong corrobo- 
 ration before it can be believed. 
 
 The, food of the Eobber Crab is of a very peculiar nature, con- 
 sisting chiefly, if not entirely, of the cocoa-nut. Most of my read- 
 ers have seen this enormous fruit as it appears when take© from 
 the tree, surrounded with a thick massy envelope of fibrous sub- 
 stance, which, when stripped from the nut itself, is employed for 
 many useful purposes. How the creature is to feed on the kernel 
 seems quite a mystery ; and, primd facie, for a crab to extract the 
 cocoa-nut from its envelope, to pierce the thick and stubborn shell, 
 and to feed upon the inclosed kernel, seems an utterly impossible 
 task. Indeed, had not the feat been watched by credible witness- 
 es, no one who was acquainted with the habits and powers of the* 
 Crustacea would have credited such an assertion. Yet Mr. Dar- 
 win, Messrs. Tyerman and Bennett, and other observant men, have 
 watched the habits of the creature, and all agree in their accounts. 
 
 According to Mr. Darwin, the crab, seizes upon the fallen cocoa- 
 nuts,- and with its enormous pincers tears away the outer cover- 
 ing,'reducing it to a mass of raveled threads. This substance is 
 carried by the crabs into their holes, for the, purpose of forming a 
 bed whereon they can rest when they change their shells, and the 
 Malays are in the habit of robbing the burrows of these stored 
 fibres, which are ready picked for them, and which they use as 
 "junk," i. e. a rough kind of oakum, which is employed for calk- 
 ing the seams of vessels, making mats, and similar purposes. 
 When the crab has freed the nut from the husk, it introduces the 
 small end of a claw into one of the little holes which are found at 
 one end of the cocoa-nut, and by turning the claw backward and 
 forward, as if it were a brad-awl, the crab contrives to scoop out 
 the soft substance of the nut. 
 
 According to the observations of Messrs. Tyerman and Ben- 
 nett, the well-known missionaries to the South Seas, the Robber 
 
THB BOBBES OBAB. 
 
THE ROBBER CEAB. Ill 
 
 Crab has another method of getting at the cocoa-nut, and displays 
 an instinctive knowledge of political economy which is very re- 
 markable. 
 
 " These animals live under the cocoa-nut-trees, and subsist upon 
 the fruit which they find upon the ground. With their powerful 
 front claws they tear off the fibrous husk ; afterward, inserting 
 one of the sharp points of the same into a hole at the end of the 
 nut, they beat it with violence against a stone until it cracks ; the 
 shell is then easily pulled to pieces, and the precious fruit within 
 devoured at leisure. Sometimes, by widening the hole with one 
 of their round, gimlet claws, or enlarging the breach with their 
 forceps, they effect sufficient entrance to enable them to sftoop out 
 the kernel, without the trouble of breaking the unwieldy nut. 
 
 " These crabs burrow in the earth, under the roots of the trees 
 that furnish them with provisions — prudently storing up in their 
 holes large quantities of cocoa-nuts, stripped of their husk, at those 
 times when the fruits are most abundant, against the recurring in- 
 tervals when they are scarce. We are informed that if the long 
 and delicate antennae of these robust creatures be touched with 
 oil, they instantly die. They are not found on any of these isl- 
 ands except the small coral ones, of which they are the principal 
 occupants. The people here account them delicious food." 
 
 The palm-climbing habits jofthe Eobber Crab are mentioned by 
 Mr. T. H. Hood, in his " Notes of a Cruise in H. M. S. Fawn, in the 
 Western Pacific." In the Samoan groip of islands, the crab is 
 called " Ou-ou," and is a favorite article of food. While the ves- 
 sel remained off Samoa, Mr. Hood asked about these crabs ; and 
 though he did not see any of them performing so strange a feat, 
 he shows that there are very good grounds for believing the pos- 
 sibility of such an action. 
 
 " I inquired of them about the habits q£ the Ou-ou, or great 
 cocoa-nut-eating crab, common, here, and lound the reports pre- 
 viously received from the natives corroborated. Mr. Darwin 
 mentions that, in the Seychelles and elsewhere, there is a spe- 
 cies which is in the habit of husking the nuts on the ground, 
 and then tapping one of the eyes with its great claw, in order to 
 reach the kernel. Its congener here ascends the cocoa-trees, and 
 having thrown the nuts down, husks them on the ground ; this 
 operation performed, again ascends with the nutS, which he 
 throws down, generally breaking them at the first attempt, but, 
 if not successful, repeating it till the object is attained. 
 
112 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 "Before leaving, an old Savage Island man at the mission 
 brought in three or four immense Ou-ous, which evinced in their 
 efforts to escape, bursting coils of cocoa-nut sinnet, a strength 
 quite suf&cient to husk the toughest cocoa-nut. As to the meth- 
 od of obtaining the contents afterward, every native (both Sa- 
 moans and NiuaTis) confirms the account mentioned before. The 
 Niuans understand their habits best. The old man who brought 
 them to-day dug them out of the holes in which they remain 
 many weeks torpid. The female differs from the male in having 
 three flippers, well furnished with strong borers, on the right side 
 of the sac.'' 
 
 Whe'h fuU grown, this crab is more than two feet in length, 
 and, as may be seen by the illustration, is stoutly made in pro- 
 portion to its length. The color of the, creature is very pale 
 brown, with a decided tinge of yellow. 
 
 Passing by many other species of Crustacea which burrow in 
 the earth, or mud, or sand, we come to a very remarkable being, 
 which makes its habitation in solid wood. This is the "WooD- 
 BOEING Shrimp {Ghelura terebrans), one of the sessile -eyed Crus- 
 tacea, nearly related to the well-known sand-hopper, which is so 
 plentiful on our coasts. 
 
 Although very small, it is terribly destructive, and does no 
 small damage to wooden piles driven into the bed of the sea. 
 It is furnished with a^eculiar rasping instrument, by means of 
 which it is enabled to scrape away the wood and form a little 
 burrow, in which it resides, and which supplies it with nourisb- 
 ment as well as with a residence. The tunnels which it makes 
 are mostly driven in an oblique direction ; so that when a large 
 number of these creatures have been at work upon a piece of 
 timber, the effect of|j|eir united labors is to loosen a flake of va- 
 riable dimensions. As long as Jhe weather is calm, the loosened 
 flake keeps its position ; but no sooner does a tempest arise, than 
 the flake is washed away, and a new surface is exposed to the ac- 
 tion of the Ghelura. 
 
 When the Ghelura is placed on dry land, it is able to leap 
 nearly as well as the sand -hopper, and performs the feat in a 
 similar manner. 
 
 This is not the only wood-boring crustacean with which our 
 coasts are pestered ; for the Gribble {Limnoria tenehrans) makes 
 
THE GBIBBLE. 113 
 
 deeper tunnels than the preceding creature, though it is not so 
 rapidly destructive, owing to the direction of its burrows, which 
 are driven straight into the wood, and do not cause it to flake 
 off so quickly as is the case when the Chelura excavates it. 
 Still, it works very great harm to the submerged timber, boring 
 to a depth of two inches, and nearly always tunneling in a 
 straight line, unless forced to deviate by a nail, a knot, or simi- 
 lar obstacle. The Grribble is a very tiny creature, hardly larger 
 than a grain of rice, and yet, by -dint of swarming numbers, it is 
 able to consume the wooden piles on which certain piers and jet- 
 ties are supported ; and in the short space of three years these 
 destructive Crustacea have been known to eat away a thick fir 
 plank, and to reduce it to a mere honey-comb. Sometimes these 
 two wood-boring shrimps attack the same piece of wood, and, in 
 such cases, the mischief which they perpetrate is almost incredi- 
 ble, considering their small dimensions and the nature of the sub- 
 stance into which they bore. The common fresh-water shrimp, 
 so plentifiil in our brooks Und rivulets, is closely allied to the 
 Grribble, and will convey a very good idea of its appearance. In 
 some parts of our coasts the ravages of these animals are so de- 
 structive, that the substitution of iron or stone for wood has be- 
 come a necessity. 
 
 H 
 
114 HOMES WITHOUT HAIJDS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 BURROWING MOLLUSKS. 
 
 The Boeing Snail of the Bois des Roches. — Opinions as to its Method of Burrow- 
 ing. — Shape of the Tunnels. — Solitary Habits of the Snail. — The Piddock, its 
 Habits and Appearance. — Structure of the Shell, and its probable Use. — Method 
 of Burrowing. — Use of the Piddock and other marine Burrowers. — The Balance of 
 Nature preserved. — The Wood-eoeek and its Habits. — The Date Shell. — Its 
 extraordinary Powers of Tunneling. — The Razoe Shell. — Its Localities and 
 Mode of Life. — ^The Flask Shell and the Watebing-pot Shell. — The Ship- 
 worm. — Its Appearance when Young and Adult. — Its curious Development. — 
 Its Ravages, and the best Method of checking them. — Its Value to Engineers. 
 — The Giant Teredo. — Form, Dimensions, and Structure of the Shell. — How 
 and where discovered. 
 
 Ill fitted as the Mollusks seem to be for the task of burrow- 
 ing, there are several species which are able not only to make 
 their way through soft mud, or into the sandy bed of the sea, - 
 but to bore deep permanent tunnels into stone and wood. Even 
 the hard limestone and sound heart-of-oak timber can not defy 
 these indefatigable laborers, and, as the sailor or the dweller on 
 the coast knows full well, the rocks and the timber are often 
 found reduced to a mere honey -combed or spongy texture by the 
 innumerable burrows of these mollusks. 
 
 There is now before me a piece of very hard calcareous rock, 
 in which are bored several deep holes, large enough to admit a 
 man's thumb, and remarkably smooth in the interior, the extrem- 
 ity being always rounded. Indeed, if a hole were made in a 
 large lump of putty by putting the thumb into it and turning it 
 until the sides of the hole became smooth, a very good imitation 
 of these miniature tunnels would be produced. This fragment 
 of stone was taken from a little wood in Picardy, called Le Bois 
 des Roches, on account of the rocky masses that protrude through 
 its soil, and was brought to England by Mr. H. J. B. Hancock, 
 who kindly presented it to me. 
 
 In the winter time, each of these holes is occupied by a speci- 
 men of the Helix saxicava, a small snail, closely resembling the 
 common banded snail of our hedges {Helix nemoralis), and it is 
 thought that the holes are excavated by the snail which inhabits 
 
BUEEOWING MOLLUSKS. 115 
 
 them. Mr. Hancock, who has lately reopened in the columns of 
 the Field newspaper a controversy respecting these snails, which 
 was initiated in 1839, is of opinion that the snails really form the 
 hole, and that they burrow at the average rate of half an inch 
 per annum. The late Dean Buckland was of the same opinion. 
 Other naturalists, however, think that the holes were originally 
 excavated by pholades and other marine mollusks when the 
 rocks in question formed part of the ocean bed, and that the 
 snails merely inhabit the ready-formed holes. Mr. Pinkerton up- 
 holds this opinion, and states that at least three other species of 
 helix possess similar habits, the garden and the banded snail be- 
 ing among the number. 
 
 I have compared the burrows of the mollusk, which we will 
 call the Boring Snail, with those of the pholas and lithodomus, 
 both of which will be presently described, and find that there is 
 no resemblance in their forms, the shape and direction of the 
 holes being evidently caused by an animal of no great length 
 in proportion to its width. In my own specimen, every hole is 
 contracted at irregular intervals, forming a succession of round- 
 ed hollows. If we return to our lump of putty, we may form 
 the holes made by the thumb into a very good imitation of 
 those in which the Boring Snail lives. After the thumb has 
 been pushed into the putty and well twisted round, put in the 
 forefinger as far as the first joint and turn it round so as to 
 make a rounded hollow. Push the finger into the hole as far 
 as the second joint, and repeat the process. Now introduce the 
 whole of the finger, enlarge the extremity of the hole and round 
 it carefully, when there will be a very correct representation of 
 the tunnel formed in the rock. 
 
 Granting that the snail really does form the burrow, we have 
 still to discover the mode of working. Mr. Hancock says that 
 it must do so by means of an acid secretion proceeding from 
 the foot, which corrodes the rock and renders it easy to be 
 washed away. If the snail be removed and placed on litmus 
 paper, the ruddy violet color which at once tinges the paper 
 shows that there is acid of some kind, and if the paper be ap- 
 plied to the spot whence the snail has been taken, the same re- 
 sults follow. It is a remarkable fact that although the snail 
 leaves the usual slimy marks of its progress when crawling in 
 the summer time, no mucus is perceptible on the approach of 
 winter. When the cold months come*round, the Boring Snail 
 
116 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 leaves its food and attaches itself to the rock, remaining in the 
 same spot until summer approaches. During this time, the por- 
 tion of rock to which it clings is worked away, and the stone 
 around the excavation is impregnated with a greasy matter which 
 soon dries up after the admission of the atmosphere. In a letter 
 to me, dated October 14th, 1863, Mr. Hancock remarks that the 
 rock at Monte Pellegrino in Sicily, which is crystalline and hard 
 as marble, is perforated by the same snail and in the same man- 
 ner. I may here mention that the stone of the Bois de Eoches 
 is that of which the column at Boulogne is built, which has re- 
 tained its sharpness of outline after exposure to wind and weath- 
 er for nearly sixty years. It is therefore called marhre Napoleon. 
 Mr. Hancock proceeds to say, "The following are a few of the pe- 
 culiarities which I have not mentioned in my letter in the Field: 
 
 " 1st. There is no instance at Bois de Eoches of a tunnel bei^g 
 formed on the horizontal surface of a rock, or on the sides facing 
 the south and southeast. They are always on the sides facing 
 the north or northeast. 
 
 " 2d. The snail forms no epiphragm." 
 
 [The "epiphragm" is the barrier of hardened mucus with 
 which snails mostly close the entrance of their shells. There are 
 generally several in each shell.] 
 
 " 3d. Though during the summer it leaves behind it the usual 
 slimy mucus track ; in the winter, on returning to the rocks, no 
 track is perceptible except the corrosion of the rock by frequent 
 passage. This would seem to point to a system of secreting or- 
 gans for the acid, separate from that for the mucus. 
 
 " 4th. Contrary to the usual habits of burrowing moUusks, who 
 generally have a bed of muddy matter between their shells and 
 the walls of their dwelling, the Helix saxicava keeps his tunnel 
 perfectly clean and neat. 
 
 "5th. When the liquor alluded to as forming a fatty aureole 
 round the tunnel penetrates into pre-existing clefts in the rock, it 
 provokes the growth of a microscopic lichen, which also grows in 
 the tunnels in places after the liquor has evaporated. 
 
 " 6th. The tunnels of the Helix saxicava are always irregular, 
 bearingino relation to the size or shape of the excavators, where- 
 as, in other excavating mollusks, the shape of the hole always 
 bears some relation to its occupant, and also the excavations are 
 alike for all animals of the same species." 
 
 There is an opinion tHat the gastric juice secreted in the stom- 
 
BUEROWING MOLLUSKS. 117 
 
 aoh may be the means through which the tunneling is conducted, 
 and that instead of being employed as food within the body it is 
 poured out upon the stone, so as to dissolve it, the softened sub- 
 stance being then removed by the foot. The Boring Snails do 
 not congregate together during hibernation, as is the well-known 
 custom of the garden species, but are always solitary. Sometimes 
 two or even three are found in the same burrow, but then they 
 are always at some distance from each other, and form supple- 
 mentary tunnels of their own. In my own specimen there is a 
 curious example of this peculiarity, where the snail has contrived 
 to bore completely through the barrier that separates it from a 
 neighboring tunnel, and has made a hole as large as the key-hole 
 of an ordinary writing-desk, and nearly of the same shape. 
 
 There are many marine-boring mollusks, some of which exca- 
 vate mud, others stone, and others timber. Of the mud-borers I 
 have little to say, few of them possessing points worthy of notice. 
 Perhaps the most noteworthy of these is the common Gaper 
 Shell {Mya arenaria), so called because one end of the shell 
 gapes widely, in order to permit the passage of a long and stout 
 tube. In a specimen now before me, the tube is between three 
 and four inches in length, and at the base is large enough to ad- 
 mit the thumb. As, however, it gradually tapers to the extremi- 
 ty, the aperture at the other end is scarcely capable of receiving 
 the little finger. The walls of this tube are very thin and mem- 
 branous, and it is more or less retractile, carrying within it the 
 siphons through which the moUusk respires and takes nourish- 
 ment. 
 
 The Gaper Shell inhabits sandy and muddy shores, and to an 
 inexperienced eye is quite invisible. The shell itself, together 
 with the actual body of the mollusk, is hidden deeply in the mud, 
 seldom less than three inches, and generally eleven or twelve 
 inches from its surface. In this position it would be unable to 
 respire, were it not for the elongating tube, which projects through 
 the mud into the water, and just permits the extremities of the 
 siphons to show themselves, surrounded by the little radiating 
 tentacles which betray them to the experienced shell -hunter. 
 These tentacles or fringes are never seen in the dried specimens, 
 and can only be partially preserved by plunging the animal into 
 spirits of wine, glycerin, or other antiseptic liquid. The Gaper 
 Shell is esteemed as an article of food by man, beast and bird ; 
 
118 HOMES -WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 for not only do human beings dig it up with tools, cook it, and 
 eat it, but the wolves and the arctic fox scratch it out of the mud 
 and eat it raw, and the various sea-birds peck it out with their 
 beaks, prize the shell open, and devour the contents. 
 
 The well-known Limpet is a kind of borer, though the holes 
 which it excavates are of very trifling depth, and are probably 
 made by the mechanical friction of the shell and foot against the 
 rock, .without any intention on the part of the animal. Those 
 who have been accustomed to wander along the sea-shore must 
 have noticed that the Limpet shells always sink more or less into 
 the rocks on which they cling, and that in very old specimens 
 which are covered with algae and barnacles, the shells are often 
 sunk fully half their depth into the solid rock. Grooves, too, of 
 various depths may be seen in the same rock, showing the slow 
 and tedious track which the Limpets have made over its surface, 
 until they finally settled down into some convenient situation. 
 
 Our next example of the burrowing m'ollusks is the well-known 
 Pholas, popularly called the Piddook {Pholas dactylus), the shells 
 of which are extremely plentiful upon our coasts, whether empty 
 and thrown upon the beach, or still adhering to the living animal 
 and deeply sunken in the rock. Almost in every part of our 
 shores the Piddock is to be found wherever there is rock, and its 
 dimensions and general appearance vary together with the locali- 
 ty. The chalk cliffs, which bound so many miles of our coast, 
 are thickly studded with the burrows of the Piddock, which takes 
 up its residence as high as the mid-water zone of the coast, and 
 in some places is so plentiful, that the hand can scarcely be laid 
 upon the rock without covering one or two of the holes. 
 
 The shell itself is extrettiely fragile, and of a rather soft texture, 
 and its outer surface is covered with ridges, that sweep in the 
 most graceful curves from the hinge to the edge, and bear some 
 resemblance to the projections upon a file. Yet practical natu- 
 ralists have proved that, by means of these tiny points and ridges, 
 the Pholas is able to work its way into the rock; for not only 
 can a similar hole be bored by using the shell as a brad-awl is 
 used to pierce wood, but the creature has actually been watched 
 while in the act of insinuating itself into the chalk rock, a feat 
 which was performed by gently turning the shell from right to 
 left, and back again. 
 
THE PIDDOCK. 
 
 119 
 
 The Pholas burrows to a considerable depth, and if a piece of 
 the rock be detached and broken to pieces by the hammer, it will 
 be seen to be completely riddled with the perforations. Oha;lk- 
 rock is mostly the richest in specimens, but even the hard lime- 
 stone fofmations are penetrable by the fragile shell of the Pholas. 
 It has been well remarked that the size of the Pholas and the 
 
 Pholaa in Wood. 
 Lithodomus. 
 
 Bazor Shell. 
 
 Pholas in Bock. 
 
 sharpness of its markings vary in inverse ratio to the hardness 
 of the rock in which it burrows. From the softest sea-beds are 
 taken the largest and most perfect shells, while those specimens 
 which are obtained from the hard limestone rocks are compara- 
 tively small, and the surfaces are rubbed nearly smooth. The 
 very worst examples, however, are those which are found in grit- 
 ty rocks, interspersed with pebbles. The shells that have bur- 
 
120 HOMES WITHOUT HAITDS. 
 
 rowed into such substances, are dwarfed, abraded, and often mis- 
 shapen, and are valueless except to the physiologist. 
 
 tVe naturally ask ourselves why the Pholas should bury itself 
 in the rocks instead of passing its life in the open sea, like the 
 generality of bivalves. The creature does not feed upon the sub- 
 stances in which it forms its curious tunnel, and to all appearance 
 would obtain as much food without as within, the burrow. One 
 obvious answer to this question is, that the creature buries itself 
 in the rock for the sake of safety, its. shell being, as has already 
 been remarked, of a soft and fragile texture. This opinion is far- 
 ther corroborated by the fact that one of the British species, the 
 Paper Pholas {Pholas papyracea), has a peculiarly thin and deli- 
 cate shell, so as to earn for it the name by which it is popularly 
 known. Yet, although this may be a reason, it is not the reason ; 
 for there are many well-known shells which are far more fragile 
 than those of the Pholas, yet which need no such protection, 
 and instead of concealing themselves in any way, roam the ocean 
 freely. 
 
 In my own opinion, the burrowing instincts of this a!nd many 
 other marine creatures of similar habits are implanted in them for 
 other than mere individual purposes. Judging by the effects 
 which these animals must have produced upon the line of coast 
 throughout a succession of centuries, I can not but think that 
 they are, at all events partially, intended as instruments which 
 aid in producing those mighty changes that are continually tak- 
 ing place over the whole face of the globe. 
 
 "We know that although the general proportions of sea and 
 land are maintained, a continual change is being worked in their 
 relative positions. Even within the memory of man, fields now 
 blooming with corn were once covered with the salt water, and 
 buildings that were once a mile from the shore are now in hourly 
 danger of falling into the sea. And I have very little doubt but 
 that the Pholas plays a very important part in these changes. If 
 the reader will examine any of our chalk-bound coasts, and will 
 walk from the foot of the existing cliff to the extreme of low- 
 water mark, he will see that the Pholas has every where left the 
 tokens of its industry. Even at the verge of low water, the spot 
 whereon he stands was once the base of the cliff which has now 
 receded so far from the waves, and continues to recede yearly. 
 And as he looks out to sea, and watches the breakers fling their 
 white foam over the sunken rocks, and notes the dark masses of 
 
THE DATE SHELLS. 121 
 
 tangle lifting with the waves, he sees the remains of former cliffs, 
 that have long since crumbled away piecemeal and fallen into the 
 sea. 
 
 It is true that the continual dashing of the billows will, in time, 
 destroy the hardest rocks, and that even a granite cliff can not 
 withstand the action of water. But the process of destruction — 
 if we may use such a word — is greatly accelerated by the multi- 
 tudinous holes bored by the Pholas and other burrowers, and the 
 rock is rapidly undermined by the joint action of the mollusks 
 and the waves. The upper portion of the cliff is thus left with- 
 out support, and when a few heavy rains have loosened the earth, 
 down comes a mixed mass of rook, soil, and herbage, and a fresh 
 face is thus made to the cliff. The loose earth is soon washed 
 away by the waves, the submerged portion of the fallen rock is 
 eagerly seized upon by the burrowers, and in process of time the 
 whole mass crumbles away, is broken up by the storms, and the 
 fragments are gradually rubbed to atoms by the action of the 
 waves. Thus it is that the cliffs recede on one side, while the 
 soil advances on another, and so the whole face of the world is 
 gradually changed. 
 
 Perhaps the Date Shells are even more powerful as burrow- 
 ers than the mollusks which have just been mentioned^ One spe- 
 cies, the Fork-tailed Date Shell {Lithodomus caudigera), is able to 
 bore into substances which the pholas can not penetrate. It is 
 truly a wonderful little shell. Some of the hardest stones and 
 stoutest shells are found pierced by hundreds of these curious be- 
 ings, which seem to have one prevailing instinct, namely, to bore 
 their way through every thing. Onward, ever onward, seems to 
 be the law of their existence, and most thoroughly do they carry 
 it out. They care little for obstacles, and if one of their own 
 kind happens to cross their path, they quietly proceed with their 
 " work, and drive their tunnel completely through the body of their 
 companion. 
 
 The precise method employed in excavation is at present un- 
 known, for the shape of the shell, and the exactitude with which 
 it fits the burrow, prove that the mollusk does not form its tunnel 
 by means of the protuberances on the surface of the shell, and no 
 other method of boring has at present been discovered. 
 
 There is another notable burrower among the bivalve marine 
 
122 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 shells, which is remarkable for the depth to which it -bores, and 
 the hard nature of the substances through which it makes its way. 
 This is the shell called Saxicava rugosa; one of the most variable 
 of the moUusks, so variable indeed that no less than fifteen differ- 
 ent names have been given to it, each being supposed to be a 
 separate species. Not only species, but even genera have been 
 formed from the varieties of this curious shell. It is a flattish bi- 
 valve, of no very great size, symmetrical in shape when young, 
 but oblong when old. 
 
 This creature burrows as rapidly as the species which has just 
 been described, and the process by which the feat is accomplished 
 is quite as enigmatical. Several conchologists have expressed an 
 opinion that the animal must secrete some liquid solvent, which 
 softens the rock, and permits the shell to pass. But, although it 
 is possible for the boring snail to' excavate by such means, the 
 Saxicava can hardly do so. For the boring snail is a terrestrial 
 species, and would be able to employ a solvent without interrup- 
 tion ; but as the Saxicava works below the surface of the sea, any 
 solvent which it could employ would be either washed away, or 
 so diluted by the water that it would have no effect upon the 
 stone. 
 
 Still, that the creature must employ some means not yet known 
 to naturalists is evident from the shape -of the hole, and the com- 
 parative hardness of the shell and the substances in which it is 
 imbedded. The shell is of ordinary hardness, while the rock in 
 which it is found is often of adamantine density. Sometimes it 
 bores into corals, frequently into limestone, and often into shells, 
 which it penetrates as deeply as the date shell. On every rocky 
 shore which the Saxicava inhabits its burrows may be found, no 
 matter what 'may be the hardness or composition of the stone. 
 The clay iron-stone which is found about Harwich, and is popu- 
 larly called cement-stone, is filled with the burrows of the Saxi- 
 cava. Its tunnels are found in the Kentish rag, while even the 
 well-known Portland stone, of which the Plymouth breakwater 
 is constructed, is often honey-combed by the multitudes of these 
 bivalves that inhabit it. Some of the enormflus stones which 
 were employed in building the breakwater are now much wasted 
 by the holes made in them by the Saxicava. 
 
 As is the case with the burrows of the date shell, those of the 
 Saxicava do not run parallel with each other, but are driven into 
 the stone at any angle. In consequence of this custom, it is not 
 
THE RAZOR SHELL. 123 
 
 of unfrequent occurrence that one of the creatures hits upon the 
 burrow of another, and if it does so, it will not, and in fact can 
 not, alter the direction of its tunnel. Neither is it able to wait 
 until the other shell has burrowed farther, but eats its way silent- 
 ly and unrelentingly along, cutting through the shell and body 
 of its luckless companion, and thus bringing on it a violent death, 
 which its rocky home seems especially intended to avert. The 
 hole is on the average about five or six inches in depth, and the 
 animal does not lie free in its burrow, but attaches itself to the 
 side by means of a byssus or cable, like that of the mussel, save 
 that it is smaller, because the strain upon it is not so great as 
 when the shell is anchored in the open sea.' This shell has a very 
 wide range of locality, and is sometimes found at a very great 
 depth, specimens having been procured at a depth of nearly 900 
 feet. It attains its largest dimensions in the colder seas. 
 
 Another member of this family (Xyhphaga dorsalis) burrows, 
 as its name implies, into wood and not into stone. It is a small 
 species, and of a very globular form, and never burrows to any 
 great depth, an inch being the ordinary length of its tunnel. The 
 shells of this creature are often found in floating wood, or in the 
 sea-covered portions of wooden piles, and it is a notable fact that 
 the burrows are always made across the grain of the timber in 
 which it lives. 
 
 Those who are fond of wandering on the sea-shore, will often 
 have experienced tangible proofs of the existence of another bur- 
 rowing moUusk, the Razor Shell (Solen ensis). 
 
 In some parts of our coast it is impossible to walk on the mixed 
 rock and sand, when the tide has receded, without noticing innu- 
 merable jets of water, which start from the ground without any 
 perceptible cause, leap for a foot or so in the air, and then disap- 
 pear. On watching one of these miniature fountains, and looking 
 at the exact spot whence it proceeds, two little round holes are 
 generally seen in the sand, so close to each other as to resemble a 
 key-hole, and large enough to receive an ordinary goose-quill. If 
 the finger be placed on the spot, or even if the foot descends heav- 
 ily on the ground, the curious object vanishes far out of the reach 
 of a probing finger. The jets are thrown up by the Solen, and 
 the two little holes are the open extremities of the siphon, that 
 wonderful instrument through which the creature obtains its 
 nourishment. 
 
124 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 K a Eazor Shell should be required for any ordinary purpose, 
 such as baiting fishing-hooks, it can easily be procured by push- 
 ing into the hole an iron rod turned up at the end, and twisting 
 the Solen out of its burrow. If, however, a perfect specimen of 
 the animal or shell be' required for scientific purposes, it can be 
 obtained by the simple process of dropping a spoonful of salt 
 down the hole. The Solen has a strange hatred of salt, and as 
 soon as the obnoxious substance is felt, up comes the Eazor Shell 
 in a hurry, thrusting itself out of the hole, and enabling the opera- 
 tor to seize it before it can again withdraw to its shelter. 
 
 The curious group of mollusks called Gastrochasnidge deserve 
 a passing notice. All the species of this family are burrowers, 
 and some of them are capable of making their way through sub- 
 stances of considerable hardness. A common British species, the 
 Flask Shell {Gasirochcena modiolina), is notable for its habit of 
 burrowing through various shells, those of the oyster being often 
 perforated and fixed to the creature by some natural cement. In 
 such cases, the animal constructs a flask-shaped case from any 
 loose materials that are within r6ach, and has by this means 
 earned its specific name of modiolina. 
 
 In two remarkable genera the shell is very small, an'd is ce- 
 mented to the base of a long shelly tube, through which the si- 
 phon runs. The Clavagella is remarkable for the successive frills 
 that decorate the tube ; from three to six of these curious appen- 
 dages being seen in various specimens. These frills are formed 
 by the orifice of the siphon when the tube is elongated. It is a 
 remarkable fact, that the left valve of the shell is always cement- 
 ed to the side of the burrow, so that the animal possesses no loco- 
 motive power, and in all cases the shell is very small, and some- 
 times scarcely visible. 
 
 The "Watering-pot Shell {Aspergillum) is well known to 
 conchologists. In this creature the shell is exceedingly small, 
 and so deeply sunk into the tube that only the limbo of each 
 valve is visible. The base of the tube is expanded into a round- 
 ed and perforated disk, which bears a remarkable resemblance to 
 the " rose" of a watering-pot, and its opposite extremity is mostly 
 decorated with frills, from one to eight in number. 
 
 The reader will remember that the wood-boring pholas always 
 makes its burrow across the grain of the timber which it is com- 
 
THE SHIP-WOEM. 125 
 
 missioned to destroy. The Ship-worm (Teredo navalis), on the 
 contrary, always burrows with the grain, and even makes a trans- 
 verse tunnel, unless turned from its course by some obstacle, such, 
 as a nail, or the burrow of another Teredo. 
 
 At first sight, few would perceive that the Ship-worm belongs 
 to the same class as the oyster and the snail, fpr it is long, slender, 
 and worm-like in shape, from six to eight lines in diameter, and 
 nearly a foot in length. One end is rather larger than the shaft, 
 if we may use the term, and is furnished with a pair of curved and 
 very narrow shell-valves, while the other is divided into a forked 
 apparatus containing the siphon. The color is grayish-white. 
 
 Such is the aspect o#the Ship- worm when adult, but in its early 
 stages of existence it possesses a totally different form. When it 
 first issues from the sheltering mantle of its parent, it is a little, 
 round, lively object, covered with cilia, like a very minute hedge- 
 hog, and, by the continual movement of these appendages, passing 
 rapidly through the water. It does not, however, retain this form 
 for more than six-and-thirty hours, but undergoes a farther pro- 
 cess of development, and is then furnished with a distinct appara- 
 tus for swimming and crawling. It also possesses rudimentary 
 ejea, and in that portion of the body which may be considered 
 the head there are organs of hearing resembling those of certain 
 mollusks. "When it has passed its full time in this stage of devel- 
 opment, it fixes upon some favorable locality, and then undergoes 
 its last change, which transforms it into the worm-like moUusk 
 with which naturalists are so familiar. 
 
 Ship-worm. 
 
126 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The ravages committed by this creature are almost incredible. 
 Wood of every description is devoured by the Ship-worm, whose 
 tunnels are frequently placed so closely together that the parti- 
 tion between them is not thicker than the paper on which this 
 account is printed. As the Teredo bores, it lines the tunnel with 
 a thin shell of calcareous matter, thus presenting a remarkable 
 resemblance to the habits of the white ant. When the Teredos 
 have taken entire possession of a piece of timber, they destroy it 
 so completely that, if the shelly lining were removed from the 
 wood, and each weighed separately, the mineral substance would 
 equal the vegetable in weight. 
 
 The Ship-worm has been the cause of numerous wrecks, for it 
 silently and unsuspectedly reduces the plankings and timbers to 
 such a state of fragility that, when struck by the side of a vessel, 
 or even by an ordinary boat, large fragments will be broken off. 
 I have now before me two specimens of " worm-eaten" timber, 
 one of which is so honey-combed by this destructive mollusk, 
 that a rough grasp of the hand would easily crush it. Yet this 
 fragment formed part of a pier on which might have depended a 
 hundred lives, and which was so stealthily sapped by the subma- 
 rine miners, that its unsound state was only discovered by an ac- 
 cident. 
 
 The copper sheathing, with which the bottoms of ships are cov- 
 ered, is placed upon them for the express purpose of baffling the 
 Ship-worm, and, though so expensive a process, is cheaper than 
 permitting the destructive creature to work its own will on the 
 vessel. It is possible, however, that an equally effectual, and very 
 much cheaper method of protecting ships and submerged timber 
 may soon be brought into active operation. M. de Quatrefages 
 has discovered that mercurial salts of any kind are instantaneous- 
 ly fatal to the Ship- worm, and that, by their use, not only the ex- 
 isting animals may be killed, but their eggs destroyed also. A 
 vessel that has been attacked by these pests may be rid of them 
 by throwing a few pounds of corrosive sublimate into the dock 
 where she lies, and it would not be very difiicult to keep a special 
 dock for the purpose. 
 
 The most effectual method, however, of checking the ravages 
 of the Ship-worm is, by saturating the timber with corrosive sub- 
 limate ; a process which is effected by exposing the timber for a 
 long period of time, so as to allow the sap to escape, and then by 
 forcing a solution of the metallic poison into the minute inter- 
 
THE GIANT TEREDO. 127 
 
 stices of the wood. This is done in a curiously simple manner, 
 namely, by laying the logs of timber on the ground, introducing 
 a tube into one end, carrying the tube to a height of forty or fifty 
 feet, and then connecting it with a tank filled with the solution. 
 It is, of course, necessary that the timber should be thoroughly 
 seasoned before it is thus treated. M. de Quatrefages suggests 
 that the prepared wood might be sawn into thin planks, which 
 could then be used in the same manner as the copper sheathing 
 now in use. 
 
 Another species of the same genus. Teredo corniformis, is re- 
 markable for the locality in which it is found. This curious mol- 
 lusk burrows into the husks of cocoa-nuts and other thick woody 
 fruits which may be found floating in the tropical seas. In con- 
 sequence of the locality which it selects for its habitation, it can 
 not proceed in one direction for any great distance, and is obliged 
 to make its burrows in a crooked form, which has earned for the 
 creature the specific title of corniformis, or horn-shaped. Fossil 
 woods are often found perforated with these burrows. 
 
 Destructive as it may be, the Ship-worm will ever be an ob- 
 ject of interest to Englishmen, inasmuch as its shell-lined bur- 
 row gave to Sir I. Brunei the idea which was afterward so effi- 
 ciently carried out in the Thames Tunnel. And though, from 
 the alteration of surrounding circumstances, that wonderful mon- 
 ument of engineering skill has not been so practically useful as 
 was anticipated, it has proved of incalculable value as pioneer Vo 
 the numerous railway tunnels of this and other countries. 
 
 The largest species of this curious genns is the GtIAnt Teredo 
 '{Tefredo gigantea), which produces a shell more than five feet in 
 length and three inches in diameter. The substance of the shell 
 is of very great strength, being about half an inch in thickness, . 
 radiated in structure, and so hard that when the first specimen 
 was brought to England many naturalists took it for a hollow 
 stalactite. 
 
 This creature is a burrower into mud, and was discovered in 
 a very curious manner. ' In the year 1797, a violent shock of 
 earthquake took place in Sumatra, and caused .great upheavals 
 of eaa-th and corresponding floods of water. When the sea re- 
 ceded from one of the bays, certain unknown objects were seen 
 protruding from its muddy bed, and were pulled out with tolera- 
 ble ease. They projected about eight or ten inches from the 
 mud, and as the projecting portions were beset by serpulse, bi- 
 
128 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 valves, and other marine parasites, it was evident that they were 
 not forced out of the mud by the shock, but had been in that po- 
 sition for a considerable time. All, however, were damaged, one 
 or both ends being broken off. Their color was pure white on 
 the exterior, and yellowish within. None of them were perfectly 
 straight, and the greater number more or less contorted. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BURROWING SPIDERS. 
 
 The Scorpion and its Habits. — The Burrow of the Scorpion. — How detected. — 
 Siiicide among the Scorpions. — Spiders and their Burrows. — The Atypus. — Ma- 
 dame Merian and her Book of the Bird Spider. — Mr. Bates's Discoveries. — Hair 
 of the Bird Spider. — The Tarant0I,a. — Its Ferocity and Courage. — The Trap- 
 door Spider. — Its Tunnel and the Lining thereof. — Its Appearance under the 
 Microscope. — The " Trap-door" itself, and its Structure. — Curious Example of 
 Instinct. — Activity of the Spider. — Specimen in the British Museum. — Strength 
 and Obstinacy of the Trap-door Spider. — An Australian Trap-door Spider. 
 
 Among the burrowers belonging to this order may be reck- 
 oned the well-known Scorpion, of which there are several spe- 
 cies, resembling each other in their general appearance, their 
 structure,' and their habits. 
 
 Scorpions are found in all the warmer portions of the globe, 
 and under the tropics they may be said to swarm. They are, 
 as a general rule, intolerant of light, creeping by day into every 
 cranny that can shelter them from the unwelcome sunbeams, and 
 often causing very great annoyance by this custom. Old travel- 
 ers, who have learned by experience the habits of these creatures, 
 do not retire to rest before they have carefully examined the.bed 
 and surrounding furniture, especially taking up the pillow, and 
 seeing that no enemy has lodged within the folds of the bedding. 
 The left hand is generally employed in lifting the clothes, while 
 the right is armed with a boot-jack, or stout shoe, or some other 
 convenient weapon, with which the Scorpion may be immolated 
 to the just wrath of its discoverer, before it can run off and hide 
 itself afresh. Shoes, boots, and gloves are also favorite resorts of 
 the Scorpion, which has caused many an inexperienced traveler 
 to buy future caution at rather a dear rate. 
 
 Scorpions may be found every where, under every stone, and 
 in every crevice ; and it not unfrequently happens that when a 
 
THE SCOKPION. 129 
 
 pedestrian is passing over a sandy bank, and happens to break 
 away a portion of it with his feet, a great black scorpion comes 
 tumbling down, rolling over and over among the sandy avalanche, 
 disengaging itself with an angry snap of its claws and a savage 
 whisk of its tail, and showing fight as if it expected immediate 
 attack from some present enemy. In such cases, the Scorpion 
 has been a true burrower, excavating a temporary dwelling in 
 the sandy soil, and living therein during the day. 
 
 The burrows of the Scorpion can always be detected by the pe- 
 culiar shape of the entrance, which is of a semilunar form, exact- 
 ly fitting the outline of the animal which digs it. The shape of 
 the aperture is not unlike that of the hole which is cut in the 
 seats of wooden stools for the purpose of introducing the hand 
 when they are lifted. Wherever the soil is suitable for their pur- 
 pose, the Scorpions take every advantage of it, so that a great 
 number of these venomous creatures may be found in a compara- 
 tively small space of ground. Captain Pasley, E. A., tells me that, 
 while in India, he has often destroyed, in the space of ah hour or 
 so, more than forty Scorpions, which had dug their sandy bur- 
 rows in his garden. 
 
 The semilunar shape of the entrance is an infallible indication 
 of the inhabitant, and in order to find out whether the Scorpion 
 is at home, a jug full of water is poured into the burrow. Scor- 
 pions detest water, and when they feel the stream pouring upon 
 them, they issue from their holes in high dudgeon, their pincers 
 preceding them and snapping wildly, at the enemy. A fork or 
 spade is then driven under the Scorpion, and its retreat being 
 thus cut off, it is easily killed. 
 
 The same ofi&cer also mentioned, that he had repeatedly tried 
 the experiment of surrounding the Scorpion with a ring of fire, 
 and that it had invariably stung itself to death. The fiery circle 
 was about fifteen inches in diameter, and composed of smoulder- 
 ing ashes. In every instance the Scorpion ran about for some 
 minutes, trying to escape, and then deliberately bent its tail over 
 its back, inserted the point of its sting between two of the seg- 
 ments of the body and speedily died. This experiment was re- 
 peated seven or eight times, and always with the same results, so 
 that a farther repetition would have been but a useless cruelty. 
 The heat given out by the ashes was very trifling, and not equal 
 to that which is caused by the noontide sun, a temperature which 
 the Scorpion certainly does not like, but which it can endure 
 
 I 
 
130 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 without suffering much inconvenience. Generally, the Scorpion 
 was dead in a few minutes after the wound was inflicted. 
 
 Many of the true spiders are among the burrowers, and, even 
 in our own country, it is possible to see a sandy bank studded 
 with their silk-lined tunnels. 
 
 There is such a bank that skirts a fir -wood near my house, 
 the material being the loosest possible sandstone, scarcely hard 
 enough in any place to resist a pinch between the fingers and 
 thumb. About an inch or two above the soil, this sandstone is 
 quite excavated by the spiders, and as the sandy sides of their 
 tunnels would fall in were they not supported in some manner, 
 every tunnel accordingly is lined by a coating of tough web- 
 bing, very strong, very elastic, very porous, and yet not suffering 
 one particle of sand to pass through its interstices. From the 
 opening of each barrow a web is spread, looking very much like 
 a casting-net, with a hole through its middle. From this, again, 
 radiate a number of separate threads, which extend to a consid- 
 erable distance from the entrance. 
 
 At the very bottom of its silken tunnel the living architect 
 lies concealed, its sensitive feet resting on the web, so that it is 
 enabled to perceive the approach of the smallest insect that cross- 
 es the spot which it has so elaborately fortified. It is curious to 
 watch the various insects that are caught by different species of 
 spiders. The common garden spider {Epeira diademd) enjoys the 
 greatest variety of diet, and the water spider, of which "we shall 
 see something in a future page, is also capable of varying its food 
 to a considerable extent. The Btirrowing Spiders, however, of 
 which there are several species, are much restricted in their diet, 
 the chief food that is found in their webs consisting of small bee- 
 tles and midges. These spiders belong to the family Agelenidse. 
 
 One of the best, if not indeed the very best, examples of the 
 British burrowing Arachnida is the remarkable species Atypus 
 Sulzeri, a creature which is so rare as to have received no English 
 name. It is a small species, not half an inch in length, but it is a 
 curiously-constructed being ; and were it made on a larger scale, 
 would be a really formidable species. Its jaws are long, sharply 
 pointed, and remarkably stout at their bases — so stout, indeed, 
 that, but for a remarkable adaptation of structure, it would not 
 be able to see any thing in front 
 
SPIDEES. 131 
 
 None of these spiders have a separate head, that part of the 
 body and the thorax being fused together, and forming what is 
 called by naturalists a " cephalothorax," i. e. a head-thorax. The 
 same structure may be observed in the scorpion, and also in the 
 common lobster, the shrimp, and other Crustacea. The eyes, as 
 in all spiders, are rather close together, and are placed upon the 
 upper part of this cephalothorax ; but so large are the bases of 
 the jaws, that they rise far above the level of the cephalothorax: 
 and if the eyes were placed in the ordinary manner, would act 
 like the " blind" that is hung over the eyes of a bad-tempered 
 bull. In order, however, to enable the spider to see objects in its 
 front, a sort of little turret rises from the cephalothorax, and on 
 its summit are placed the eyes. Naturalists familiarly call this 
 projection the " watch-tower." 
 
 This spider inhabits moist situations, and burrows into the 
 banks, the direction of the burrow being at first horizontal and 
 then sloping downward. It is lined 'with a remarkably compact 
 silken tube, beautifully white, and about half an inch in diame- 
 ter. The upper part of the tube is rather larger than the lower, 
 and projects from the earth, falling forward so as to form a flap, 
 which protects the mouth of the burrow. Specimens of this re- 
 markable spider have been obtained from several parts of En- 
 gland. 
 
 Nearly one hundred and fifty years ago, Sibilla Merian pub- 
 lished her famous account of the insects of Surinam, wherein are 
 several statements that were first received without scruple, after- 
 ward doubted, and finally disbelieved. The most important of 
 these controverted statements was that in which she mentioned 
 that the gigantic spiders of Surinam caught the humming-birds, 
 killed them, and sucked all the juices out of their bodies. This 
 statement appeared to be of so wild a character, that naturalists 
 might well be pardoned for refusing credit to it, especially as 
 Madame Merian did not offer herself as an eye-witness, but mere- 
 ly related the story on the authority of the natives. 
 
 There is certainly nothing in the comparative sizes of the two 
 creatures which would render such a feat impossible, for the spi- 
 der has a body nearly as large as that of a sparrow, and its ex- 
 panse of limb is seven or eight inches, while the humming-bird is 
 scarcely bigger than the common humble-bee of our gardens and 
 fields. Still it did seem so strange that a spider should attack a 
 
132 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 bird, that, failing a credible eye-witness, the story was not be- 
 lieved. That watit, however, has been recently supplied, for Mr. 
 KW. Bates, who spent eleven years upbn the banks of the Ama- 
 zon Eiyer, has been an eye-witness to the murder of a small bird 
 by a great spider, and the question is now finally set at rest. 
 
 " In the course of our walk, I chanced to verify a fact relating 
 to the habit of a large hairy spider, belonging to the genus My- 
 gale, in a manner worth recording. The species was M. avicula- 
 ria, or one very closely allied to it ; the individual was. nearly 
 two iqches in length of body, but the legs expanded seven inches, 
 and the entire body and hair were covered with coarse gray and 
 reddish hairs. I was attracted by a movement of the monster on 
 a tree-trunk; it was close beneath a deep crevice in the tree, 
 across which was stretched a dense white web. The lower part 
 of the web was broken, and two small birds, finches, were entan- 
 gled in the pieces. They were about the size of the English sis- 
 kin, and I judged the two to be male and female. One of them 
 was quite dead, and the other lay under the body of the spider, 
 not quite dead, and was smeared with the filthy liquor or saliva " 
 exuded by the monster. I drove away the spider, and took the 
 birds, but the second one soon died. ... I found the circum- 
 stance to be quite a novelty to the residents hereabout." 
 
 One of these spiders, kindly presented to me by Mr. Bates, is 
 now before me, and after examining the terrible fangs as they lie 
 folded under the head, and the enormous power of the long, 
 clinging legs, I believe that a small bird would stand a very poor 
 chance of life if once entangled in the fatal clutch. There are sev- , 
 eral species of Mygale, some of which are great burrowers, mak- 
 ing holes of considerable depth. One species, Mygale Bhndii, 
 which is easily known by the yellow stripes which run down its 
 limbs, is an admirable burrower, digging tunnels of two feet in 
 depth, and rather wide, and lining them with a silken coating, so 
 as to prevent the earth from falling in. In the evening, the spi- 
 der may be seen at the mouth of its hole, evidently watching sur- 
 rounding events, but as soon as it perceives an approaching foot- 
 step, it pops back into the dark recesses of the tunnel, and will 
 not make its appearance for some time afterward. Others live 
 under stones ; and others, again, make their dens in the thatched 
 roofs of houses. The natives do not seem to entertain any feel- 
 ings of abhorrence toward these creatures, which to a European 
 mind are so repulsive ; for Mr. Bates once' saw a group of children 
 
SPIDERS. 133 
 
 amusing themselves witli a gigantic Mygale, which they had se- 
 cured by tying a string round its waist, and were leading about 
 as if it had been a dog. 
 
 While living, the Mygale sheds its hairs very easily ; and as 
 these hairs penetrate the skin and are of a painfully irritant char- 
 acter, like those of the palmer- worm and other British caterpil- 
 lars, the incautious naturalist is apt to buy his experience of the 
 Mygal^ rather dearly. The natives call these creatures " Aran- 
 has caraAgueijeiras," or Crab Spiders, because they are so strong 
 and so large. 
 
 Several large spiders that live mostly upon the ground are 
 confounded together under the general name of Tarantula. There 
 is scarcely a part of the world where is not found some great Ly- 
 cosa, or Wolf Spider, that is popularly called by the dreaded name 
 of Tarantula, and feared lest its bite should produce the disease 
 which was once so rife through Europe, and called Tarantismus. 
 These are all more or less burrowers, and line their tunnels with 
 a silken coating, so as to prevent the earth from falling in upon 
 them. Some of them hunt about after prey, while others sit at 
 the entrance of the den and wait for the approach of any passing 
 insect, which they may seize and devour at their leisure in the 
 safe retreat of the neighboring burrow. In this tunnel their 
 young are hatched, and, as soon as they can struggle themselves 
 free from the egg, they clamber upon their mother's back, and 
 there cling in heavy clusters, often hiding her shape by their 
 numbers. , 
 
 One species of spider that goes by the name of Tarantula is 
 resident in Siberia, and hides in holes in the ground. The peas- 
 antry are greatly afraid of it, fancying that it will bite them, and 
 that its bite will cause great injury. For their terrors there are 
 really some grounds, inasmuch as the spider is a savage kind of 
 creature ; and if a knife be pushed into its den, it will rush out 
 in a fury, and try to bite the blade. In all probability, however, 
 it is not very venomous, for it is actually eaten by sheep as they 
 graze. 
 
 Of all the burrowing spiders, however, none is so admirable an 
 excavator as the Trap-door Spider of Jamaica, and none dis- 
 plays so rnuch ingenuity in the arrangement of its burrow. Speci- 
 mens of both the ^tunnel and the spider are now before me, and 
 
134 . HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 it is impossible to inspect them without admiration. When re- 
 moved from the earth which surrounded it, the silken tube is 
 seen to be double, the outer portion being thick, deeply stained 
 of a ruddy brown, and separated into a great number of flakes, 
 lying loosely upon each other. This outer covering is so thick, 
 harsh, and crumpled, that it looks more like the rough bark of a 
 tree than a spider's web, and its true nature would hardly be rec- 
 ognized even by the touch. The exterior of a common wasp's 
 nest bears some resemblance to this part of the tube. Beneath 
 this covering is an inner layer of a very different character. This 
 is uniformly smooth to the eye, and of a silken softness to the 
 touch. It is but slightly adherent in places to the outer tube, 
 and can be separated without any difficulty and without injuring 
 the one or the other. 
 
 The texture of the interior surface is quite unlike that of the 
 inner or outer tube, being nearly white, and of a smoothness and 
 consistency much resembling the rough and unsiized paper on 
 which Continental books are usually pirinted. It is curiously stiff 
 also, and is so formed that no one who saw it for the first time^ 
 would be likely to guess at its real character. The microscope, 
 however, reveals its true character at once. If the interior of the 
 tube be submitted to a moderately low power, say from thirty to 
 forty diameters, a curious sight is presented to the observer. The 
 surface looks like very rough felt, covered with little promi- 
 nences, and composed of threads twisted together without the 
 least apparent order. The threads are very coarse, in comparison 
 to ordinary spider-web, and seem to be stiff, as if covered with 
 size or gum. 
 
 The entrance of the tube is guarded by the "trap-door," from 
 which the spider takes its name. This is a flap of the same sub- 
 stance as the tube, circular in shape, so as to fit the orifice with 
 perfect accuracy, and attached to the tube by a tolerably wide 
 hinge, so that when it closes it does not fall to either side, but 
 comes true and fair upon the opening which it defends. THe in- 
 ner surface of the trap-door is white and felt-like, and exactly re- 
 sembles the interior of the tube, but its outer surface is covered 
 with earth, taken from the soil in which the hole is di^g. As the 
 trap-door is flush with the surface of the ground, it is evident 
 that, when it is closed, all traces of the burrow and its inhabitant 
 are lost. 
 
 The spider is urged by a curious instinct to make its tunnel in 
 
THE TBAP-DOOB BPIDEft AND NESTB. 
 
' SPIDERS. 137 
 
 some sloping spot, and to keep the hinge uppermost, so that when 
 the inhabitant leaves its home, or retreats to the extremity of its 
 burrow, the door closes of its own accord, and efifectually conceals 
 it. New-comers into the country which the Trap-door Spider in- 
 habits are often surprised by seeing the ground open, a little lid 
 lifted up, and a rather formidable spider peer about, as if to recon- 
 noitre the position before leaving its fortress. At the least move- 
 ment on the part of the spectator, back pops the spider, like the 
 cuckoo on a clock, clapping its little door after it quite as smartly 
 as the wooden bird, and in most cases succeeds in evading the 
 search of the astonished, observer, the soil being apparently un- 
 broken, without a tface of the curious little door that had been so 
 quickly shut. 
 
 In the British Museum there is one of these tubes, which tells 
 a curious story, and shows that the spider which made it had 
 chosen cultivated ground for its residence. About three inches 
 from the mouth of the tube there is a tough, leathery iiap, the ob- 
 ject of which is not very apparent. A closer examination shows 
 that this flap was a disused trap-door, and that the spider had 
 lengthened its cell and made a second door at the new entrance. 
 This fact proved that the ground had increased in thickness since 
 the spider completed its habitation, and that the addition to the 
 surface was very rapid, for the spider is not remarkable for lon- 
 gevity, and yet, in its short life, three inches of soil had covered 
 the entrance to its silken cell. Evidently the creature had bur- 
 rowed in cultivated soil, most probably in a garden, and in pro- 
 cess of tilling the ground, a spadeful or two of earth had been 
 thrown over the trap-door. Being thus imprisoned, the spider 
 had no other resource but to push its way through the earth, 
 lengthen its tube, and make another door level with the new sur- 
 face. 
 
 The spider itself is an odd-looking creature, with rather short, 
 but very powerful legs, and a most formidable pair of fangs. 
 These fangs are notable for the fact that their bases are furnished 
 with a series of sharply-pointed barbs. This peculiarity has given 
 to the spider the generic name of Cteniza, this title being derived 
 from a Greek word signifying a comb. The abdomen is very 
 large, round, and firm, and from its tip projects the spinnerets, by 
 means of which the silken tunnel is made. Altogether, it has so 
 crustacean an aspect, that, in common with many other species, it 
 is called by the French the Crab Spider. The length of the spec- 
 
138 ■ HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 imen now before me is about an inch and a quarter, exclusive of 
 the legs. 
 
 It is nocturnal in its habits, and during the night it leaves its 
 burrow and hunts for prey. Insects of various kinds fall victims 
 to this spider, and at the bottom of its tunnel may be found the 
 relics of its feast, often including the remains, of tolerably large 
 beetles. If, when it is within its home, the lid be lifted gently, 
 the spider hastens to the entrance, hooks its hind legs to the silk- 
 en lining of the lid, and the fore legs to the side of the tube, and 
 resists with all its might. Some writers have averred that it em- 
 ploys the curved fangs for this purpose, and that the comb-like 
 array of barbs is useful in giving it a stronger hold ; but a very 
 slight examination of the spider will show that such an action 
 would be impossible, and that even if the fangs were hitched into 
 the silk, the barbs would have no effect whatever on the firmness 
 of the hold. 
 
 Nothing short of actual violence will induce the Trap-door 
 Spider to vacate the premises which it so courageously defends. 
 It will permit the earth to be excavated around its burrow, and 
 the whole nest to be removed, without deserting its home ; and 
 in this manner specimens have been removed and placed in po- 
 sitions where their proceedings could be watched. Some few 
 months ago, several examples of the Trap-door Spider and its nest 
 were to be seen in the reptile-room of the Zoological Gardens. 
 Boldly as the spider guards its home, and energetic as it is while 
 engaged in defense, it is no sooner removed from the burrow than 
 it loses all its activity, remains fixed to the spot as if stupefied, or, 
 at the best, walks languidly about without appearing to have any 
 definite object in view. 
 
 Trap-door Spiders inhabit many parts of the world. In the 
 British Museum is a curious specimen of a nest, which is furnish- 
 ed with two doors, one at each end. The door of one end is rath- 
 er loosely and irregularly made, as is, indeed, the whole end of 
 the nest; but, at the other extremity, the door .is beautifully 
 rounded, very smooth, and fitting with astonishing neatness into 
 the aperture. This curious specimen was discovered in Albania, 
 and presented by W. Wilson Saunders, Esq. 
 
 The gem of the collection, however, for accuracy and finish, is 
 one that is the work of an Australian spider, and was found at 
 Adelaide. Only the upper part of the tube is preserved, so as to 
 show the valve which closes it ; but no one who really takes an 
 
SPIDERS. 139 
 
 interest in natural history can pass this nest without pausing in 
 admiration. The workmanship is wonderful, and the hole, with 
 its cover, looks as if it had been made in clay, by means of the 
 potter's wheel, so regular an#true are its outlines. The hole it- 
 self is circular, but the door is semicircular, the hinge extending 
 across the middle of the aperture. 
 
 Two points in this door are specially worthy of notice, the one 
 being that its edge, as well as that of the aperture, is beveled off 
 inward, so that the accurate closure of the entrance is rendered a 
 matter of absolute certainty. The second point is, that the outer 
 surface of the door, together with the surrounding earth, is ingen- 
 iously covered with little projections, so that when the door is 
 closed, the line which, on smooth ground, would have marked its 
 presence is totally hidden. The shape of the door, too, is remark- 
 able. Toward its hinge it is comparatively thin, but upon the 
 edge it is very thick, solid, and heavy, so that its own weight is 
 sufficient to keep it firmly closed. The "hinge," to which allu- 
 sion has frequently been -made, is not a separate piece of work- 
 manship, but is a continuation of the silken tube which lines the 
 tunnel. An exact imitation of its principle may be made by 
 taking the cover of a book, and cutting it across from the inside, 
 until all its substance except the cloth or leather is severed, and 
 then bending the two portions back. The cloth or leather will 
 then form a hinge precisely similar to that of the Trap-door Spi- 
 der, the pasteboard taking the place of the earthen door. 
 
140 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 BURROWING INSECTS. 
 
 HTBTENOPTEBA. 
 
 The Sahba Ant and its Habitation. — Use of the "Parasol" Leaves. — Mr. Bates's 
 Account of the' Insect. — Enormous Extent of the Dwelling. — The Doskt Ant. — 
 Its Strength and Perseverance. — Man and Insect contrasted. -^The Bkown Ant. 
 — Form of its Habitation. — ^Regulation of Temperature. — Necessity of Moisture. 
 — How the Ant constructs Ceilings. — Mining Bees. — The Akdrena and its bur- 
 rowing Powers. — The Euceea. — Its Habitation and curious Method of liberating 
 the Antennae. — The Soolia, its Burrows and its Prey. — The Indian Sphex and 
 its Ingenuity. — The Mellinus and Oxteelus. — Curious Method of catching 
 Prey. — The Philanthus, its Burrow, and the Food of its Young — The Humble- 
 bee — its general Habits. — Locality of its Dwelling. — Development of the Young. 
 — The Lafidart Bee, its Colors, Disposition, and Habits. — The Wasp — its Food 
 and Habitation. — Materials and Architecture of the Nest. — ^Disposition, Form, 
 and Number of the Cells. — Biography of a Queen Wasp, and History of her Nest. 
 — Other British Wasps and their Homes. — The Monedkila and its Prey. — Bold- 
 ness of the Insect, and its Uses to Travelers. — The Bembex. — Its energetic Hab- 
 its, its Food, and Mode of storing the Nest. 
 
 The burrowing Insects now come before our notice. 
 
 Of these creatures there is much store, for, indeed, the greater 
 number of insects are wholly or entirely burrowers at some pe- 
 riod of thdr existence. It frequently happens that the very in- 
 sects which we most admire, which are decorated with the most 
 brilliant colors, and which soar on the most ethereal wings, have 
 passed the greater portion of their lives as burrowers beneath the 
 surface of the earth. 
 
 Take, for example, the well-known May-fly, or Ephemera, so 
 called because its existence was once thought to be comprised 
 within the limits of a single day. How delicate are its gauzy 
 wings ; how wonderful are the iridescent tints which play over 
 their surface with a changeful radiance, like that of the opal or 
 the pigeon's neck; and how marvelous is the muscular power 
 which enables the new-born being to disport itself in the air for 
 a period which, in comparison with our own lives, is equal to at 
 least forty years I It never seems to weary. It wavers up and 
 down, up and down in the air, together with myriads of its com- 
 panions, and for the greater portion of its terrestrial existence is 
 
BUBEOWING INSECTS. 141 
 
 an inhabitant of the air; yet its life has not altogether been spent 
 in amusing itself, for it has passed an existence of some three 
 years or more hidden from human gaze. 
 
 To-day it is a bright denizen of the sunbeams, exulting in its 
 beauty, and dancing in very rapture in the air; yesterday, it 
 was a denizen of the mud, a slimy, crawling, repulsive creature, 
 breathing through the medium of the water, and feeding greedily 
 upon any prey that might come within its reach. Yesterday, 
 had it been removed from the water and laid in the sunbeams, it 
 would have died as with poison, and in an hour would have been 
 reduced to a dry and withe|ed semblance of its former self; to- 
 day, were it to be plunged beneath the waters, it would quickly 
 perish, and be shortly eaten by its former companions. For it is 
 fitted for a higher position and a purer atmosphere, so that the 
 element which but a few hours ago was its very life, has now 
 become a present death, and the food in which it so lately revel- 
 ed can no longer be received into that etherealized form. 
 
 So is it with many other insects. Some of our most tender 
 and downy-plumed moths, whose exquisitely delicate raiment is 
 destroyed by a touch, have entered upon their winged state while 
 in the bowels of the earth, and have made their way through the 
 soil without losing a single feather of the myriad plumes with 
 which their bodies and wings are covered. Flies, too, whose, 
 slender-bodiea and light gauzy wings always excite our wonder, 
 that a thing so light should contend with the world, have passed 
 the greater part of their lives in some dark hole, ^here the fresh 
 air never entered, and into which the sunbeams never cast a ray. 
 
 Were this work to be arranged according to the rigid systems 
 of zoological schoolmen, the list of burrowing insects must have 
 been headed by the beetles ; but, as the subject of the book is to 
 describe the peculiar dwellings which are needful for the welfare 
 of various animals, a different arrangement is necessary, so that a 
 well-built home takes precedence over a well-developed animal. 
 If we wish to select an order of insects which surpasses every 
 other in the variety and excellence of their burrows, we turn at 
 once to the Hymenoptera, a large and important group of insects, 
 which includes the wasps, bees, ants, saw-flies, ichneumons, and 
 one or two other families. The greater number of these insects 
 burrow in the ground ; but others are remarkable for their won- 
 derful powers of excavating the hardest wood, and of forming ' 
 
142 HOMES "WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 therein a series of beautifully made cells, for the protection of the 
 future brood. 
 
 Turn we first to some exotic Ants wljich inhabit tropical 
 America. 
 
 I HAVE felt considerable doubt whether the Sauba, or Coushie 
 Ant {CEcodoma cephalotes), ought to be reckoned among the bur- 
 rowers or the builders, inasmuch as it makes large excavations 
 below the ground, and raises dome-like edifices on its surface. 
 As, howe\ier, the burrows are very much larger than the build- 
 ings, I shall place it with the formen class, reserving for the cor- 
 responding example of the building-insects the Termites, whose 
 edifices are more important than their burrows. It must first be 
 mentioned that, although this species has often been described as 
 the Visiting Ant, it is in reality a distinct species, as will be seen 
 in the course of a few pages. 
 
 The Saiiba Ant is restricted to tropical America, where it ex- 
 ists in such vast profusion, that it oftentimes takes forcible pos- 
 session of the land, and drives out the human inhabitants who 
 have cultivated and planted it Broad columns of these ants 
 may be seen marching along, each individual carrying in its 
 jaws a circular piece of leaf, about the size of a sixpence, which 
 is held vertically by one of its edges. In the British Museum 
 there is a specimen of a Saiiba Ant, with the leaf still grasped in 
 its jaws, the ruling passion strong in death. From this curious 
 habit the creature is sometimes called the Parasol Ant, and many 
 persons have thought that the leaves are carried in order to pro- 
 tect the insect against the hot sunbeams. The real reason, how- 
 ever, has been discovered by Mr. H. W. Bates, who has studied 
 with great care the habits of this remarkable insect, and has dis- 
 entangled its history from many doubts and difficulties. 
 
 There are, as is usual with all ants, three distinct ranks — 
 namely, the winged, the large -headed, or soldiers, as they are 
 popularly called, and the ordinary workers. The large -headed 
 individuals are subdivided into two classes, natoely, the smooth- 
 heads and rough -heads, the former wearing a polished, homy, 
 translucent helmet, and the head of the latter being opaque and 
 covered with hair. The large-headed ants do no ostensible work, 
 all the labor falling to the lot of the workers. These creatures 
 make raids upon the trees, always giving the preference to culti- 
 vated trees, such as the orange and the coffee, and cut away the 
 
THE COUSHIE ANT. 143 
 
 leaves so fast that the growth is stopped, and the entire plant 
 sometimes dies. 
 
 The use of the leaves is to thatch the domes of their curious 
 edifices, and to prevent the loose earth from falling in. Some of 
 these domes are of gigantic dimensions, measuring two feet in 
 height and forty feet in diameter, the mightiest efforts of man 
 appearing small and insignificant when the comparative dimen- 
 sions of the builders are taken into consideration. Division of 
 labor is carried out to a wonderful extent in these buildings, for 
 the laborers which gather and fetch the leaves do not place them, 
 but merely fling them down on the ground, and leave them to a 
 Telay of workers, who lay them in their proper order. As soon* 
 as they have been properly arranged, they are covered with little 
 globules of earth, and in a very short time they are quite hidden 
 by their earthy covering. 
 
 The functions'performed by the large-headed ants are not very 
 evident. Those with smooth fronts seem to do nothing but walk 
 about. They do not fight like the soldier-termites, nor do they 
 appear to exercise any rule over the workers. Moreover, they 
 have no sting, and even when assaulted they scarcely ever resent 
 the insult. The hairy-headed variety is still more enigmatical in 
 its duties. " If the top of a small, fresh hillock, one in which the 
 thatching process is going on, be 'taken off, a broad cylindrical 
 shaft is disclosed, at a depth of about two feet from the surface. 
 If this be probed with a stick, which may be done to, the extent 
 of three or four feet without touching the bottom, a small num- 
 ber of colossal fellows will slowly begin to make their way up 
 the smooth sides of the mine. ' Their heads are of the same size 
 as the class No. 2, but the front is clothed with hairs instead of 
 being polished, and they have in the middle of the forehead a 
 twin ocellus, or simple eye, of quite different structure from the 
 ordinary compound eyes on the sides of the head. This frontal 
 eye is totally wanting in the other workers, and is not known in 
 any other kind of ant. The apparition of these strange creatures 
 from the enormous depths of the mine reminded me, when I first 
 observed them, of the Cyclops of Homeric fable. They were 
 not very pugnacious, as I feared they would be, and I had no dif- 
 ficulty in securing a few with my fingers. I never saw them un- 
 der any other circumstances than those here related, and what 
 their special functions may be I can not divine." 
 
 The subterranean galleries which these creatures form are of 
 
144 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 almost incredible extent — so vast, indeed, and so complicated, 
 that they have never been fully investigated. A conjecture as to 
 their size may be formed from the fact, that when sulphur smoke 
 was blown into a nest, one of the outlets was detected at a dis- 
 tance of seventy yards. The Saiiba has often done considerable 
 damage to property, having pierced the embankment of a large 
 reservoir, and let out all the water before the damage could be 
 detected. 
 
 The winged class is composed of the perfect male and female, 
 which take their departure from the nest in January and Febru- 
 ary. They are quite unlike the other workers and soldiers, be- 
 fng larger and darker, with rounder bodies and a more bee-like 
 aspect The female is a really large insect, measuring more than 
 two inches in expanse of wing, and the body being equal in size 
 to a hornet ; but the male is much smaller, as is generally the 
 custom with the insect race. Of the hosts which pour out of the 
 nests, only a few individuals remain after a space of twelve hours, 
 the nest having been devoured by birds and other insect-eating 
 creatures. Those which survive address themselves to the found- 
 ing of new colonies ; and so prolific are these insects, that, in spite 
 of the vast destruction wrought among the winged individuals, to 
 whom alone the task of reproduction belongs, man often has to 
 retire before them, and eyen his art can not conquer them. 
 
 The Saiiba is one of the very few ants that does not attack 
 other creatures. The real Driver, or Yisiting, or Foraging 
 Ant, of which there are several species, belongs to another 
 genus, Eciton, which will be described among the building -in- 
 sects. 
 
 Most of the British ants are among the burrowers, hollowing 
 out subterranean abodes of great extent, and constructing them 
 upon some intricate plan, the principle of which is not very evi- 
 dent. The Dusky Ant {Formica fusca) generally prefers banks 
 with a southern aspect, in which it forms its elaborate dwelling. 
 Like many other ants, it is somewhat of a builder as well as a 
 miner, and can raise story upon story, as well as add them by ex- 
 cavation. This task is achieved by covering the former roof with 
 a layer of fresh and moist clay, and converting it into a floor for 
 the next story. Dry weather has the effect of retarding the ants 
 in their labors, because they find a difiiculty in procuring suffi- 
 cient moisture wherewith to mix the clay. 
 
THE DUSKY ANT. 145 
 
 The muscular, power and the energy and endurance of the ant 
 are truly wonderful ; and if a human being, even if aided by tools, 
 could perform such a day's work as was achieved by a single ant 
 without them, he would be a wonder of the world. M. Huber had 
 the curiosity and good sense to devote the whole of a rainy day 
 to watching the proceedings of a single Dusky Ant.' The insect 
 began by scooping out a groove in the earth, about a quarter of . 
 an inch in depth, kneading the earth, which it removed into little 
 pellets, and placing them on each side of the groove, so as to form 
 a kind of wall. The interior of the groove was beautifully smooth 
 and regular, and when completed it looked very like a railway 
 cutting, and performed a similar of&oe. After completing this 
 task, it looked about and found that there was another opening 
 in the nest to which a road must be made, and straightway set 
 to work upon a second sunken path of a similar character, paral- 
 lel to the first, and being separated from it merely by a wall of a 
 third of an inch in height. 
 
 Compare the size of an ant with that of a man, and then see 
 how vast are the powers of so small a creature. Taking all 
 the calculations in round numbers, and very much to the disad- 
 vantage of the ant, we find that a single man, who would have 
 achieved a similar work in a single day, must have acted as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 He must have excavated two parallel trenches, each of seven- 
 ty-two feet in length and four feet six inches in depth ; he must 
 have made bricks from the clay he dug out, and with them built 
 a wall along each side of the trenches, from two to three feet in 
 height and fourteen or fifteen inches in thickness ; and lastly, he 
 must have gone over the whole of his work again, and smoothed 
 the interior until it was exactly true, straight, and level. All 
 this work must also have been done without the least assistance, 
 and the ground must be supposed to be filled with huge boulders, 
 and covered with tree-trunks, broken logs, and other impediments. 
 
 The most admirable subterranean architecture is perhaps that 
 of the Brown Ant {Formica brunnea), a species which is not very 
 commonly known in this country, and is probably confined to cer- 
 tain localities. Its habitation and the mode of its construction 
 have been carefully noted by M. Huber. 
 
 This ant works mostly at night, and during light, misty rain, 
 the sunbeams being obnoxious, and heavy showers causing much 
 inconvenience. The nest is a most complicated structure, com- 
 
 K 
 
146 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 posed of a series of stories, often Teaching thirty or forty in num- 
 ber, and generally being built in a sloping direction. These sto- 
 ries are not composed of regular cells, like those of the bee, wasp, 
 and hornet, but of chambers and galleries of very irregular form 
 and dimensions, beautifully smoothed in the interior, and about 
 one fifth of an inch in height. The walls are about the twenty- 
 fourth of an inch in thickness. The object of so many stories is 
 to be able to regulate the heat and moisture of their establish- 
 ments. If, for example, the sun is not very powerful, and the in- 
 stinct of the little insects tells them that more heat is required in 
 order to hatch the pupae which are undergoing their metamorpho- 
 sis, they take up the white burdens and carry them into the up- 
 per chambers, where the heat is greater than below. 
 
 Again, if there should be a heavy rain, which floods all the low- 
 er stories, nothing is easier for the inhabitants than to remove 
 themselves and brood into the upper sets of chambers, where they 
 will be secure from the inundation. On those days when the sun 
 is peculiarly hot, the ants secure a more equable temperature, by 
 removing the young brood to the central flats, if they can be so 
 called, while they themselves can obtain the needful moisture 
 from the lower parts of the nest, to which the sunbeams can not 
 penetrate. Were it not for this provision which they instinct- 
 ively make, all building operations would be stopped during a 
 drought, whereas, by descending to the cellars or crypts of the 
 mansion, the ants can obtain sufficient clay for ordinary work. 
 
 In order to watch the ants closer, Huber constructed a kind of 
 vivarium in which they could work, and supplied them with earth, 
 sand, and other necessaries. As, in this artificial state of existence, 
 the insects could not procure moisture from the depths of the 
 earth, moisture from other sources was necessary. Whenever the 
 insects had ceased to work, they could almost always be induced 
 to renew their labors by dipping a stiff brush in water, and strik- 
 ing the hand upon it in such a manner that the water descended 
 like very fine rain upon the earth. As soon as the formerly qui- 
 escent ants felt the grateful shower, they regained their activity, 
 ran about with .renewed energy, and set to work upon the soil, 
 moulding it into little pellets, and testing each tiny ball with their 
 antennae before they applied it to the purposes for which it was 
 made. 
 
 While some of the ants were engaged in this task, which must 
 be considered analogous to brickmaking as practiced by mankind. 
 
THE BEOWN ANT. 147 
 
 others were scooping out shallow hollows in the clay floor, the lit- 
 tle ridges that were left standing being the foundation of the new 
 walls. On these were dabbed the earthen pellets, and adjusted by 
 means of the mandibles or by pressure of the fore feet, thus re- 
 ceiving compactness and uniformity. The most difficult part of 
 such a task is the forma|iion of the ceiling, but the ants do not ap- 
 pear to be at all embarrassed by so formidable an undertaking, 
 but can lay ceilings of two inches in diameter with perfect certain- 
 ty. The method of constructing the ceiling is by moulding the 
 clay pellets into each angle of the chamber and also to the top of 
 the pillars. As fast as one row of pellets becomes dry, a second 
 is added ; and the insects perform this delicate duty with such ac- 
 curacy, that although so many centres are employed, the parts al- 
 ways coincide in the proper spots. The peculiar kneading and 
 biting to which the clay pellets are subjected makes them exceed- 
 ingly tenacious, so that they adhere strongly on the slightest con- 
 tact. 
 
 When once these walls are completed, they are of very great 
 strength, and are only the more consolidated by rain and heat. 
 Before their completion, however, they do not appear to endure 
 the extreme either of heat or moisture, and are taken to pieces 
 by the little architects if a drought should check the supply of 
 that moisture, without which the work can not be properly com- 
 pacted. J 
 
 Mr. Eennie, who followed up the observations of Huber, makes 
 the following remarks on the nest of the ant: — "On digging cau- 
 tiously into a natural ant-hill, established upon the edge of a gar- 
 den walk, we were enabled to obtain a pretty complete view of 
 the interior structure. There were two stories, composed of large 
 chambers, irregularly oval, communicating with each other by 
 arched galleries, the walls of all which were as smooth as if they 
 had been passed over by a plasterer's trowel. The floors of the 
 chambers, we remarked, were by no means either horizontal or 
 level, but all more or less sloped, and exhibiting in each chamber 
 at least two slight depressions of an irregular shape. We left the 
 under story of this nest untouched, with the notion that the ant 
 might repair the upper galleries, of which we had made a vertical 
 section ; but instead of doing so, they migrated during the day to 
 a large crack, formed by the dryness of the weather, about a yard 
 from their old nest." 
 This description is accompanied by a sketch of a portion of the 
 
148 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 , dwelling. Five chambers are shown, two large and three small, 
 communicating with the gallery by very short corridors. 
 
 It is a noteworthy fact, that the ant will always avail itself of 
 any accidental circumstances that may assist it in building. For 
 example, one of these industrious little beings has been observed 
 to take advantage of some straws that happened to cross one an- 
 other, and to convert them into beams, wherewith the ceiling 
 
 Myrmeleon. 
 
 Ampules. 
 
 could be supported. It began the work by depositing the little 
 clay pellets in the angles formed by the straws, and then laid 
 several rows of the pellets along the sides of each straw. The 
 ceiling rapidly grew under the jaws and feet of the ant, and on 
 account of the extemporized beams, was necessarily of much, 
 greater strength than those which were constructed in the usual 
 manner. 
 
THE YELLOW ANT — ANDBBNA. 149 
 
 The common Yellow Ant {Formica flava), so abundant in ^ 
 marshes and gardens, is also a good burrower, though its habit- 
 ation is not so large or so elaborate as that of the Brown Ant. 
 This species is very fond of making its subterranean houses un- 
 der stones or similar substances, and I have found hundreds of 
 the nests under flat stone tiles that had once been employed in 
 edging the walks of a large kitchen-garden, and had been pressed 
 aside or sunk flat upon the earth. It is a curiously sociable spe- 
 cies, for it is often found occupying one side of a little hillock, 
 while another species of ant," Myrmica scabrinodis, has possession 
 of the other. This latter species is sometimes extremely abund- 
 ant ; and it is a rather remarkable fact, that some of our rarest 
 British beetles are only to be found in the nests of the ants. 
 
 As is well known, the ants do not retain their wings for any 
 lengthened period, and after these members have served the pur- 
 pose for which they were intended, they are broken off by the 
 insect by means of a transverse seam near the base. There are, 
 however, many of the permanently winged hymenoptera which 
 possess very great powers of burrowing, and are able to excavate 
 soil so hard that a knife can scarcely make its way through the 
 solidly impacted mass of earth and stones. 
 
 The mining bees, which belong to the genus Andrena, are ad- 
 mirable burrowers, and in spite of their small size, drive their 
 little tunnels into the earth with astonishing ease. I once came 
 on a whole colony of the Andrena, in a peculiarly hard and stony 
 path near Dieppe. The ground was full of little holes, from 
 which the bees were continually issuing, and into which others 
 were as continually passing ; their bodies yellow with the pollen 
 of the flowers which they Had been rifling, and which was in- 
 tended to serve as a provision for the future brood. 
 
 An ordinary pocket-knife could make no impression on the 
 ground, mixed as it was with stones, trodden by daily trafi&c, and 
 baked by the heat of summer, into a mass nearly as hard as brick, 
 harder perhaps than the bricks that are employed for modern 
 houses. I was obliged, therefore, to return to my room and fetch 
 a great, rude, thick-bladed clasp-knife that was reserved for rough 
 work, and with much labor succeeded in tracing several of the 
 burrows. They were sunk, on an average, about eight inches 
 into the ground, and near the end they took a sudden turn, and 
 were ended by a rounded chamber, in which was almost invaria- 
 
150 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 . bly a ball of pollen about as large as a pea. No larva was found 
 in any of the burrows. The whole of the labor falls upon the 
 female, the fore legs of the male being unable to dig, and the 
 hind legs unable to carry the pollen. 
 
 The genus Andrena is of enormous extent, for in 1855, not less 
 than sixty-eight acknowledged species had been discovered in 
 England, and the number is probably increased after a space of 
 nearly ten years. 
 
 One of the most interesting members of this family is the pret- 
 ty insect known by the name of Eucera hngicoi-nis, and believed 
 to be the only British representative of its genus. The name 
 longicornis, or long-horned, is derived from the very long anten- 
 nae of the male, which is also remarkable for a notch on the first 
 joint of the fore legs. The use of this notch we shall presently 
 see. Like the bees which have just been mentioned, the Eucera 
 digs a rather deep burrow, but prefers a clay soil. The extremi- 
 ty of the burrow is widened into an oval cell, the walls of which 
 are beaten and pressed by the insect until they are quite hard. 
 The reason for this precaution is, that the cell is stored with a 
 mixture of honey and pollen, which is of a semi-fluid consistency, 
 and would be absorbed by the earth if the walls of the cell were 
 not " puddled," as engineers call the operation. 
 
 "Within the cell is placed the egg, and in due time the larva is 
 hatched, and feeds on the soft sweet mixture with which it is sur- 
 rounded. It then changes into the pupal condition, and is re- 
 markable for being enveloped in a very thin pellicle, something 
 like the slough of a snake. Even the antennae are enveloped sep- 
 arately in the pellicle, and the male would find great difficulty in 
 divesting itself from the membrane, were it not for the notch in 
 the fore legs. As soon, however, as it is partially free, the insect 
 bends down its head, lodges successively each antennae in the 
 notch, closes the joint upon it, and then, by drawing the antennae 
 through the notch, strips off the pellicle with perfect ease. 
 
 Among these insects, the females are treated much as the wives 
 of savages are treated. All the work falls to their lot, and the 
 males do nothing but amuse themselves, circling about the nests 
 in graceful undulations, while the females are hard at work, dig- 
 ging the burrows and felxjhing home the food. Still, there is no 
 doubt but that this disparity is only in appearance, and that the 
 one sex feels as much enjoyment in following the instinct which 
 
NEST OF THE SCOLIA. 151 
 
 teaches her to dig, as does the other in following the instinct 
 which teaches him to fly about. 
 
 At the right-hand side of the illustration on page 148 may be 
 seen a figure of a remarkable burrowing bee, called Scolia jlavi- 
 frons, a native of Europe, but not as yet proved to be British. 
 In common with other fossorial bees, this insect is carnivorous in 
 its larval state, and is supplied by its mother with the creatures 
 on which it feeds. • . 
 
 Some insects feed upon larvae, others upon full-grown insects. 
 Some eat beetles, some devour bees, some prefer spiders, and 
 others flies, while a very great number of species are caterpillar- 
 eaters, and are in consequence extremely useful to the gardener 
 and farmer. This particular insect has a curious predilection, 
 and stocks its nest with the grub or larva of a beetle, belonging 
 to the genus Oryctes. At the bottom of the cell may be seen 
 certain grubs, the smaller of which is the larva of the Scolia, and 
 the larger that of the beetle. As may be seen from the illustra- 
 tion, the grub of the beetle is very much larger than that of the 
 creature which feeds upon it. The species which is here repre- 
 sented is a large and remarkably striking one, the four conspicu- 
 ous spots at once distinguishing it from any other insect. In the 
 middle of the illustration another example of a bee-burrower is 
 given, in order to show the manner in which the insect takes its 
 prey into the nest. The technical name of this species is Ampu- 
 lex compressa, and its nest is stocked with cockroaches, one of 
 which is being dragged into the hole, wherein it will be shortly 
 eaten by the inhabitant. 
 
 As space is valuable, I will merely give the names of our most 
 conspicuous burrowing bees, together with brief notice of their 
 habits. 
 
 All the species belonging to the genus Pompilus are burrow- 
 ers, and stock their nests with spiders. Sandy soils are favored 
 spots with these bees, some species preferring the dry, hard sand- 
 banks, while others choose soft and loamy sand for the site of 
 their habitation. The Sand Wasps, belonging to the genus Am- 
 mophila, are always mighty burrowers, and set about their task 
 with a fiery zeal that never fails to excite the admiration of the 
 spectator, their antennae quiveriilg and their wings flirting with 
 excitement. When the burrow is completed, the mother insect 
 flies off in search of a caterpillar or spider, according to the spe- 
 
152 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 cies, and conveys it to the bottom of the tunnel, where a small 
 chamber is excavated. 
 
 She always enters the burrow backward, grasping her prey in 
 her jaws and dragging it after her. It is so large that she can 
 scarcely force it along the tunnel, and were it not for the compar- 
 atively wide chamber, she would not be able to make her way 
 out again. When she has fairly lodged it in the chamber, she 
 creeps round it, deposits an egg upon it, and crawls out again, 
 taking care to -stftp up the entrance with some small pebbles. 
 She then flies away in search of a fresh victim, and after some 
 four or five caterpillars have been placed in the nest, she closes 
 the entrance carefully, flies off and dies, the great duty of her life 
 being then at an end. 
 
 There is an allied insect residing in India, which measures 
 about three quarters of an inch in length, and is of a fine polished 
 green color. Scientifically, it is known as Sphex scutigera. The 
 habits of this insect have been carefully watched by Sir J. Hear- 
 sey, K.C.B., who gave me much information respecting the meth- 
 od by which it prepares a habitation for its young. This species 
 preys upon large spiders and cockroaches, and sometimes displays 
 a wonderful amount of ingenuity in achieving its object. . 
 
 One of these insects had captured a spider, which was too heavy 
 to be carried through the air. The Sphex then dragged it to a 
 little bank, dropped it into the water, and perched upon it, sitting 
 there until it had been carried some distance down the water. 
 Finding that the spider was sinking, the Sphex left it, and sat on 
 a straw, which was floating down the stream, still, however, keep- 
 ing company with its prey. After a while, the spider struck 
 against the shore, and the Sphex then grasped it afresh, and tried 
 to drag it along. The steep bank, however, baffled all its endeav- 
 ors, and at last the industrious creature was obliged to leave the 
 spider on the ground, and to go off in search of another. 
 
 The dark and sombre little bee called Mellinus arvensis is an 
 excellent example of the burrowers. This insect preys on vari- 
 ous flies, and packs away a large number of its victims in the bur- 
 row. The flies which it chooses are all swift of wing, whereas the 
 Mellinus is rather a slow flyer, so that it can not take its prey by 
 open assault, but is obliged to trust to craft. In order, therefore, 
 to obtain its victims, the Melliifus watches some spot where flies 
 most love to congregate, and walks to and fro as if it were quite 
 unconcerned. It continues to run about in this manner until it 
 
THE MELLINUS — OXYBELUS — PHILANTHUS. 153 
 
 comes close to a fly, when it springs upon the luckless insect, 
 trounces it in its claws, and carries it off like a falcon with a par- 
 tridge. 
 
 Six or seven flies are generally taken by the Mellinus, and as 
 soon as the larva is hatched it begins to devour the fly which is 
 nearest to the bottom of the cell. It eats them in succession, 
 usually devouring six of the victims, consuming the softer parts 
 only, and leaving the head, shell of the abdomen, part of the tho- 
 rax, and the limbs. Ten days sufSce for the completion of its 
 feeding, and it then spins a tough, dark-colored cocoon, wherein 
 it remains during the winter and part of the spring, changes into 
 the pupal condition in the summer, and attains its perfect state at 
 the beginning of autumn. 
 
 Another species of burrowers, Oxyhelus uniglumis, has similar 
 habits. Mr. F. Smith writes of it as follows : " I once observed 
 several females running among the blades of grass which shot up 
 from the surface of a little hillock upon which the sun shone and 
 tempted various diptera occasionally to alight. The Oxybeli 
 continued to run about, apparently unheedful of the flies, until, 
 at length, the latter became somewhat accustomed to their pres- 
 ence ; but when the Oxybelus came within five or six inches, it 
 darted upon the luckless fly in the same manner as a cat springs 
 upon its prey." The burrows of this species are generally made 
 in hard white sand. 
 
 The boldest of the British bee-burrowers is undoubtedly the 
 insect which is called Philanthus triangulum, inasmuch as it pro- 
 visions its nest with the common hive-bee, seizing the luckless 
 honey-makers, and carrying them off to its nest. ' It is a very 
 fierce-looking creature, with a large head and wide jaws, and has 
 a suspiciously waspish look, owing to its yellow abdomen and 
 black dots. It does not confine itself to the hive-bees, but seizes 
 also the andrense and similar insects. 
 
 The members of the genus Cerceris are remarkable for the va- 
 riable coloring of the species, and for the widely different insects 
 with which they store their nests. Generally they prefer beetles, 
 and, strangely enough, they often select those species which are 
 not only small in body, but are furnished with very hard shells, 
 so that the larva would seem to experience some difficulty in 
 making a meal. Several beetles which Mr. Smith found in the 
 cells of the Cerceris were so hard that he could with difficulty 
 pass a pin through their bodies. Fortunately for agriculturists, 
 
154 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 the Cerceris generally selects the very beietlea which are most in- 
 jurious to vegetation, such as the various weevils and the turnip- 
 fleas. Mr. Smith is of opinion that the shells of the beetles are 
 softened by the dampness of the ground in which they lie. 
 
 In the accompanying illustration are shown the nests of two 
 common species of British Humble-bee. 
 
 Bombua Terrestris. 
 
 Bombua Lapidaiius. 
 
 Both these species are burrowers, and sometimes make their 
 nests at a considerable depth beneath the surface. The common 
 Humble-bee {Bomhus terrestris) generally makes its subterranean 
 house in the side of some bank, and the nest is usually found at 
 a depth of a foot or eighteen inches. Sometimes, however, in 
 places where the soil is light and friable, the nest has been found 
 at a very great depth from the surface, so that a perpendicular 
 shaft of five feet in length has been required before the nest 
 
THE HUMBLE-BEE. 155 
 
 could be readied. In all probability, tke bee has been aided by 
 tbe burrow of a field-mouse, when the gallery has been of such a 
 length. 
 
 The history of the nest is really a curious one. 
 
 At the end of autumn nearly all the Humble-bees die. The 
 males invariably perish, but one or two of the females survive, 
 and pass the winter in a state of hibernation. They do not se- 
 lect the nest for this purpose, convenient though the locality may 
 seem, but hide themselves away singly in sheltered spots, such as 
 the eaves of thatched barns, hollow trees, haystacks, or old ruins. 
 When the sunbeams of spring gain warmth and strength, the 
 sleepers awaken from their torpor, and immediately search for a 
 spot wherein the new home may be excavated. 
 
 These bees, which are the Methuselahs of their short-lived race, 
 may be seen in any warm spring day, flying about in all direc- 
 tions, prowling over every spare yard of ground, and settling here 
 and there, as if to test the quality of the soil. They are very 
 jealous of observation at this time, and if they think that they 
 are being watched, will take instant offense and fly off with a 
 quick, eager sound, very different from the steady, monotonous 
 hum> with which they accompany their researches. ' To watch 
 one of these insects in hopes of seeing her bbgin her labors, is an 
 endless task, for she will never dig an inch of soil as long as she 
 sees any suspicious object, and will often make her way under a 
 thick tuft of herbage, and remain quietly in the retired nook until 
 she fancies that the danger has passed away. ' 
 
 When, however, she has suited herself with a locality, she 
 scrapes away the ground quickly, and when she has dug. to a suf- 
 ficient depth, she scoops out a small cavity or chamber, and there- 
 in constructs her first nest. There are but few cells at the begin- 
 ning of the year, and these contain the first workers, who are in- 
 tended to assist in constructing the enlarged nest. The larvse 
 are large, fat, white, round-bodied creatures, with little horny 
 heads, and their bodies always slightly curved. When they 
 have completed their feeding, each spins for itself an oval cocoon 
 of coarse silk, rather irregular in shape, very soft, tough, and 
 thick in consistency. 
 
 Herein they remain until they have attained their perfect state, 
 when they gnaw a round piece from one end of the cocoon, just 
 as a chicken chips off the top of the egg, and emerge into the 
 nest. They do not venture out into the air for several days, the 
 
156 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 thick hair with which they are covered being all matted together, 
 their wings soft and crumpled,-and their limbs scarcely able to 
 bear them. Two or three days are generally passed in the nest, 
 and not until having gained their full strength do they venture 
 out into the wide world. None but worker bees are developed 
 for the first part of the year, the females and males not making 
 their appearance until the summer weather has set in. 
 
 As may be seen from the illustration, the cells of the Humble- 
 bee are not arranged in regular rows like those of the hive-bee, 
 but are set carelessly side by side, mostly fixed together in groups 
 of greater or lesser dimensions. Now and then a very little group 
 of two or three cells is found, and single cells are occasionally to 
 be seen, detached from the general mass. 
 
 This species is more prolific than any other, and the nests con- 
 tain more individuals. Mr. Smith mentions that in one nest he 
 found one hundred and seven males, fifty-six females, and one 
 hundred and eighty workers, making a total of three hundred 
 and forty-three inhabitants. Compared with the numbers that 
 inhabit the hive, this may seem to be but a small amount ; but 
 when the reader takes into consideration the fact that the insects 
 are very much larger than the hive-bee, and that the cells in 
 which they are hatched and nurtured are not only of correspond- 
 ing size but are also set very irregularly, so as to occupy a large 
 amount of space, he will see that the cells which produced nearly 
 three hundred and fifty Humble-bees must have formed very 
 large groups, and that the cavity which contained them must 
 have been exceedingly large in proportion to the size of the ex- 
 cavators. 
 
 As far as my own experience goes, there is little danger in un- 
 earthing and exploring the nest of the Humble-bee. Opinions 
 differ greatly on this point, some practical observers saying that 
 the bees are dangerous when irritated, and that they execute 
 stinged vengeance on the disturbers of the home ; while others 
 report that the insects do not attack at all; and others, again, 
 say that they attack, but that their stings cause so little pain as to 
 excite no fear. I have opened many a nest of the Humble-bee, 
 and never been stung by the inhabitants, though the bare hand 
 might easily have suffered, as it was thrust into the chamber 
 wherein the cells reposed. 
 
 The honey of the Humble-bee is peculiarly sweet and fragrant, 
 but not suitable for general consumption, as many persons, my- 
 
THE HUMBLE-BEE. 157 
 
 self among the number, are always attacked with severe headache 
 after eating the contents even of a single cell. The color of all 
 Humble-bees is most variable, especially in the male sex — so va- 
 riable, indeed, that Mr. Kirby, in his monograph of the British 
 bees, has divided this insect into seven distinct species. As if to 
 add to the difficulty of identifying the different varieties, bees of 
 more than one species will sometimes be found in one nest. 
 
 The colors, however, of the present species are generally as fol- 
 lows : The female is nearly an inch in length, and the general 
 color is black. The collar is orange-yellow ; a band of the same 
 hue is drawn near the second segment of the abdomen ; the hind- 
 er edge of the fourth segment and the whole of the fifth segment 
 are pale yellow, and the tip of the abdomen is naked. The work- 
 er is barely half the size of the queen, and is marked in a similar 
 manner, except that white hairs are mixed with the yellow. The 
 male is intermediate in size, between the female and worker, being 
 about three fourths of an inch in length. The yellow is brighter 
 than in the female, and the tip of the abdomen is covered with 
 light tawny hairs. 
 
 The right-hand nest in the illustration is that of the Eed-tipped 
 Humble-bee of Shakspeare, known as the Lapidary Bee {Bombus 
 lapidarius), which derives its specific name from its habit of mak- 
 ing its nest within heaps of stone. ■ This beautiful insect is plen- 
 tiful in most parts of England, and may be known by the bright 
 orange-red hue which decorates the last three segments of the 
 abdomen. The female and worker of this species are precisely 
 alike, except in their size ; the former, which is popularly called 
 the queen bee, measuring nearly an inch from the head to the tip 
 of the tail, while the worker is scarcely half that length. The 
 male is very variable in color, but is, generally black, with thick 
 yellowish hairs upon the face, the fore part of the thorax, and the 
 first segment of the abdomen. 
 
 I have always found this species to be fiercer than the preced- 
 ing, and have more than once been driven away from the neigh- 
 borhood of the nest by its rapid and incessant attacks. The sting 
 with which this bee is armed is a very formidable weapon, and 
 the poison which it conveys into the wound is extremely viru- 
 lent, causing much pain, and leaving a dull, aching sensation for 
 several days afterward. These symptoms, however, vary accord- 
 ing to the individual who is stung, and those which are mention- 
 ed are described according to personal experience. 
 
158 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Generally, the Lapidary Bee makes its nest in heaps of stone, 
 sometimes choosing those hillocks of rough stones which are 
 heaped on the sides of roads, awaiting the stone-breaker and his 
 hammer. Sometimes the fallen debris of limestone rocks affords 
 a residence for this bee, and, in many instances, it burrows into 
 the ground, and there makes its nest, just like that of the com- 
 mon humble-bee. 
 
 Eighteen species of the true British Humble-bees are now rec- 
 ognized, all of them social in their habits, but varying much in the 
 localities and form of their dwellings. Several of them will be 
 described in a future page. Meanwhile, it will suf&ce to mention 
 that the use of scientific terms, when speaking of these insects, is 
 absolutely necessary, the popular mind not having recognized 
 the different species, which are, in consequence, without popular 
 names. Any Humble-bee, no matter what species, is known as a 
 Bumble-bee, a Foggie, a Dumbledore, or a Hummel-bee, accord- 
 ing to the peculiar dialect of the locality ; and very few persons 
 seem to have any idea that there can be more than one species. 
 
 There is one well-known and very handsome insect, which is 
 equally disliked by the bee-keeper, the gardener, and the grocer, 
 as it annoys them greatly in their respective callings. This is the 
 common Wasp {Vespa vulgaris), which is equally fond of honey, 
 fruit, and sugar ; and as it is armed with a potent weapon, is not 
 merely a hateful marauder, but a formidable enemy. The gar- 
 dener, however, is the least injured of the three, for the Wasp 
 confers upon him some slight benefits, which counteract in some 
 degree the inroads which.it makes upon his treasures. It is true 
 that the Wasp is very fond of ripe fruit, and that with an unfail- 
 ing instinct it prefers the choicest fruits, exactly when they are in 
 their best condition, gnawing holes in them, and spoiling them for 
 the market. Still it is more of a predacious than a vegetable- 
 feeding insect, and kills so many flies that it relieves the garden- 
 er of other foes, which, in the end, would be more injurious than 
 itself, inasmuch as the larva endangers not only the fruit but the 
 very life of the plant. It is a strangely bold insect, and has re- 
 course to singular -methods of procuring food. In the farming 
 department at Walton Hall, I have seen the pigs lying in the 
 warm sunshine, the flies clustering thickly on their bodies, and 
 the Wasps pouncing on the flies and carrying them off. It was 
 a curious sight to watch the total indifference of the pigs, the 
 
THE WASP. 159 
 
 busy clustering of the flies, with which the hide was absolutely 
 blackened in some places, and then to see the yellow -bodied 
 Wasp just clear the wall, dart into the dark mass, and retreat 
 again with a fly in its fatal grasp. On the average, one Wasp 
 arrived every ten seconds, so that the pig-sty must have been a 
 well-known storehouse for these insects. 
 
 As is well known to every boy who has participated in the 
 delight of taking a Wasp's nest, the habitation of the insect is 
 mostly under ground, and is a marvel of ingenious industry. 
 The shape is more or less globular, and the material of which it 
 is composed is very much like coarse brown paper, though not so 
 tough. If it be opened, a wonderful scene is disclosed ; terrace 
 upon terrace of hexagonal cells being arranged in regular rows, 
 and inclosed in a shell of papery substance, some half an inch in 
 thickness, which is evidently intended to prevent the earth from 
 falling among the combs, as these cell-terraces are called. 
 
 We will now suppose ourselves to be present at the con- 
 struction of the nest, and, Prospero-like, will see without being 
 seen. 
 
 In the early days of spring, a Wasp issues from the place in 
 which it has passed ithe winter, and anxiously surveys the coun- 
 try. She does not fly fast nor high, but passes slowly and care- 
 fully along, examining every earth-bank, and entering every crev- 
 ice to which she comes. At last she finds a burrow made by a 
 field-mouse, or perhaps strikes upon the deserted tunnel of some 
 large burrowing insect, enters, it, stays a long while within, comes 
 out' again and fusses about outside, enters again, and seems to 
 make up her mind. In fact, she is house-hunting, and all her 
 movements are very like those <jf a careful matron selecting a 
 new home. 
 
 Having thus settled upon a convenient spot, she proceeds to 
 form a chamber, at some depth from the surface, breaking away 
 the soil, and carrying it out piece by piece. When she has thus 
 fashioned the chamber to her mind — for she has a mind — she 
 flies off again, and makes her way to an old wooden fence which 
 has stood for many years, and which, although not rotten, is per- 
 fectly seasoned. On this she settles, and, after running up and 
 down for a little time, she fixes upon some spot, and begins to 
 gnaw away the fibres, working with all her might, so eagerly 
 engaged that even were we not invisible we might stand by and 
 watch her proceedings. At last, she has gathered a little bundle 
 
160 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 of fibres, which she gnaws and works about until she reduces 
 them to a kind of pulp, and then flies back to the burrow. 
 
 She now runs up the side of the chamber, and clings to its 
 roof with the two last pairs of legs, while with the first pair, aid- 
 ed by her jaws, she fixes the woody pulp on the roof, kneading it 
 until it forms a kind of little pillar. Another and another supply 
 is brought, until this pillar, which is pendent from the roof, like a 
 papier macM stalactite, is completed. The Wasp now begins to 
 form the comb, and at the end of the pillar she places three very 
 shallow cells, of a cup-like shape, not hexagonal, as are the com- 
 pleted cells. In each of these little cups she deposits an egg, and 
 then constructs a roof over them, made from the same material as 
 the cells, but laid in a different manner, the length of the fibres 
 being nearly at right angles to the centre of the proposed comb. 
 More cells are then added, eggs are laid in them, and the roof ex- 
 tended over them. , 
 
 The eggs that were laid in the first three cells are now hatched, 
 and have produced very tiny grubs, which are always hungry, 
 and require much attention. They grow rapidly, and, in propor- 
 tion to their growth, the parent "Wasp adds to the walls of their 
 cells, so that the young grubs are suspended, with their heads 
 downward, as, indeed, is the custom with very many hymenop- 
 terous larvae. The Wasp proceeds in her task, having all the 
 cares of the nest upon her — the enlargement of the chamber, the 
 building of the nest, the transport of materials, the deposition of 
 the eggs, and the feeding of the ever-hungry grubs. 
 
 In due time, however, the oldest grubs cease to feed, spin a 
 silken cover over their cells, and release their parent from far- 
 ther attendance upon them. Ri the cells they undergo the change 
 to the perfect state, and, after they have passed a short season in 
 retirement, they tear away the silken cover with their jaws, and 
 come forth as perfect Wasps. As soon as they have gained 
 strength to use their limbs, they take the heavy labors upon them, 
 and the work goes merrily on, the mother Wasp having little to 
 do but to deposit eggs in the cells as fast as they are made. 
 
 Before very long, the first cell-terrace is completely full, and 
 more accommodation is needed. This is supplied in a very curi- 
 ous ma;nner. Taking the junction point of these cells as the 
 foundation, the Wasps construct several pendent pillars, exactly 
 like the one which has already been described, and, by dint of 
 adding cells to each, they all unite, and form a second terrace, 
 
THE WASP. 
 
 161 
 
 below the first, the distance between them being just sufficiently 
 large to permit the Wasps to cross each other. In this, as in the 
 former terrace, all the mouths of the cell are downward and their 
 bases upward, so that the bases of the second terrace form a floor 
 on which the Wasps can walk while feeding the young contained 
 in the first. A third, fourth, and fifth terrace are added in this 
 manner, all alike, the cells being so small that the mother Wasp 
 can not even put her head into them. 
 
 Wasp NeBt, 
 
 It will be seen, therefore, that, as insects never grow after they 
 have assumed the perfect form, the Wasps which have been bred 
 in these cells must be very much smaller than their parent. They 
 are, in fact, the worker wasps, or neuters, as they are sometimes 
 called, whose entire life is devoted to labor, and who, in fact, are 
 undeveloped females. 
 
 L 
 
162 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Now, however, a change takes place. The cells of which the 
 next few terraces are composed are of very much larger dimen- 
 sions than the others, and are intended for the purpose of hatch- 
 ing the grubs which will afterward become perfect male and 
 female wasps. It will be seen, therefore, that the workers are 
 hatched in the earlier part of the year, and that the male and fe- 
 male do not make their appearance until the end of the season. 
 The cell-terraces increase gradually in diameter until the fourth 
 or fifth, when they usually decrease slightly, and in exact accord- 
 ance with their enlargement the covering is extended over them. 
 A large nest will contain about seven or eight thousand cells ; 
 and, on the average, each cell is. the birth-place' of three genera- 
 tions. As all the young grubs have to be fed with animal sub- 
 stances, usually flies, the reader can easily imagine the havoc 
 which Wasps make in the insect world. Mr. F. Smith, however, 
 who has given so much time and labor to this subject, remarks 
 that as he has never found the cells of the males and females to 
 contain the' remains of more than one lining, these cells only ac- 
 commodate a single brood. 
 
 The silken cover is always convex, and draws the mouth of the 
 cell into a rounded form, so that if one of the cells is removed 
 from the comb while the pupa is still within it, the two ends are 
 of very similar form. The Wasps do not break through the cover 
 in the same manner. Sometimes they buj-st their way through 
 the centre, leaving a rude and rugged opening ; sometimes they 
 bite out a circular hole, and push their way through it, tearing 
 the edges as they pass through its substance ; and sometimes they 
 cut it neatly round the edge, so that the entire covering can be 
 lifted like the lid of an ancient tankard, and the imprisoned in- 
 sect is able to emerge without any trouble, the lid closing again 
 as soon as the inmate has escaped. 
 
 The covers of the cells are not precisely perpendicular, but radi- 
 ate slightly from the centre of each comb or terrace. Nor is the 
 flooring precisely flat, for the edges of each comb are slightly 
 raised, so as to form a trifling concavity in the centre. At their 
 mouths, the cells are perfectly hexagonal — those, at all events, 
 which occupy the centre of each comb ; but their bases are always 
 cup-shaped, the walls changing gradually into hexagons as the 
 cells increase in height, or, to be more accurate, in depth. When 
 viewed from above, the forms of the bases are plainly perceptible, 
 and they look very like the mosaic teeth in a skate's jaw. 
 
THE WASP. 163 
 
 The successive layers of which the cell-walls are composed can 
 be easily seen when the comb is held to a strong side light ; and 
 it sometimes happens that the Wasp finds pieces of paper lying 
 near the nest, bites them to pieces in the s^me manner that it bites 
 the wood-fibres, and then uses them for its nest. I have seen a 
 nest which was made almost entirely of the blue and white paper 
 used for cartridges, the Wasps having taken advantage of the ex- 
 pended papers, and used them instead of taking the trouble to 
 gnaw hard wood. The covering of the nest is of much rougher 
 texture than the cells themselves, and looks like a number of tiny 
 oyster-shells piled on each other like the " grotto" of metropoli- 
 tan children. It is made very simply by laying a lump of the 
 fibrous paste upon the nest, and sweeping it backward and fos- 
 ward to flatten it, just as a bricklayer spreads a lump of mortar 
 with his trowel. No attempt is made to smooth the surface, and 
 the impression of the little architect's head can be seen upon each 
 successive patch, or tile, if we may so call it. 
 
 This woody fibre seems but a flimsy substance for the mate- 
 rials of a nest which can contain so many individuals. In a large 
 nest there are always from two to three thousand inhabitants,, 
 more than half that number being the fat and weighty grubs. If 
 the insects were removed from the nest, and placed in a pair of 
 scales, their united mass would be so heavy as to cause a feeling 
 of wonder that so slight a habitation could endure their weight. 
 The walls, however, are stronger than they seem to be, and the 
 hexagonal shape of the cells affords such mutual support that the 
 walls can not only bear the weight of the insects within them, 
 but, as has already been mentioned, are strong enough to uphold 
 a series of cells that are suspended to them. 
 
 At the end of the season, after successive bands of worker 
 wasps have passed through the cells, and the single generation 
 of the males and females has come to maturity, the nest shows 
 symptoms of dissolution. If there are any grubs still left in the 
 comb, the workers at once change, their behavior. Instead of 
 feeding and tending them with jealous care, instead of defending 
 them at the risk of their own lives, they pull these helpless white 
 things out of their" cradles, carry them far out of the nest, and 
 abandon them. It seems a cruelty, and so it is ; but it is a cruel 
 mercy, substituting a quick death by exposure, or, perchance, be- 
 ing eaten by birds, for a slow and lingering death by starvation 
 within the nest. For the instinct of the worke/s tells them that 
 
164 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 their labor is over, and their course is run, and that in a short 
 time they will all die of old age, so that the helpless nurslings in 
 the cells would find no food, and must perish by starvation. 
 
 At last the entire population deserts the nest, the workers die, 
 and so do all the males, none of them surviving their brief wed- 
 lock for more than a few hours ; and the majority of the females 
 die also, some from exposure to cold, and others by a violent 
 death. Those, however, that are fortunate enough to find a crev- 
 ice in which they can lie dormant during the long months of 
 winter, creep into it, and there remain until the following spring, 
 when they emerge to be the queens and mothers of future colo- 
 nies. It is a remarkable fact that the Wasp never passes the 
 winter in the nest, convenient as that spot may seem, but always 
 seeks some other place of refuge. The reader will now compre- 
 hend that, whenever a Wasp is seen in the spring-tide, it is one 
 of the females which have survived the winter, and is about to 
 found a new colony. Those, therefore, who pride themselves on 
 their wall-fruit will do well to kill such Wasps, inasmuch as a 
 single queen Wasp in spring is equivalent to many thousand 
 Wasps in autumn. 
 
 Three species of burrowing Wasps inhabit England — namely, 
 the common Wasp, which has just been described; the German 
 Wasp ( Vespa Germanica), distinguished from the preceding spe- 
 cies by having three black spots at the root of the first ring of the 
 abdomen ; and the Eed Wasp ( Vespa rufa), known by the black 
 anchor on the top of the head, and the reddish-yellow limbs. 
 
 Mr. F. Smith mentions a very remarkable circumstance con- 
 nected with the removal of Wasp grubs by the worker. " There 
 is a point which I have more than once witnessed in the history 
 of Wasps, which does not appear to have been recorded. In the 
 spring I have found as many as three nests in a bank, not more 
 than two hundred yards apart ; and on visiting the spot a month 
 or so later, I observed no Wasps issuing from the first nest, and, 
 on digging into the bank, discovered that it was deserted, a single 
 empty comb alone remaining. I then passed on to the second 
 nest, and was surprised to observe a few Wasps come out, each 
 carrying something away ; at length I captured one, and found it 
 was conveying larvae from the nest. I traced them in their flight, 
 and was astonished to see a Wasp enter the third nest with a lar- 
 vae from the nest No. 2. 
 
 " Here there ii a mystery which time will unravel, but which I 
 
THE WASP. * 165 
 
 am unable to determine. Were the larvae carried off to be nursed, 
 and to add to the swarm, or were they destined to become the food 
 of the larvae of the nest in the freebooter community ? I have 
 several times observed that swarms had deserted their nests, but 
 have only once witnessed any thing which would in any way ac- 
 count for such a proceeding." 
 
 Sometimes the "Wasp dispenses with a burrow and becomes a 
 builder, placing its nest on a beam or under a thatched roof. In 
 this case the outer shell of the nest is much more handsome than 
 that which surrounds the subterranean combs, being of a yellow- 
 ish-brown color, and the individual flakes of which it is composed 
 being sharply defined. They are more porous than the ordinary 
 gray flakes of the underground nest, and are less capable of re- 
 sisting moisture. Before concluding this accoupt of the Wasp 
 and its nest, I may mention that the character of the insect has 
 been generally misunderstood. The popular impression is, that 
 the Wasp derives some especial gratification from the act of sting- 
 ing, is of a savage and malicious disposition, and lives wholly 
 upon the proceeds of theft. Now, in fact, the Wasp never stings 
 until it is compelled to do so, either by alarm or when it retali- 
 ates upon an adversary. It seldom survives the act of stinging, 
 because the secreted point of its weapon is held in the wound, 
 and in many cases the entire poison bag and gland are torn out 
 of the body together with the sting itself. In defense of its home 
 it can be fierce enough, as indeed it ought to be, and cares noth- 
 ing for its own life, provided that it can only inflict a wound upon 
 the enemy. 
 
 The reader may perhaps be surprised to hear that Wasps can 
 be kept as easily as bees, and that, like those insects, they never 
 injure those with whom they are familiar. Indeed, they are even 
 less likely to sting than the hive-bees, whose olfactory nerves are 
 so sensitive that they assault any passenger who happens to have 
 been recently smoking, or who has used perfume of any kind. 
 Bees usually treat me very well ; but during the last summer, as 
 I was looking at a neighboring hive, the bees began to dash past 
 me with that peculiar menacing sound which always heralds an 
 attack. Taking warning by the sound, I retired quietly to the 
 farther end of the garden, but was followed even there by one 
 pertinacious enemy, who at last made a dash at my face, and 
 passed on, leaving its sting as a memorial of its anger. I after- 
 ward discovered that a handkerchief in my breast-coat pocket re- 
 
166 HOMffiS WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 tained a faint scent of eau de Cologne. Now, if the assailants had 
 been Wasps instead of bees, a by-stander would assuredly have 
 considered the attack as a proof of the malignant nature of the 
 "Wasp. 
 
 Befobe taking leave of the earth-burrowing hymenoptera, it 
 will be necessary to mention two very remarkable insects which 
 are described by Mr. Bates, in his well-known " Naturalist in the 
 Eiver Amazon." Neither of the insects have any popular name. 
 
 The first is called Monedula signata, and is a handsome-looking 
 insect, very much resembling aa ordinary wasp, and ornamented, 
 like that insect, with bold black marks on the .thorax and abdo- 
 men. The antennae, however, are twisted, and at once prove that 
 the creature is but distantly related to the true wasp. The bur- 
 rows of this insect seem to be made only in the sand-banks which 
 project above the surface of the river ; so that they would not be 
 discovered by ordinary travelers. Fortunately for the residents 
 in that part of the country, the Monedula stores its nest with one 
 of the most obnoxious insects that haunt the Amazon Eiver. 
 This is the Motuca fly {Radaios kpidoius), an insignificant-looking 
 creature, smaller than an ordinary house-fly, and of a bronze-black 
 color, with the wings of an ashy brown, except a whitish spot near 
 the tips. 
 
 This fly belongs to the well-known family of Tabanidse, and, 
 like them, is furnished with a very formidable apparatus, by 
 means of which it obtains its food. "Whenever the Motuca can 
 attack a human being, it dashes at him, settles, and in a Sioment 
 drives a broad, sharp-edged lancet through the skin, cutting quite 
 a gash, and causing the blood to flow fast. Fortunately, the 
 wound is not very painful, and it is possible that the flowing 
 blood may be useful in washing out any poison that has been in- 
 jected. It is of a sluggish nature, and can be easily taken with 
 the fingers — a very happy circumstance, inasmuch as a dozen 
 Motuca flies may be seen clustering upon the ankle, just above 
 the shoe. 
 
 The Monedula destroys multitudes of the Motuca flies, and will 
 travel for half a mile in order to procure its prey, always taking 
 care to close the entrance of its burrow, and to reopen it on its 
 return. Mr. Bates mentions that he has been frequently indebted 
 to the Monedula for saving him from sundry gashes from the 
 Motuca; and that the Monedula would charge straight toward 
 
THE BEMBEX — ANTS. 167 
 
 his face or neck, pick up a Motuca as it was«about to settle, and 
 fly off witli it. The fly was not captured with the jaws, but 
 seized in the' first and second pairs of feet. 
 
 The other burrower is that which is known to entomologists 
 as Bemhex ciliata, and is remarkable for the eager assiduity with 
 which it plies its labor of love. In color it is shining green ; and 
 when it has fixed upon a suitable spot for its burrow' it scratches 
 away the sandy soil with such furious haste, that a nearly con- 
 tinuous fountain of sand is thrown up behind it. Even after it 
 has penetrated for two or three inches into the ground, the sandy 
 stream issues from the orifice, propelled as if by a miniature en- 
 gine, and being fli;ng under the body by means of the powerful 
 fore feet with their bristly armature. 
 
 When it has completed its tunnel, which is always driven in a 
 slanting direction, and from two to three inches in depth, it 
 emerges from the orifice, walks about for a time, as if to take 
 bearings of the locality, and then darts off and is lost to sight. 
 After a while it returns, bringing in its grasp a fly, which is des- 
 tined to be the food of the young Bembex. Only one fly is 
 placed in each tunnel, and then the entrance is carefully stopped 
 up wjth sand, so that it can not be distinguished from the sur- 
 rounding soil. It is a remarkable fact that, however many nests 
 may be made in a sand-bank, and however closely they may be 
 set, the insect which dug them never mistakes another dwelling 
 for its own, and always flies directly to the spot which it has se- 
 lected as the cradle of its posthumous ofispring. 
 
 Although the ants have been postponed to a future page, a 
 few words must be given to the insect whose nest will be seen on 
 the right hand of the plate. 
 
 This insect is the Formica compressa of India. Now and then 
 the nest of this species is above ground, and is made of mud, fast- 
 ened to trees and leaves ; but as in ninety -nine cases out of a 
 hundred its home is subterranean, it will here be considered as 
 one of the burrowers. 
 
 The section of the nest which is presented to the reader will 
 give a very good idea of its general structure. There are gener- 
 ally some five or six entrances to the nest, but they are so ingen- 
 iously-hidden under stones, clods of earth, and any object which 
 can shelter them, that they would not be detected by a casual 
 passenger. ^ The few upper passages or galleries are extremely 
 
168 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 irregular, often having a zigzag direction, and being of no very 
 great length. Those at a greater depth, however, are much more 
 regular in their structure, and when they are driven at some three 
 or four feet from the surface, they are large in diameter, cylin- 
 drical, and extend to a considerable distance. In the nest of the 
 British species, Formica fusca, there is a somewhat similar struc- 
 ture ; and although the ant is so small, these tunnels are some- 
 times an inch in diameter, and five feet or even more in length. 
 In these deep-set galleries, the tropical ants retire during the rainy 
 season, and in our own country the insects may be found in them 
 throughout the cold months of winter. 
 
 Near the surface of the ground, the reader may observe several 
 enlargements of the galleries, forming spacious chambers. In 
 these chambers the ants are accustomed to lay the white pupae as 
 well as the eggs, in order that they may be warmed by the sun, 
 without enduring the full fury of his beams. At night, if rain 
 should come on, the vigilant workers take up their helpless 
 charges, and convey them to hiding-places far beneath the sur- 
 face. If, during the months of April or May, the nest of the 
 Dusky Ant be opened, a very curious state of things will be dis- 
 closed. Within the chamber may be seen a vast mass of pupae 
 and their attendant ants; and, what is still more remarkable, 
 specimens of certain beetles may also be found in company with 
 the ants. 
 
 There are several species of British beetles which are never 
 seen in any other localities, and, until their singular mode of life 
 was discovered, were ranked among the rarest of our insects. No 
 less than thirty-seven species of ant's-nest-beetles have already 
 been acknowledged, besides the larvse of three other species. 
 One very rare species of the Staphylinidae, or Cocktail -beetle 
 {Atemeles emarginatus), has now become quite common, so fre- 
 quently is it found in the nest of the ant which is now under 
 consideration. The locality of this beetle was discovered by a 
 collector, who saw an ant carrying one of the beetles into its nest. 
 As to the beetles themselves, they seem to be quite as much at 
 home as the ants, and when the nest is laid open, their first at- 
 tempt is to escape into the farthest galleries, or to hide themselves 
 in the nearest crevice. The ants, however, watch them carefully, 
 run after them, seize them in their jaws, and carry them back 
 again into the nests. 
 
BUKEOWING BEETLES. 169 
 
 CHAPTEE YIII. 
 
 BURROWING BEETLES. 
 
 The Tiger Beetle and its Habits. — Beauty of the Insect, its Larva, and Mode of 
 Life. — Curious Form of its Burrow. — The Sexton Beetl?: and its Power of 
 digging in the Ground. — The Dob Beetle — its polished Surface, and the Sub- 
 stances in which it Burrows. — Use of the Dor Beetle. — The ScAEABiEtjs of 
 Egypt and its wonderful Instincts. — The Egg, the Grub, and the Cocoon. — Co- 
 coon in the British Museum. — The Mole-ckickbt, its Form and elaborate 
 Dwelling. — Its general Habits and wide Distribution. — The Field-cricket and 
 its Tunnels. — Structure of the Ovipositor. — The Migkaiokv Locust and its 
 Development. — The Ant-lion, its Form, Food, and Mode of Life. — The Pitfall 
 and its Structure. — Mode of catching Prey. — Perfect Form of the Ant-lion. 
 
 We now come to tlie Burrowing Beetles, of which there are 
 no few species. As is the case with the generality of insects, the 
 subterranean habitations which they excavate are seldom intend- 
 ed for their own use — at all events, after they have attained their 
 perfect form ; but are either formed by the parent while prepar- 
 ing a home for the young brood which it will never see, or by 
 the larva itself while feeding, or while forming a cell in which it 
 can lie dormant in the pupal state. 
 
 First among the British coleoptera comes the lovely Tiger 
 Beetle {Cidndela Campestris), an insect which, though small, can 
 challenge comparison with the most beautiful exotic specimens. 
 It is the fiercest, handsomest, and most active of all the British 
 coleoptera, using legs and wings with equal agility, running or 
 flying with such speed that its form can not be clearly defined, 
 and settling on the ground or taking to wing with equal ease. 
 As it darts through the air, the burnished surface of the abdomen 
 flashes in the sunbeams as if a living gem had passed by, earning 
 for its owner the popular title of Sparkler Beetle. 
 
 This insect is, or rather has been, a mighty burrower, exhibit- 
 ing, even in its larval condition, something of that fiery energy 
 which actuates it when it has reached its perfect condition. 
 Sandy banks are the chief resorts of the Tiger Beetle, which in 
 this country seems seldom or never to alight upon trees, restrict- 
 ing itself to bare and sandy soil. It even avoids those spots 
 which are covered with grass and herbage, cares nothing for 
 
170 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 shade, and delights to settle upon banks with a southern aspect, 
 and to run about upon soil that has been rendered so hot by the 
 sun that the bare hand can hardly endure contact with its sur- 
 face. In America, however, the Tiger Beetles possess different 
 habits, preferring trees to the ground, and either running about 
 on the trunk or darting from leaf to leaf in search of their prey. 
 The English entomologist, however, who wishes to find this bee- 
 tle, must look for it on the ground ; and near the spots which the 
 adult beetles traverse so rapidly may be found the larva in its 
 burrow. 
 
 These larvse are most remarkable beings. They are whitish in 
 color, and strangely moulded in form, the head being of enormous 
 size, and of a horny consistency, and the eighth segment devel- 
 oped into a hump-like projection, carrying upon its upper surface 
 a pair of bent hooks. The larva never is seen above the surface 
 of the ground, and, indeed, never exhibits more than the smooth 
 horny head and mandibles. It lives in perpendicular burrows, 
 about a foot in depth, which it is able to traverse with great ra- 
 pidity, and which are only just of sufficient diameter to permit 
 the inhabitant to pass up and down. 
 
 It is a carnivorous being, feeding chiefly on insects, which it is 
 able to capture, in spite of the apparent disadvantage under which 
 it labors of being confined to one spot. The mode by Which it 
 obtains its daily food is as fbllows. Ascending to the upper por- 
 tion of its burrow, it fixes itself firmly by means of its hooks, and 
 then lays its jaws level with the soil. While in this attitude, it 
 is almost invisible, and as soon as an insect passes by the am- 
 bushed larva, the sickle-like jaws grasp it, and it is dragged to 
 the bottom of the tunnel, where it is devoured. Not only is the 
 larva carnivorous, but it is combative in proportion to its voraci- 
 ty, and if a straw be thrust into its burrow, the angry grub will 
 fasten upon it with the tenacious gripe of a bull-dog, and suffer 
 itself to be dragged out of its home rather than release its sup- 
 posed enemy. 
 
 The burrow is made by the larva, and not by the parent, and 
 is a work of some little time, the earth being loosened by means 
 of the feet and jaws, and then carried to the surface on the flat- 
 tened head. 
 
 Other beetles are in the habit of driving deep tunnels into the 
 ground, wherein may be deposited the eggs which are destined to 
 
BURROWING BEETLES. 171 
 
 produce a fresh brood in the ensuing season. Our own country 
 can boast of possessing many such beetles, but in the hotter parts 
 of the world their number is quite wonderful. 
 
 Our first example will be the well-known Sexton, or Burying 
 Beetles, some of which may be seen at work at the left hand of 
 the plate, busily engaged in burying the dead bird. There are 
 several species of Burying Beetles ; but as their habits are very 
 similar, they need not be separately described. Any one who 
 wishes to see them at work may do so by taking a dead mouse, 
 bird, or piece of meat, and laying it on a soft spot of ground. I 
 was about to add the frog to the number of objects for sepulture, 
 but have omitted that creature because the porous nature of its 
 skin causes it to dry up so rapidly, that the beetle will seldom 
 take the trouble of burying it. 
 
 Sometimes, but very rarely, a pair of the beetles will come to 
 it by daylight, their wide wings bearing them along with great 
 speed ; but in general they prefer night as the time to begin their 
 work. If the bird be visited in the early morning, it will be no 
 longer upon the surface of the ground, but will be half sunken 
 below it, as though the earth had given way, just as a piece of 
 dark cloth sinks into snow. If, however, the bird be removed, 
 the cause of its gradual disappearance will be seen in the form of 
 one or two beetles, sometimes black, and sometimes beautifully 
 barred with orange. Then let the bird be replaced, and a trowel 
 carefully introduced under it, so that the bird and beetles can be 
 gently transferred to a vessel of earth and then covered with a 
 glass shade. » 
 
 During the day the beetles will mostly remain quiet; but in 
 the evening they begin to be active. To dig a hole, and then to 
 drag the bird into it, would be a task far beyond their powers, 
 and they therefore employ another plan. They entirely burrow 
 beneath the bird, emerging every now and then to scrape out the 
 loose soil, walk round the bird, mount it as if to see how the work 
 is proceeding, and then disappear afresh and renew their labors. 
 Sometimes they dig rather too much on one side, and then they 
 appear sadly puzzled, running round and round the bird, getting 
 on it as if to press it down with their weight, pulling it this way 
 and that way ; and at last they do what they ought to have done 
 at first, namely, disappear under the bird and scrape away the 
 earth until the hole is large enough to allow the bird to sink into 
 the required position. 
 
172 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The time occupied in the transaction necessarily varies, accord- 
 ing to the size of the buried object and the condition of the bee- 
 tle ; but on the average an ordinary finch, or a mouse, can be bur- 
 ied in the course of a day. When the task is completed, a num- 
 ber of eggs are laid upon the buried animal, and then the beetles 
 emerge, cover it with earth, and then fly away. In some cases 
 they will bury a whole series of corpses ; and in the well-known 
 experiments of M. Gleiditsch, four beetles buried, in a small piece 
 of earth, four frogs, three birds, two fishes, one mole, two grass- 
 hoppers, the entrails of a fish, and two pieces of meat. And so 
 strong and persevering are these insects, that a single beetle suc- 
 ceeded in burying a mole in two days. Now the mole is at least 
 forty times as large as the beetle, so that we can estimate the 
 strength and perseverance of the beetle by calculating the labor 
 which would be necessary for a man to inter, in two days, an an- 
 imal forty times as large as himself 
 
 Perhaps the reader may remember a curious analogy between 
 the mode of sepulture employed by these beetles, and the mode 
 of sinking wells in sandy soil. Instead of digging a hole, and . 
 then building a brick lining to it, a circular tower is first built, 
 and then, by scraping away the sand from within, the workmen 
 cause it to sink into the ground. When it has sunk sufiiciently, 
 some twelve or fourteen feet are added, and the sand again scraped 
 out ; and in this manner the brick tube sinks gradually down, and 
 becomes the lining of the well. 
 
 The beetle just menti«ned conveys into its burrow the whole 
 of the substance on which the grub is intended to feed ; but 
 those which we now shall examine select only a portion for that 
 purpose. There is a very large tribe of beetles, of which the 
 British type is the common Doe Beetle {Geotrupes vulgaris), 
 sometimes called the Watchman, or Clock, whose heavy hum 
 drones upon the ear in the evening, as the 
 
 "Beetle wheels his drowsy flight," 
 
 and whose hard and notched head occasionally strikes against the 
 face with a violence less agreeable to the man than to the insect, 
 the latter being quite undisturbed by the shock. 
 
 Catch one of these beetles, and examine the wondrous beauty 
 of its color, how its polished surface gleams as if made of bur- 
 nished steel, pure and bright as armor just out of the smith's 
 
>*'« ' * 0-JhJL,; 
 
 BUBTINO BEETLE. 
 
THE DOR BEETLE. 175 
 
 hands. Yet this creature has, in all probability, been burrowing 
 deeply into the ground, has been meddling with the most noxious 
 substances, and still retains no trace of its past labors. Save for 
 the round-bodied yellow parasites that cling to its body, and in- 
 sert their beaks between the joints of its armor, it is brilliantly 
 clear. Not a speck of mould remains upon its surface, not a stain 
 defiles its limbs, neither does it retain the least odor which would 
 betray its occupation. Other beetles are not so fortunate. The 
 burying beetles just mentioned are mightily ill-savored insects, 
 and so are many others with similar habits. But the Dor beetle 
 is free from such noisomeness, and both the eye and the nostrils 
 pronounce it pure. 
 
 Let us now watch this beautiful insect, as it wheels through 
 the air. Either by the development of the sense of smell, or by 
 some sixth sense with which humanity is practically unacquaint- 
 ed, the beetle is made aware that the object of its search is at 
 hand. The dull, monotonous buzz is immediately exchanged for 
 a triumphant hum, the circling flight ceases, and the beetle darts 
 through the air, with arrow-like rapidity, to the spot which it 
 seeks. A few more circles, lessening at every round, and down 
 it settles, on an object uninviting to Europeans, but in great favor 
 with Hindoos, Kaf&rs, and scarabsei, namely, a patch of cow-dung. 
 
 No soonjir has it settled, than it dives downward until it reach- 
 es the earth, and then bores a perpendicular bole, some eight inch- 
 es in depth, and large enough to admit a man's finger. I have 
 often watched the beetles at their work, and seen them thus en- 
 gaged, and have turned many a Dor beetle out of the burrow 
 which it had been so industriously excavating. Having ascend- 
 ed to the surface, it carries a quantity of the cowdung to the bot- 
 tom of the burrow; deposits an egg, and ascends, repeating this 
 process as long as its powers endure. There are several other 
 British beetles which prepare the cradle for their offspring in a 
 similar manner. 
 
 Merely to dig a hole, to place at the bottom of it the food which 
 the young are intended to eat, and to fill it in with earth, is a pro- 
 cess of great simplicity, and makes but few calls on the industry 
 or ingenuity of the laborer. Some allied beetles there are, how- 
 ever, which feed their young on similar substances, and in like 
 manner bury them in the earth, but which exercise extraordinary 
 industry in the performance of the task. All the world has heard 
 ,of the famous ScABABiBUS of the Egyptians {iScarabcetis sacer), an 
 
176 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 insect which is found in many parts of the globe, and very much 
 resembles the Dor beetle of our own country. This insect sets to 
 work in a curiously systematic manner. 
 
 As soon as the sensitive organs of the Scarabseus announce to 
 it that the desired substance is at hand, it proceeds to the spot, 
 alights, and sets at once to work. First, it sinks a tolerably deep 
 and perpendicular hole in the ground, and, having returned to the 
 cow-dung, it separates a sufficient quantity for its purpose, lays an 
 egg in it, and forms it into a rude ball. She, for the female in- 
 sect is the worker, then begins a curious and laborious task. 
 Seizing the ball between her hind feet, she begins to roll it about 
 in the hot sunshine, not taking it direct to the shaft which she 
 has sunk, but remaining near the spot. Should rain come on she 
 ceases to roll, or should the ball be made just before sunset, she 
 waits for the morning before recommencing her labor. The con- 
 sequence of all this curious rolling about is twofold ; it accelerates 
 the hatching of the inclosed egg by the exposure to the sunbeams, 
 and it forms a thin, hard, clay-like crust round the soft material in 
 which the egg reposes. ' 
 
 When the ball is sufficiently rolled, it is taken to the hole, 
 dropped down, and the earth filled in. The egg is very soon 
 hatched, and from it proceeds a little white grub, which finds it- 
 self at once in the midst of food, and begins to eatwigorously. 
 By the time it has devoured the whole of the contents of its co- 
 coon — if the mere empty shell may be so called — it is ready for 
 its change into the pupal form, and there lies in the earth until it 
 again changes its form and becomes a perfect beetle. 
 
 If the reader will refer to the plate, he will there see two of 
 these beetles at work upon a ball, for it is not an unusual circum- 
 stance that two insects should propel the same ball. And upon 
 the accompanying illustration may be seen the completed cocoon. 
 
 Several good examples of this cocoon are in the British Mu- 
 seum, as well as those belonging to allied insects. 
 
 Frequently the beetle is very much puzzled to discover a place 
 wherein it may dig a hole for the reception of the ball, especially 
 where the ground is uniformly hard. The material which it de- 
 sires is generally to be found plentifully upon roads, but as roads 
 are usually too hard to be penetrated by the beetle's limbs, the 
 unfortunate insects may be seen rolling their pellets with a patient 
 and hopeless industry only to be equaled by that of Sisyphus. I 
 may perhaps mention in this place that an allied species living in 
 
COCOONS. 177 
 
 America is popularly called the tumble-bug — the latter inappro- 
 priate monosyllable being indiscriminately used for every insect 
 that even looks like a beetle. 
 
 There is also in the British Museum one enormous cocoon 
 made of clay. It is almost the size of a six-pounder cannon-ball, 
 with walls of such thickness that the hollow in its centre is bare- 
 ly the size of a crab-apple. The weight of this cocoon is enor- 
 mous, when the size of its inmate is considered, and that so com- 
 paratively small a beetle should construct and roll so large a ball 
 seems almost incredible. The beetle belongs to the genus Copris. 
 There is the cocoon of another species of Copris, but in this case 
 the walls are very thin, and the entire ball would go into the hol- 
 low of that which has just been described. A British beetle, 
 Qeotrupes vernalis, also makes a cocoon about the size of that 
 which has just been mentioned. It is made of mixed clay and 
 cow-dung, and specimens may be seen in the Museum. 
 
 Cocoons of Scarabasus and Goliath. 
 
 Perhaps the most extraordinary of these cocoons is that which 
 is represented in the illustration. This is made by one of the 
 gigantic beetles of the tropics. The insect which made it has no 
 English name, but is scientifically called Goliathus Drurii. This 
 wonderful cocoon is as large as a swan's egg, and, as may be seen 
 by reference to the illustration, has very thin walls in proportion 
 to its size. It is strengthened by a remarkable belt, which runs 
 around its centre, exactly like that of the bullet which is used for 
 the two-grooved rifle. How the belt is formed is perfectly un- 
 known, as is its use, unless the strengthening of the walls be its 
 only object. I have carefully examined the cocoon itself, and 
 
 M 
 
178 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 specimens of the insect which made it, and can find nothing 
 which affords the least clew to the difficulty. 
 
 There is no doubt as to the species of insect which made it, for 
 the creature lies inside, a small portion of the ends of the elytra 
 and part of one leg being visible through the fracture. The color 
 of the beetle is peculiarly beautiful, being rich dark chocolate, soft 
 and deep as made of velvet, and upon the thorax and round the 
 elytra are drawn broad streaks of creamy white. On account of 
 the large dimensions of the cocoon, it has necessarily been reduced 
 in size, but a common house-fly is introduced into the drawing, in 
 order to show the comparative size of the cocoon and the insect. 
 
 Many of the Orthopterous insects are burrowers, either digging 
 holes wherein they themselves reside, or preparing a subterranean 
 habitation for their young. 
 
 The best known and most important of these insects is the 
 Mole -CRICKET {Grylloialpa vulgaris), called in some places the 
 Ckoakee, or Churr-wobm, on account of the peculiar sound 
 which it produces. It is a truly wonderful insect — one of thosa 
 beings which, for the sake of force, we may perhaps call the anom- 
 alies of nature, though, in fact, nature is perfectly harmonious, and 
 can have no real anomalies. A cursory glance at the insect will 
 at once point out its habits, for the general shape, as well as the 
 strange development of the fore limbs, and the peculiar formation 
 of the first pair of feet, are so similar to the corresponding mem- 
 bers of the mole that the identity of their pursuits is at once evi- 
 dent. 
 
 Like the mole, the insect passes nearly the whole of its life un- 
 derground, digging out long passages by means of its spade-like 
 limbs, and traversing them with some swiftness. Like the mole, 
 it is fierce and quarrelsome, is even ready to fight with its kind, 
 and, if victorious, always tears to pieces its vanquished opponent. 
 Like the mole, it is exceedingly voracious, and requires so much 
 food, that if several of them be confined in the same cage and 
 kept only for a short time without food, the strongest will fall 
 upon the weakest, kill and devour them, Like the mole, also, it 
 is useful enough in the fields, where its tunnels form a kind of 
 subsoil drainage, but it is equally destructive in the garden, work- 
 ing great havoc among young plants and flowers. One species 
 that inhabits Jamaica has done great damage to the young sugar- 
 canes soon after they had begun to shoot up. 
 
THE MOLE^CEICKET. 179 
 
 Thougli spread over the face, of the earth, and though almost 
 everj portion of the globe can boast its Mole-cricket, it is ever a 
 local insect, being very fastidious 4n its choice of soil, and gener- 
 ally preferring a loose and sandy ground, wherein it can easily 
 burrow. There is a little village near Oxford where the Mole- 
 cricket is frequently found, its favorite residence being a wide 
 piece of waste ground, covered with sand, which in some places 
 is blown into hillocks by the wind, and in another is hollowed 
 into pits by the sand-man's spade. Grass tries to grow at inter- 
 vals, and here and there its spreading roots bind together the 
 loose soil, and it is in this curious locaUty that the Mole-cricket 
 loves to dwell. 
 
 To procure the insect is no easy matter, for it always burrows 
 to some considerable depth when the soil is so loose, and a la- 
 borer with a spade would find much difficulty in disinterring it. 
 The recognized method of procuring these insects is, to mark 
 their holes by day and to visit them at dusk, just when the in- 
 sects, which are nocturnal in their habits, are beginning to be 
 lively. A long and pliant grass-blade is then pushed into the 
 hole, the end is grasped in the jaws of the offended inhabitant, 
 and both grass-blade, and Mole-cricket are drawn out together. 
 By some persons the Mole-cricket is thought to be a wholly car- 
 nivorous insect, injuring the roots merely by its endeavoring to 
 force a passage through them, and not by its desire to eat them. 
 This theory was supported by sundry experiments, whereby the 
 Mole-cricket was proved to be able to subsist on several sub- 
 stances, such as meat and insects, specimens having been fed upon 
 ants alone. Dr. Kidd, however, found that they thrive well upon 
 potato, and the best entomologists have decided that vegetable 
 food is their proper diet, though they are able to eat animal food, 
 and on some occasions seem to prefer it. A very decided proof 
 that the Mole-cricket is, even in its wild state, a carnivorous be- 
 ing, is afforded by the fact that in the stomach have been found 
 the- relics of various insects. 
 
 Just as the mole constructs a habitation distinct from its ordi- 
 nary galleries, so does this insect form a chamber for domestic 
 purposes apart from the tunnels which ramify in so many direc- 
 tions. Near the surface of the ground a really large chamber is 
 constructed, measuring about three inches in diameter, and nearly 
 one inch in height. It is made very neatly, and the walls are 
 carefully smoothed. Within this chamber the Mole-cricket de- 
 
180 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 posits its eggs, which are generally from two to three hundred in 
 number, and yellowish in color. As the chamber lies so near the 
 surface of the ground, the genial sunbeams are able to raise the 
 temperature sufficient for the hatching of the eggs, which in due 
 course of time produce the tiny young, little white creatures, very 
 like the parent in shiJ^e, except that they have no wings. They 
 do not attain the perfect state until the third year. The reader 
 will at once see that this chamber is analogous to the cavities 
 made by the Dusky Ant, which has been described on page 168. 
 
 It is a rather remarkable fact that one species of this family 
 burrows, not into earth, but into wood. Its form very much re- 
 sembles that of the wood-burrowing beetles, the body being long 
 and cylindrical, the legs very short and fitting into cavities at the 
 sides of the body. Its scientific name is Oylindrodes Campbellii. 
 This is one of the oddest-looking insects that can be conceived, 
 and really bears ,no small resemblance to three inches of a black- 
 lead pencil. 
 
 .The black -bodied Field - cricket {Acheta campestris) is also 
 one of the burrowing Orthoptera, working tunnels of consider- 
 able depth, and living in them during the day. By night it 
 comes out of its home and sits at the mouth, chirping away for 
 hours together. The banks at the side of a road or lane are 
 favorite resorts of the Field-cricket, and I have noticed the insect 
 peculiarly plentiful in the roads and lanes between Eamsgate and 
 Margate. Like the mole-cricket, it is of a very combative nature, 
 and may be drawn out of its tunnel by the simple process of push- 
 ing a grass-stem down the burrow. It is said that in France it is 
 captured in rather a curious manner, an ant being tied to a thread 
 and dropped into the hole. Being partly carnivorous, the cricket 
 seizes the ant for the purpose of eating it, and is immediately 
 dragged out of its house by the thread. 
 
 In the accompanying illustration is shown one of the well- 
 known grasshoppers in the act of depositing its eggs. Its popu- 
 lar name is the Wart-biter, and its scientific title Oryllus [or 
 -DeciJiczw] verrucivorus, this name being given to it because its bite 
 is thought to have the property of removing warts. 
 
 If the reader will refer to the illustration, he will see that the 
 end of the body is furnished with a long, double-bladed instru- 
 ment, technically called the ovipositor, or egg -layer. This cu- 
 rious instrument, which is of course only found in the female in- 
 
THE GRYLLUS. 
 
 181 
 
 sect, is of very great comparative length, and is used for tlie pur- 
 pose of placing the eggs in a convenient spot. Pressed closely 
 together, the blades form an- admirable boring instrument, but 
 when the required hole is made, the blades separate so as to per- 
 mit an egg to pass between them, and guide it to the exact spot 
 where it is to lie. The insect does not place many eggs in one 
 
 CrrylluB depoaiting Egga, 
 
 spot, but after depositing some ten or twelve eggs, she goes off to 
 another locality and repeats the process until her store is ex- 
 hausted. She thus contrives to spread her offspring rather wide- 
 ly over the ground, and avoids the danger of losing the entire 
 brood by a single accident. 
 
 When the young insects are first hatched, they are nearly 
 white, and of very small dimensions, being no larger than ordi- 
 nary gnats. At the left hand of the engraving may be seen a 
 small cavity, in which the young Grylli have just been hatched, 
 several of them being shown of their natural size. The well- 
 known Great Green Grasshopper, which is sometimes found in 
 our hedges and nut-trees, and so often frightens the ignorant, is 
 closely allied to the insect which has just been described, and 
 has very similar habits. 
 
 The terrible Migratory Locust, which passes over the country 
 in such countless hosts, is also a partial burrower, laying its eggs 
 
182 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 beneath the surface of the ground. It is stated by one natural- 
 ist that the eggs are placed in cells something like the chambers 
 of the mole-cricket, the cell itself being about an inch and a half 
 deep, and the entrance to it being a nearly horizontal tube of 
 earth, coated with a kind of glutinous secretion. Sometimes the 
 eggs themselves are enveloped with this glutinous substance, and 
 are stuck together in masses of determinate shape. South Ameri- 
 ca is peculiarly rich in these egg-masses, many varieties of which 
 may be seen in Mr. Waterton's collection. The young do not at- 
 taiii their wings for three years, and during that period are called 
 in Southern Africa by the popular and expressive name of voet- 
 gangers, or foot-goera 
 
 Before leaving the earth-burrowers, it is necessary to mention 
 the larva of the common May-9y, or Ephemera. Sometimes this 
 larva hides itself under stones, but it often burrows under the 
 muddy banks, and there constructs a very curious habitation. 
 If a portion of the mud be carefully removed, it will be seen to 
 be perforated by a series of holes, a few being nearly circular, 
 but the greater part oval, the long diameter being horizontal, in 
 order to suit the peculiar shape of the inhabitant. 
 
 These are the habitations of the Ephemera grub ; and if the 
 block of mud be laid open, so as to exhibit longitudinal sections 
 of the holes, the spectator will perceive that each hole is double, 
 the two tubes lying parallel to each otber, and being in fact only 
 one tube bent' upon itself; 
 
 Mr. J. Eennie, in his "Insect Architecture," mentions a curious 
 modification of these tubes : f In the bank of the stream at Lee, 
 in Kent, we had occasion to take up an old willow stump, which, 
 previous to its being driven into the bank, had been perforated in 
 numerous places by the caterpillar of the goat moth {Cossus ligni- 
 perda). From having been driven among the moist clay, these 
 perforations became filled with it, and the grubs of the Ephemera 
 found them very suitable for their habitations ; for the wood sup- 
 plied a more secure protection than if their galleries had been ex- 
 cavated in the clay. In these holes of the wood we found several 
 empty, and some in which were full-grown grubs." 
 
 Our last example of the earth-burrowing insects is a truly re- 
 markable one. It is scarcely possible to conceive any mode of 
 life more curious than that which is passed by the insect 'which 
 
THE ANT-LION. 183 
 
 now comes before our notice — a mode of life so strange and 
 unique, that if it had been related by one observer only, no mat- 
 ter how trustworthy he migl;t have been, his testimony would 
 have been rejected by nearly every man of science. I allude to 
 the celebrated insect known as the Ant-lion (Myrmdeon formica- 
 rim). In its mature state it presents nothing worthy of remark, ex- 
 cept, perhaps, the elegance of its form, and the delicacy of its wide 
 gauzy wings, which much resemble those of the common Dragon- 
 fly. But in its larval condition it is truly a wonderful being. 
 
 Though predaceous, and feeding chiefly on the most active in- 
 sects, it is itself slow, and totally unable to chase them ; and were 
 it not furnished with some quality which serves jt in the lieu of 
 speed, it would soon die of hunger. The very look of the larva 
 is enough to make the observer marvel as to its method of ob- 
 taining food. Thick, short, soft, and fleshy, the body is supported 
 on six very feeble legs, of which the hinder pair only are em- 
 ployed for locomotion, and these can only drag it slowly back- 
 ward. Indeed, the general outline of the body and head bears 
 no small resemblance to that of a fat-bodied garden spider. So 
 feeble are its limbs, that they are practically of very little use in 
 locomotion, and even when they are cut off, the creature -can 
 move nearly as well as when they were in their places. From 
 the front of the head project a pair of long, slender, curved man- 
 dibles, which give the first intimation that the grub has any thing 
 formidable in its nature. These mandibles are curiously made, 
 being deeply grooved throughout their length, and permitting the 
 maxillae, or inner pair of jaws, to play up and down them. 
 
 Inert and helpless as it may seem, this grub is a ruthless de- 
 stroyer of the more active insects, and, moreover, seldom catches 
 any but the most active. Choosing some sandy spot, where the 
 soil is as far as possible free from stones, it begins to form the 
 celebrated pitfalls by which it is enabled to entrap ants and other 
 insects. Depressing the end of its abdomen, and crawling back- 
 ward in a circular direction, it traces a shallow trench, the circle 
 varying from one to three inches in diameter. It then makes an- 
 other round, starting just within the first circle, and so it proceeds, 
 continually scooping up the sand with its head, and jerking it out- 
 side the limits of its trench. By continuing this process, and al- 
 ways tracing smaller and smaller circleSj the grub at last com- 
 pletes a conical pit,. and then buries itself in the sand, holding the 
 mandibles widely extended. 
 
184 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Should an insect, an ant, for example, happen to pass near the 
 pitfall, it will be sure to go and look into the cavity, partly out of 
 the insatiable curiosity which distinguishes ants, cats, monkeys, 
 and children, and partly out of a desire to obtain food. No soon- 
 er has the ant approached the margin of the pitfall, than the 
 treacherous soil gives way, the poor insect goes tumbling and 
 rolling down the yielding sides of the pit,' and falls into the ex- 
 tended jaws that are waiting for it at the bottom. A smart bite 
 kills the ant, the juices are extracted, and the empty carcass is 
 jerked out of the pit, and the Ant-lion settles itself in readiness 
 for another victim. 
 
 Sometimes, wJien a more powerful insect, such as a large wood- 
 ant, or beetle, or perhaps a hunting spider, happens to fall into 
 the pit, the Ant-lion does not obtain a meal on such easy terms. 
 The victim has no idea of surrendering at discretion, but tries to 
 scramble up the sides of the pit, and in its furious exertions, it 
 brings down the sand* in torrents, filling up the pit, making the 
 slope of the sides shallower, and so rendering its escape easy. 
 Then there is a battle between the Ant-lion and its intended 
 prey, the one bringing the sand into the pit and the other fling- 
 ing it out again so as to restore the steepness of the sides, and to 
 deepen the pit. 
 
 Sometimes a quantity of the sand flung by the Ant-lion hap- 
 pens to fall on the escaping victim, knocks it over, and enables 
 the devourer to grasp it in the terrible jaws, which never open 
 but to reject the dead and withered carcasses ; sometimes the in- 
 sect is tired before the Ant-lion, and suffers itself to be captured ; 
 and sometimes, though very rarely, it succeeds in making its es- 
 cape. In either case, the pitfall is quite out of shape, and instead 
 of rearranging it, the Ant-lion deserts it and makes another. 
 Some writers have Baid that the Ant-lion flings the sand at its 
 escaping prey with deliberate aim and intention. It does noth- 
 ing of the kind, but only tosses the sand out as fast as its head 
 can work, without aiming in any direction, or having an idea ex- 
 cept to prevent the pit from being filled up. 
 
 Its earth-burrowing life does not cease until it assumes the per- 
 fect state. When it has passed its full time in the larval condi- 
 tion, and is about to change into a pupa, it spins a silken cocoon 
 of a globular form, and therein remains until it is about to as- 
 sume its perfect condition. The pupa then bites a hole through 
 the side of the cocoon, and projects its body half out of the aper- 
 
THE ANT-LION. 185 
 
 ture. The pupal skin then withers, burstsj and the perfect insect 
 emerges. Scarcely has it taken the first few breaths of air, than 
 its abdomen, which before was. short, so as to be included within 
 the cocoon, extends to nearly three times its original length, so 
 as to resemble that of the dragon-fly ; , the curious antennae unroll 
 themselves, the wings shake out by degrees -their beautiful folds, 
 and in a short time the lovely insect is ready for flight. It is 
 scarcely possible to imagine a more complete contrast than that 
 which is exhibited by the larva and the perfect insect, and if the 
 two were placed side by side, no one who was not aware of the 
 circumstances would think that they are but two stages of the 
 same insect. 
 
 If the reader will refer to the illustration on page 148, he will 
 see a section of the pitfall, with the Ant-lion at the bottom, and 
 a couple of ants falling into the trap. The Ant-lion belongs to 
 the same order of insects as the dragon-fly, which it so much re- 
 sembles.' 
 
186 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 WOOD-BORING INSECTS. 
 
 Beetles. — The usual Form of the Wood-borers. — The Scolttus and its Ravages. 
 — Mode of forming the Tunnels. — Curious Instinct. — Theories respecting the Scol- 
 ytus. — Worm-eaten Furniture, its Cause, and the best Method of checking the 
 Boring Insects. — Ginger and Cork Borers. — The "Petrified" Man. — The Meal- 
 worm and its Ravages. — Weevils. — The Palm Weevil of Jamaica. — Its Devel- 
 opment, and Uses as an Edible. — Its Cocoons. — The Wasp .Beetle, its Shape, 
 Colors, and tunneling Povfers. — The Musk Beetle. — Its Beauty and Fragrance. 
 — Difficulty of detecting the Musk Beetle. — Its Burrows and their Inmates. — 
 The Rhagidm and its Cocoon. — The Hableqhin Beetle. — Wood-boring Bees. — 
 Willow Bee, its Tunnel, and Mode of making the Cells. — Food of the Young. 
 — The PoppT Bee. — The Pith-boking Bees and their Habits. — Structure of the 
 Cells and Escape of the Young. — Economy of Labor. — Shell-nests of Bees.-'— 
 Wonderful adaptation to Circumstances. — How the Bee burrows. — The Hoop- 
 shaver Bee. — Gilbert White's Description of its Habits. — The Sirex and its 
 Burrow. — Its Ravages among Fig-trees, — Formidable Aspect of the Insect. — The 
 two British Species. — Carpenter Bee. — Mode of making its Burrow. — Method- 
 ical Labor. — Food of the Young. — How to make a Ceiling. — Number of Cells in 
 each BuiTow. — The Carpenter Bee of Australia. — The PELOP.s:ns as a Wood- 
 borer. — Its Tunnel, and Mode of making Cells. — The Saperda. — Damage caused 
 to Aspen and other Trees. — A useful Parasite. — The Goat Moth. — Wood-leopard 
 Moth. — Clear-wings and Honey-comb Moths. 
 
 "We now leave the earth-burrowers, and proceed to those in- 
 sects which tunnel into wood and other substances. The Hy- 
 menoptera are again the best burrowers in wood as they are in 
 the earth, but, as some of the beetles are notable wood-borers, 
 and we shall only mention a few of them, we will take them first 
 in order. 
 
 Beetles generally burrow while in their larval state, though 
 there are some that do so when they have attained their perfect 
 form, and are able to bore their way through wood or into the 
 ground with wonderful ease. All the boring beetles are formed 
 in such a manner that an entomologist can at once detect their 
 habits from their shape. The combination of the cylinder and 
 the sharp-edged screw is well known to be the best form of bor- 
 ing-tool, whether under the name of auger, gimlet, or centre-bit, 
 and it will be found that the harder the substance into which the 
 insect burrows, the more cylindrical is its shape. The dors, 
 
SGOLTTUS. 
 
 187 
 
 clocks, and other earth-boring beetles, depart from that form, but 
 when we come to look at the scolytus, the ptinus, and other 
 wood-borers, we can not but notice how very cylindrical they are 
 in their shape. 
 
 Perhaps there is no wood-boring beetle which is known so 
 well as the little insect which is called Scolytus destmctor. I am 
 not aware that it has a popular name that will distinguish it from 
 other small beetles which bore into wood. 
 
 Scolytus. 
 
 The accompanying illustration will probably call to the mind 
 of the reader the insect which now comes before our notice. If 
 he should have examined the bark of certain trees, particularly 
 that of the elm, he will often have seen that it is perforated with 
 circular holes, very like those which are drilled into worm-eaten 
 furniture, but of rather larger diameter. When I was a very lit- 
 tle boy and V first saw these holes, I thought that they had been 
 made by shot, and in trying to pick out the shot with my knife, 
 made the discovery that the holes were not due to fire-arms, but 
 to insects. The pleasure of the discovery nearly compensated for 
 the disappointment concerning the shot, the possession of which 
 seenied to my boyish mind to be a manly trait of character, and 
 calculated to raise me in the eyes of my playfellows. 
 
 If the, bark be cut through, and then raised with the knife, the 
 
188 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 curious radiating system of tunnels will be exposed to view, and 
 the observer will notice that, however these tunnels may vary, in 
 size and direction, they all agree in these points ; firstly, that they 
 radiate nearly at right angles from a single cylindrical tunnel ; 
 and secondly, that they are very small at their base, and gradual- 
 ly increase to their termination. The cause of this formation is 
 as follows : 
 
 The mother insect enters the bark in search of food, and bur- 
 rows deeply into the tree, sometimes boring into the substance of 
 the wood itself, but generally cutting a ttinnel between the wood 
 and the bark. She then deposits her eggs regularly along the 
 cylindrical tunnels, and in most cases retreats to the entrance, and 
 there dies, her body forming a natural stopper. In due time the 
 eggs are hatched, producing a number of very minute white grubs, 
 which immediately begin to feed, the substance of the tree being 
 the only diet of this insect in every stage of existence. Urged by 
 a wonderful instinct, each grub arranges its body at a right angle 
 with the burrow in which it was hatched, and so eats its way 
 steadily outward. 
 
 "When the grubs have made some progress, the wisdom of this 
 arrangement becomes evident. As they increase in size, the bur- 
 rows necessarily increase with them, so that if they had all started 
 parallel with each other, the tunnels would coalesce and the grubs 
 be unable to procure their proper amount of food. As, however, 
 the tunnels radiate like the spokes of a wheel, they very seldom 
 interfere with each other, their radiation more than keeping pace 
 with their increasing size. It will easily be seen by reference to 
 the illustration, that if a number of these beetles attack a tree, the 
 bark is gradually separated from the woo(^ portion, and that,- as 
 in all exogeneous trees the nourishment is derived from the bark, 
 the tree must die as soon as the functions of the bark are sus- 
 pended. 
 
 Settlers in any new colony are well aware of this fact, and when 
 they want to kill a tree, they do so by simply removing a rather 
 wide ring of bark from the trunk, and thus cutting off the supply 
 of nourishment. The tree is thus starved to death, and in the 
 following year, a fire applied to the trunk is able to burn it 
 through, and bring down the tree with scarcely any expenditure 
 of labor by the settlers. This mode of.killing a tree is technical- 
 ly called " girdling" it. In proportion, therefore, to the amount 
 of bark removed, the tree sickens, from defective nourishment, 
 
. SCOLYTUS— PTILINUS. 189 
 
 and if once the bark be separated all round the trunk, the tree 
 will instantly die. 
 
 The reader may probably be aware that some of our most skill- 
 ful naturalists have thought that the Scolytus is not so culpable 
 an insect as is generally supposed, and that it does not attack 
 trees until their race is run, and they have begun to show symp- 
 toms of decay. There is great truth in this conjecture, for it is 
 beyond a doubt that if a tree be seriously injured, and begin to 
 droop, the Scolytus is sure to make a lodgment before very long. 
 Grirdled trees, for example, are almost always attacked by this 
 beetle as soon as the effects of the injury are apparent. But, 
 though the female may not lay her eggs in healthy trees, there is 
 little doubt but that she and her mate have aided, in no small 
 degree, in bringing the tree to so diseased a condition. For, as 
 has already been mentioned, the food of the adult, as well as of 
 the imperfect insect, consists of the bark and wood, and in boring 
 the tree for the purpose of feeding, the numerous Scolyti can but 
 enfeeble its constitution, and so bring it to that state of ill health 
 which renders it a fit cradle for the immature beetles. 
 
 There is hardly a grove or a park in the neighborhood of 
 London where the ravages of the Scolytus are not painfully ap- 
 parent, and in Greenwich Park especially, some of the finest trees 
 are riddled with the cylindrical tunnels of this destructive insect. 
 There are several species of Scolytus, each affecting certain trees, 
 so that there is scarcely any tree that can hope to escape from the 
 jaws of some member of this family. 
 
 The well-known worm-eaten appearance of furniture is caused 
 by certain beetles belonging to another family. As may be seen 
 from, the dimensions' of the tunnels, the insects are very small, 
 and their bodies are nearly cylindrical. The ravages which these 
 beetles cause 'are fatal to all who happen to possess old furniture, 
 but Mr. Westwood mentions that one common species, Ptilinus 
 pectinicornis, completely destroyed a new bedpost in the short 
 space of three years. There is but one known method of killing 
 the insects which have already taken possession, and of preventing 
 others from following their example, namely, by injecting a solu- 
 tion of corrosive sublimate into the holes, and then treating the 
 whole of the surface with the same poisonous liquid. I need per- 
 haps scarcely mention, that insects which are popularly called 
 Death-watches, belong to this family. Not only do furniture 
 
190 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 and timber suffer from the attacks of the Ptilinus, but articles of 
 dress and food are also injured by them. Specimens of natural 
 history are often spoiled by the holes which are drilled through 
 them by the beetles ; and stationers sometimes suffer from the 
 voracious insects, which bore holes through their wafers, fix them 
 together, and there undergo their transformations within them. 
 One species is obnoxious to wholesale druggists on account of the 
 damage which it does to the ginger. In some cases, half the 
 ginger is drilled with holes, and rendered quite unsalable. It 
 is not, however, lost entirely, because it is reserved for the mill, 
 and is then sold as ground ginger, the insects and their grubs 
 being reduced to powder together with the ginger which they 
 have not consumed. Such specimens are of course not exhibited 
 to the general gaze, a$ the public would be very cautious of pur- 
 chasing ground ginger if they knew what it contained. In the 
 British Museum, however, may be seen several pieces of ginger 
 completely eaten away by the beetle, and numerous examples of 
 the insect itself are placed in the same tray. The little beetles 
 which eat cork, and are so mischievous in the cellar, belong to 
 the genus Mycetophagus. They will eat rotten wood or fungi, 
 but always prefer cork, and in some cases have not only caused 
 much expense by forcing the proprietor to recork all his bottles, 
 but have sometimes destroyed the cork so completely, that the 
 wine has escaped. 
 
 The reader may remember that a so-called "petrified man" 
 was brought from Australia, and exhibited in London during 
 1862. Having very great doubts about the petrifaction of a 
 human being, I went to see it, and at a glance perceived that it 
 was no petrifaction at all, but simply a mod.erately good example 
 of a desiccated body, such as are common enough in museums, 
 and sometimes occur even in this country. The exhibitor stoutly 
 asserted that it was a petrifaction, but as I noticed the tunnels 
 of sundry Ptilini in various parts of the head, body, and limbs, 
 there could be no doubt but that the body had not been changed 
 into stone. 
 
 Cylindrical holes of small size may be often seen in the bark 
 of oak-trees, from which dart certain long-bodied little beetles, 
 with beautifully-fringed antennae, and shaped much like the com- 
 mon skip-jack beetles. These insects belong to the genus Melasis. 
 
 The common Meal-worm may be placed with the wood-borers, 
 for it is able to gnaw its way through almost any bread that can 
 
THE PALM WEEVIL. 191 
 
 be made, and, as sailors too well know, feeds upon ship-bisCuit, 
 and drills it full of holes. Old sailors can never eat a biscuit 
 without mechanically knocking it on the table, a custom which 
 they have learned on long voyages, serving to shake the "mag- 
 gots" out of the biscuit. The meal-worm is the larva of a beetle, 
 called Tenehrio molitor, a long-bodied, small-headed insect, with 
 very long wing-cases, and very slender and rather short antennse. 
 To bird-fanciers it is invaluable, serving to keep in health the 
 nightingale and several other delicate birds, and those who keep 
 vivaria are also indebted to the meal-worm, as affording food to 
 sundry of the lizard tribe. Even the perfect insect will eat the 
 biscuit, and is nearly as voracious as the larva. 
 
 There is a genus of weevils called Calandra, which is rCTnarka- 
 ble for the great diversity of size among its members, some, such 
 as the dreaded grain weevil of England {Calandra granavia), being 
 very small, and scarcely exceeding the eighth of an inch in length ; 
 and another, the Palm Weevil {Calandra palmarum), being a 
 really large beetle, nearly two inches in length. This insect is 
 equally injurious to the sugar-cane and the palm-tree, the larva 
 burrowing into the centre of the plant and eating away its sub- 
 stance. This larva is very large, very fat, and very heavy, and 
 is slightly curved. The natives consider it as one of their great- 
 est delicacies, and have some peculiar fashion of cooking it. They 
 call it by .the name of Grugru. 
 
 While I was examining the beautiful collection of insect habi- 
 tations in the British Museum, a gentleman looked on, and pres- 
 ently pointed to a larva, apparently that of some sphinx-moth, 
 and saying that he knew the insect well, and had often eaten it, 
 stating at the same time that it was taken out of a palm-tree. 
 The label attached to the specimen corroborated this assertion in 
 a measure, for the palm-tree was the locality from which it had 
 been taken. 
 
 This larva, which is called Tuchuto — I spell the name phonet- 
 ically, my informant never having seen the word in print — is eaten 
 either cooked' or raw, the latter being the usual method among 
 gourmands, who think that, like an oyster, the Tuchuto ought to 
 be eaten without any aid from the fire. The correct mode of 
 eating it is, to hold it neatly by the head, between the finger and 
 thumb, to put the whole of the body into thie mouth, and then to 
 bite it off, just as a strawberry is eaten, and its flavor much re- 
 
192 • HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 sembles that of marrow. The grubs are procured in the following 
 manner: A cabbage-palm is cut down, and allowed to lie' for at 
 least a fortnight ; at the expiration of that time, the palm is split 
 open, and in the interior are found the Tuchuto grubs. 
 
 To return to the Palm Weevil. When the great, unwieldy larva 
 has attained its full growth, it constructs a large cocoon, made of 
 the stringy fibres which run along the stem of the palm, twisted 
 and intertwined so as to form a strong place of refuge during the 
 time of its helplessness. It is a remarkable fact, that many wood- 
 boring insects are in the habit of inclosing themselves in a strong 
 cocoon before they change into the pupal condition, though the 
 locality in which they live might seem to render them independ- 
 ent of any such protection. It is, however, very possible that the 
 object of the cocoon may be to save the inhabitant from some 
 other wood-boring insect, which might happen to drive its tunnel 
 through the helpless pupa, and that the cocoon might contain some 
 ingredients which are distasteful to the intruder, and would com- 
 pel it to tiirn aside and choose another path. Were it not for 
 some such protection, another insect might get into the burrow 
 made by the weevil grub, follow it up, come upon the pupa while 
 still inert and incapable of resistance, and either eat it, or at all 
 events inflict a serious injury upon it. 
 
 There is a large group or beetles, which, in consequence of 
 their extremely long antennae, are called by the name .of Longi- 
 cornes. In some species the antennae attain a wonderful length, 
 as for example, in Lamia cediUs, the antennaa of which are five 
 times as long as the head and body together. We have several 
 examples in our own country, some of them! being remarkable for 
 the beauty of their colors, as well as for the elegance of their forms. 
 The common Wasp Beetle {Clytus arieiis) is a very good example 
 of the longicorn beetles. It may be seen upon the hedges, gently 
 slipping in and out with a curiously fussy movement, that very 
 much resembles the restless gestures of the insect from which it 
 takes its name. Its slender shape and yellow-striped body are 
 indeed so wSsp-like, that many persons are afraid to touch one of 
 these beetles lest they should be stung. 
 
 The early life of the Wasp Beetle is spent entirely in darkness, 
 the grubs burrowjng into wood, and therein undergoing their trans- 
 formations. They are curious little beings, white, roundish, but 
 flattened; the rings of which the body is made are deeply marked, 
 
THE MUSK BEETLE. 193 
 
 the segments nearest the head are much larger than those which 
 compose the abdomen,-and the head itself is small, but armed with 
 a pair of jaws that remind the observer of wire nippers, so sharp 
 are their edges, and so stout is their make. Old posts and rails 
 are favorite localities with this beetle, and the grubs can almost 
 always be obtained where timber has been left for any length of 
 time in the open air. 
 
 Another well-known boring-beetle is the large and beautiful 
 insect which is popularly called the Musk Beetle {Ceramhyx 
 moschaius). Nearly an inch in lepgth, with long and gracefully- 
 curved antennae, and slender and elegant in shape, it would always 
 command attention, even if it were not possessed of two remarka- 
 ble characteristics, color and perfume. 
 
 To the naked eye, and'in an ordinary light, the color of this 
 beetle is simply green, very much like that of the malachite. But, 
 when the sun shines upon its elytra, some indications of its true 
 beauty present themselves, not to be fully realized without the aid 
 of the microscope and careful illumination. If a part of an elytron 
 be taken from a Musk Beetle, placed under a half-inch object glass, 
 and viewed through a good binocular microscope, by means of 
 concentrated light, the' true glories of this magnificent insect be- 
 come visible. Tiie general color is green, but few can describe the 
 countless shades of green, gold, and azure, that are brought out by 
 the microscope, and no pencil can hope to give more than a faint 
 and dull idea of the wonderful object. Neither do its beauties end 
 with its colors, for the whole structure of the insect is full of 
 wonders, and from the compound eyes to the brush-soled feet, it 
 affords a series of objects to the microscopist, which will keep him 
 employed for many an hour. 
 
 The odor which it exudes is extremely powerful ; so strong, in- 
 deed, that I have often been attracted by the well-known perfume 
 as I walked along a tree-fringed wood, and, after a little search, dis- 
 covered the insect. It is no easy matter to find the Musk Beetle, 
 even when it is close at hand, for its slender body lies so neatly 
 along the twigs, and its green color harmonizes so well with the 
 leaves, that a novice will seldom distinguish the insect. A prac- 
 ticed eye, however, looks out for the antennse, and is at once at- 
 tracted by their waving grace. By a series of experiments which 
 I have made on this beetle, I have proved that the scent can be 
 retained or emitted at the will of the insect, and it is a rather re- 
 
 N 
 
194 
 
 HOMES "WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 markable fact, that it is often stronger after the death of the beetle 
 than during its life. The Musk Beetle is easily kept alive, pro- 
 vided that it is well supplied with water, and that a little sugar 
 and water be occasionally given to it. The mode of feeding is 
 very curious, as are many of the habits of the insect. 
 
 The larva of the Musk Beetle is a mighty borer, making holes 
 into which an ordinary drawing-pencil could be passed. Old and 
 decaying willow-trees are its favorite resort, and in some places 
 the willows are positively riddled with the burrows. K such a 
 tree be sawn open longitudinally, a curious scene is presented to 
 the spectator. In some spots, the interior is hollowed out by nearly 
 parallel burrows, until it looks as if it had been tunneled by the 
 ship- worm, while sections are made of burrows that turn suddenly 
 aside, or gradually diverge toward the yet uneaten parts of the 
 timber. In some of the holes will be found the long white grubs, 
 in others the pupa may be seen lying quiescent, while a perfect 
 beetle or two may possibly be discovered near the entrance of the 
 holes. Nor are the Musk Beetles the only tenants of the tree, for 
 there is generally an assemblage of wood-lice, centipedes, and othei? 
 dark loving creatures, which have crawled into the deserted holes, 
 and taken up their abode within the tree. 
 
 If the reader will refer to the accompanying illustration, he will 
 see that in the upper right-hand corner is represented a beetle 
 
 fihaglum, etc. 
 
HABLEQUISr BEETLE — EOSE-CUTTER BEE. 195 
 
 within a curiously-woven cell. This beetle belongs to the genus 
 Ehagium. As long as the insect remains in its larval condition, 
 it differs in little from the wood-boring larva. When, however, 
 it is about to change into the pupal state, it makes a beautifully- 
 worked cocoon in which it spends the time which intervenes be- 
 tween the change into the pupa and that into the perfect insect. 
 The cocoon is madev of woody fibres, which the larva bites and 
 tears away, and the hollow in which the cocoon rests is usually in 
 the bark. The fibres are rather long and narrow, as may be seen 
 by reference to the illustration, which represents the cocoon and 
 insect of the natural size. As the woody fibres are of a pale-straw 
 color, the cocoon presents an agreeable contrast to the sombre hues 
 of the bark in which it is bedded. When the insect has attained 
 its perfect form, its first care is to escape from the dwelling which 
 has served it so well through its long period of helplessness ; and 
 by means of the sharp and powerful jaws with which it is fur- 
 nished, it gnaws a hole through the side of the cocoon and so es- 
 capes into the open air. In the illustration, the beetle is repre- 
 sented in the act of making its way through the cocoon. 
 
 The magnificent insect which is known to entomologists as the 
 Harlequin Beetle {Acrocinus hngimanus) also belongs to the 
 wood-burrowers, and in the British Museum may be seen a piece 
 of a tree in which the beetle is still lying, its enormously long 
 limbs packed up into a very small compass. Exotic wood-bur- 
 rowing beetles are very plentiful, and there is no doubt that sev- 
 eral rare or doubtful British species have been introduced as grubs 
 within foreign timber, and that they have made their way out after 
 importation. The Docks are celebrated for the arrival of such 
 distinguished strangers, and a fine collection of 'exotic beetles has 
 been made by searching the cargoes of timber, after they have 
 been discharged from the ships in which they were brought over 
 the sea. 
 
 We now come to the wood-boring bees, the name of which is 
 legion, and a few examples of which will be now described and 
 figured. 
 
 Immediately below the cocoon of the Ehagium may be seen a 
 tunneled branch, containing two curiously-formed cells. These 
 cells are made of rose-leaves, and are the work of the Eose-odt- 
 TER Bee (Megachih Willoughhielld), or Willow Bee, as it is often 
 
196 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 called,_because its burrows are so frequently made in decaying 
 willow-trees. This species is very common in most parts of En- 
 gland, and is therefore a good example of the wood-boring bees. 
 The method by which the nests are made is very curious. After 
 the insect has bored a hole of suitable dimensions in some old tree, 
 she sets off in search of materials for the cells, and mostly betakes 
 herself to a rose-bush, or laburnum-tree. She then examines one 
 leaf after another, and having fixed on one to her mind, she settles 
 upon it, clinging to its edge with her feet, and then, using her feet 
 as one leg of a pair of compasses, and her jaws as the other, she 
 quickly cuts out a nearly semicircular piece of leaf As she sup- 
 ports herself by clinging to the very piece of leaf which she cuts, 
 she would fall to the ground, when the leaf was severed, did she, 
 not take the precaution of balancing on her wings for a few mo- 
 ments before making the last cut. As soon as the portion of leaf 
 is severed, she flies away with it to her burrow, and then arranges 
 it after a truly curious fashion. 
 
 Bending each leaf into a curved form, she presses them success- 
 ively into the burrow in such a manner that they fit into one an-, 
 other, and form a small thimble-shaped cell. At the bottom of 
 the cell she places an egg and some bee-bread, this substance be- 
 ing composed of pollen mixed with honey, and then sets to work 
 upon another cell ; and in this manner she proceeds until she has 
 made a series of cells, some two inches in length. When the cells 
 are first made, the natural elasticity of the leaf renders them firm, 
 and as they become dry and stiff in a few days, they are then so 
 strong that they can be removed from the burrow, and handled 
 without breaking. 
 
 There is another bee allied to this genus, that employs the 
 petals of the scarlet poppy for this purpose, but unfortunately it 
 is not a native of England. Another species of burrowing bee, 
 Megachile centuncularis, seems rather capricious in its choice of 
 burrows, at one time making its tunnel into an old post or decay- 
 ing tree, at another into the mortar of old walls, at another into 
 the ground. It is extremely variable in size, sometimes barely 
 exceeding a quarter of an inch in length, and sometimes reaching 
 twice that size. Mr. Smith mentions that this is perhaps the most 
 widely distributed bee in the whole family of Apidae, extending 
 even as far northward as Hudson's Bay. 
 
 On the left hand of the same illustration may be seen a figure 
 
PITH-BOBING BEES. 197 
 
 of one of the pith-boring bees, many species of which inhabit this 
 country. This is the insect termed Hylseus dilatatus, and in or- 
 der to assist the reader in identifying it, a figure of the insect it- 
 self is given on the right hand of the nest. Usually, the Hyleeus 
 is obliged to bore its way through the pith by sheer labor, but it 
 will always avoid such a task if possible, and make its cells in a 
 hollow already existing. Such has been the case with the nest 
 from which the illustration was drawn, which was made in the 
 hollow stalk of a hemlock. Here let me mention that all hollow 
 stalks and twigs are likely localities for the nests of insects, and 
 that toward the autumn a rich collection may often be made by 
 the simple process of examining all such objects, and splitting 
 them carefully with a knife. Even the reeds and rushes of the 
 river are apt to contain nests, some of them being exceedingly rare. 
 
 The particular species of Hyl^us which is here figured is by no 
 means common, appearing to be a very local insect, confined to 
 certain spots, and seldom seen except in those favored localities. 
 Very many species of pith-boring insects are known, most of them 
 inhabiting the dry twigs of the bramble and garden rose. If at 
 the cut end of a branch a round hole be found in the pith, the 
 observer may be sure that a nest of some kind is within. Gener- 
 ally, on carefully laying the branch open, there appears a whole 
 series of cells, one above the other, and in such a case, the cells 
 which are farthest from the aperture always contain the larvae of 
 female insects, those nearest the entrance being the males. 
 
 Sometimes the nests which are found in the bramble contain 
 the larvae of Osmia leucomelana, a pretty little bee, scarcely more 
 than a quarter of an inch in length, black in color, with a very 
 glossy abdomen, and a white, downy look about the legs. Five 
 or six cells are made in each branch, and the perfect insect ap- 
 pears about the month of June. 
 
 Other bees of this genus are extremely clever in saving thern- 
 selves labor, Although they can dig industriously when obliged 
 to do so, they will never exert this power without compulsion. 
 The smaller species are very fond of making their cells iaside 
 straws, and a thatched roof often contains thousands of nests, 
 which are unsuspected by man, and only discovered by the tom- 
 tits and other birds, whose sharp eyes soon detect the hidden in- 
 sect, and whose ready bills pull the straws out of the thatch, and 
 pick the larvae from their cells. Nail-holes in garden walls are 
 often filled with cells, and so are the auger-holes in old rails and 
 posts, from which the wooden pins have fallen. 
 
198 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Several species select localities even more remarkable, and 
 make their nests in the empty shells of snails. The common 
 banded snail is a favorite with these bees, and in the British Mu- 
 seum may be seen a whole series of such nests. The number 
 of cells necessarily varies with the size of the snail-shell and the 
 number of its whorls, but on the average four or five cells are 
 found in each snail-shell. The process of forming the cells is 
 very simple. First, the bee deposits a quantity of pollen and 
 honey, then she places an egg upon the pollen, and then she 
 makes a partition with vegetable fibres torn by her teeth and 
 kneaded firmly together. Lastly, the whole opening of the cell 
 is closed by a wall formed of clay, tiny bits of stick, and small 
 stones, and then the bee goes off in search of another shell. 
 These shells may often be found under hedges, in moss, hidden 
 by grass, and on examination the nests of bees will frequently 
 be seen in them. 
 
 In the Museum there is a beautiful example of ingenuity on 
 the part of the builder. Instead of choosing the cell of the band- 
 ed snail, she has taken that of the great garden snail, and filled it 
 with her cells. Thus it is evident that the shell is too large for 
 the formation of a single cell, and the little architect has, with 
 the greatest ingenuity, evaded the difficulty by placing two cells 
 side by side. When, however, the smaller whorls of the shell 
 were filled, and the bee approached the opening of the shell, the 
 space was too great even for the two cells placed side by side. 
 This difiElculty was, however, overcome as readily as the former, 
 and instead of placing the cells perpendicularly, the bee laid them 
 horizontally, and thus filled up the space. 
 
 When the Osmia burrows into wood, she sets to work in a 
 very deliberate manner. " A bee," writes Mr. F. Smith, " is ob- 
 served to alight on an. upright post, or other wood suitable for its 
 purposes. She commences the formation of her tunnel, not by ex- 
 cavating downward, as she would be incommoded with the dust 
 and rubbish which she removes; no, she works upward, and 
 so airoids such an inconvenience. When she has proceeded to 
 the length required, she proceeds in a horizontal direction to the 
 outside of the post, and then her operations are continued down- 
 ward. She excavates a cell near the bottom of the tube, a second 
 and a third, and so on to the required number. The larvae when 
 full fed have their heads turned upward. The bees which arrive 
 at their perfect condition, or rather those which are first anxious 
 
WOOD-BOKUSrG BEES. 199 
 
 to escape into day, are two or three in the upper cells — these are 
 males ; the females are usually tSn or twelve days later. This is 
 the history of every wood-boring bee which I have bred, and I 
 hav6 reared broods of nearly every species indigenous to this 
 country." 
 
 One of the wood-boring bees is especially worthy of notice, 
 because some of its habits were remarked a century ago by Gil- 
 bert White, who did not know its name, but chronicled its method 
 of obtaining. padding for the nest. We will call it the Hoop- 
 shaver {Anthidium manicatum). It is one of the summer in- 
 sects, seldom appearing before the beginning of July, and is a 
 rather stout-bodied insect, grayish-black, with yellOw lines along 
 the sides of the abdomen. The last segment of the male is nota- 
 ble for its termination in five teeth. Its length is rather under 
 half an inch, and it is a very remarkable fact that, contrary to 
 general usage among insects, the male is larger than the female. 
 
 This bee seldom takes the trouble of making its own burrow, 
 but takes advantage of the deserted tunnel of some other insect, 
 such as the musk-beetle or the goat moth. When she has se- 
 lected a fitting home, she enlarges it slightly at the end, and then 
 goes in search of soft vegetable fibre wherewith to line it. The 
 mode of procuring the fibre is thus mentioned by White. " There 
 is a sort of wild bee frequenting the garden campion for the sake 
 of its tomentum, which probably it turns to some purpose in the 
 business of nidification. It is very pleasant to see with what ad- 
 dress it strips off the pubes, running from the top to the bottom 
 of a branch, and shaving it bare with the dexterity of a hoop- 
 shaver. When it has got a vast bundle, almost as large as itself, 
 it flies away, holding it secure between its chin and its fore legs." 
 
 After, performing this part of her duty, she makes a number 
 of cells, using the same material, together with some glutinous 
 substance, places an egg in each cell, and then leaves them. 
 When the larvae have obtained their full dimensions, they spin 
 separate cocoons within the cells, and in the following summer 
 the perfect insects make their appearance. 
 
 If the reader will visit any fir wood, and look out for the 
 dying and dead trees which are sure to be found in such places, 
 he will probably see that many of them are pierced with round 
 holes, large enough to admit an ordinary quill. These are the 
 
■'li^mv 
 
 XTLOOOPA 0APKNSI8. 
 
 PEL0P..E1U8 BPIBIFEB. 
 
 8APEEDA POPUXNKA. 
 
WOOD-BOEING INSECTS. 203 
 
 The mode in which the Sirex carries on its operations is 
 simple enough. 
 
 With the long and powerful ovipositor the mother insect intro- 
 duces her gggs into the tree, and there leaves them to be hatched. 
 As soon as it has burst from the eggs the young grub begins to 
 burrow into the tree, and to traverse it in all directions, feeding 
 upon the substance of the wood, and drilling holes of a tolerably 
 regular form. Toward the end of its larval existence it works its 
 way to the exterior of the trunk, and there awaits its final change, 
 so that when it assumes its perfect form it has only to push itself 
 out of the hole, and so finds itself in the wide world. The in- 
 sects may often be seen on the lirunks of the trees, clinging to the 
 bark close to the hole out of which they have emerged. Saw- 
 yers frequently destroy the grubs while they are cutting trees 
 into planks, but as many of the larvse escape the saw, th^y re- 
 main in the boards, and afterward emerge in houses, to the great 
 consternation of the inmates. Should such a circumstance occur 
 in the house of any reader of this book, he may at once infer that 
 the wood from which the insect escaped was not properly season- 
 ed. I have known the Sirex to be so numerous that it has fairly 
 driven the inhabitants out of their rooms, for it has a very fero- 
 cious appearance, and, on account of its long ovipositor, is always 
 thought to be armed with a venomous sting of peculiar potency. 
 
 Two species of Sirex inhabit this country. In general appear- 
 ance they are very similar to each other, but the species just men- 
 tioned is nearly twice the size of its relative. They inhabit simi- 
 lar localities, and I have now before me a piece of a fir-tree in 
 which are the holes of both species. These insects are not only 
 interesting in their habits, but they furnish many beautiful ob- 
 jects for the microscopist. 
 
 In the accompanying illustration, we have three excellent ex- 
 amples of wood-boring insects. In the centre of the drawing is 
 seen a portion of a tunnel, which is completely hollowed out, and 
 divided into cells. This is the dwelling which is constructed by 
 the splendid South African Carpenter Bee {Xylocopa Capensis), 
 a wood-borer of great power. She sets about her work in a curi- 
 ously systematic manner, each action being exactly calculated, 
 nothing left to chance, and all useless labor saved. 
 
 When the insect has fixed upon a piece of wood which suits 
 her purpose, usually the trunk or branch of a dead tree, an old 
 
204 ■ HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 post, or a piece of wooden railing, she bores a circular hole about 
 an inch and a half in length, and large enough to permit her to 
 pass. Suddenly, she turns at an angle, and drives her tunnel 
 parallel to the grain of the wood, and makes a burrow of several 
 inches in length. None of the chips and fragments are wasted, 
 but are carried aside and carefully stored up in some secure place, 
 sheltered from the action of the wind. 
 
 The tunnel having now been completed, the industrious insect 
 seeks rest in change of employment, and sets off in search of hon- 
 ey and pollen. With these materials she makes a little heap at 
 the bottom of the tunnel, and deposits an egg upon the food 
 which she has so carefully stored 
 
 Having now shown her powers as a burrower and a purveyor, 
 she exhibits her skill as a builder, and proceeds to construct, 
 above the inclosed egg, a ceiling, which shall be also the floor of 
 another cell. For this purpose, she goes off to her store of chips, 
 and fixes them in a ring above the heap of pollen, cementing 
 them together with a glutinous substance, which is probably se- 
 creted by herself A second ring is then placed inside the first, 
 and in this manner the insect proceeds until she has made a near- 
 ly flat ceiling of concentric rings. This ceiling bears some resem- 
 blance to the operculum of the common water snail. The reader 
 will probably remember, that the ceilings constructed by the ant 
 are made on similar principles. The thickness of each ceiling is 
 about equal to that of a penny. 
 
 The number of cells is extremely variable, but on the average 
 each tunnel contains seven or eight, and the insect certainly 
 makes more than one tunnel. As each tunnel generally exceeds 
 a foot in length, and the diameter is large enough to admit the 
 passage of the wide-bodied insect who makes if, the amount of 
 labor performed by the bee is truly wonderful. The jaws are the 
 only boring instruments used, and though they are strong and 
 sharp, they scarcely seem to be adequate to the work for which 
 they are destined. 
 
 In the illustration, the upper part of one of these tunnels is 
 shown, and in the two uppermost cells the egg has not been 
 hatched. In the lower cells the young larva is given, in order to 
 show the attitude in which it passes its early life. When all is 
 completed the entrance is closed, with a barrier formed of the 
 same substance and in the same manner as the ceilings. 
 
 As far as is yet known, no member of the genus Xylocopa is 
 indigenous to this country. 
 
PELOP-ffiiDS SPIEIFER. 205 
 
 Among the insect nests in the British Museum is a fine example 
 of the burrow made by a Brazilian member of this genus, Xyhcopa 
 grisescens. It is a very large insect, and the hole is so wide that it 
 will easily admit a man's thumb. There is in the same case a nest 
 of a curious Australian bee, Lestis homhylans. The insect is very 
 like a humble-bee, but remarkable for the bright steel-blue of its 
 body, and the absence of hair. The burrow runs through a branch, 
 but is not in the centre, having at least three fourths of the thick- 
 ness of the wood on one side, and only one fourth on the other. 
 All the cells are filled with bee-bread. 
 
 In the upper right-hand corner of the illustration may be seen 
 a curious-looking insect, having its abdomen at the end of a very 
 long footstalk. This is the Pelopmus spirifer, an insect belonging 
 to the family Sphegidse. It is rather a pretty insect, though formi- 
 dable in aspect, the body and abdomen being black, and the limbs 
 and long footstalk bright yellow. The genus Pelopaeus is widely 
 spread over the hot parts of the world, and its members are rather 
 diverse in their habits. Many of them are notable builders, using 
 mud as the material with which they make their nest, and will 
 therefore be described under the head of Builders. The present 
 species, however, takes rank as a wood-burrower, and, as may be 
 seen from the illustration, makes a long tunnel inside a branch, 
 and divides it into cells. True to the instinct which seems com- 
 mon to its kind, the Pelopaeus does not make the divisions of wood- 
 chips, as is the case with the Xylocopa, but uses mud for the pur- 
 pose. Instead of storing her cells with bee-bread, she captures 
 spiders, and with their bodies supplies her future young with food, 
 just as is the case with so many earth-boring hymenoptera. 
 
 The last figure in the illustration represents one of the wood- 
 boring beetles, and is given in order to show the curious effect 
 which is produced by its tunnels. The beetle mostly prefers the 
 twigs of the aspen as a home, and its presence can always be de- 
 tected by the swollen aspect of the injured twig, looking as if the 
 tree were, affected with gout. This is a British insect, Saperda 
 populnea by name, and in some places it is extremely injurious 
 to the aspen and poplar, always choosing the second or third 
 year's wood, and effectually spoiling its farther growth. The lar- 
 va has a small, flat head, a suddenly-enlarged thorax, and a body 
 tapering regularly to the tail. 
 
206 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Of this genus there are many species, each taking its own tree. 
 Saperda cylindrica, for example, prefers the pear, plum, and other 
 stone fruit, though it is sometimes found in the nut. It always 
 completes its larval existence in the centre of the stem. Another 
 species prefers the oak. It is fortunate for the owners of woods 
 that the Saperda is greatly persecuted by a parasitic fly belonging 
 to the genus Tachina, and that its numbers are much thinned by 
 the dipterous usurper. 
 
 The Lepidoptera number among their ranks some of the most 
 destructive wood-boring insects that inhabit this country. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no insect which makes so large or so ramified 
 a burrow as the common Goat Moth {Cossus ligniperda). This 
 insect is far more plentiful than is generally supposed, but as in 
 its larval and pupal state it is deeply buried in some tree-trunk, 
 and in its perfect condition seldom ventures to fly by day, not one 
 in a thousand is ever seen by the eye of man. This moth breeds 
 in several trees, such as the willow, the oak, and the poplar, the 
 first-mentioned tree seeming to be its chief favorite. Kent is one 
 of, the counties wherein this moth is found in greatest profusion, 
 and in the fields round my house there is scarcely a willow of 
 any size which has escaped the ravages of the Goat Moth cater- 
 pillar. 
 
 The larva of the Goat Moth derives its name from the very- 
 powerful and rank odor which it exhales, and which is thought 
 to resemble that of the he-goat. This odor is not only strong but 
 enduring, and for several years after the insect has vacated its 
 burrow the disagreeable scent is plainly perceptible. I have now 
 before me some specimens of the burrow of this creature, and al- 
 though a very long time has evidently elapsed since the larvae in- 
 habited them, their odor is quite strong, and can be perceived at a 
 distance of several feet. The pocket in which I placed them, after 
 removing them from the tree, has never lost a rank reminiscence 
 of its contents. As is the case with the musk-beetle, the Goat 
 Moth can be often discovered by means of its odor, and any one 
 who is acquainted with the scent will be attracted by the well- 
 known emanation, and point at once to the tree whence it issues. 
 
 The larva is by no means a prepossessing creature, either to the 
 eye or the nostrils, and though some persons believe that it was 
 the famous Cossus, or tree-grub of the Eomans, which was thought 
 so great a delicacy by the ancients, I can not believe that any pal- 
 
GOAT MOTH. 207 
 
 ate could have attained so very artificial a condition as to endure 
 this repulsive creature, much less to consider it as a dainty. 
 
 It grows with wonderful rapidity, being when it has reached its 
 full size seventy-two thousand times heavier than when it was 
 hatched ; its segments are deeply marked, and in color it is of a 
 mahogany-red above, and yellowish below. The whole surface is 
 smooth and polished, and, as may be presumed, considering the 
 life which it leads, its muscular strength is enormous. Not only 
 are the large and trenchant jaws extremely thick and strong, but 
 the development of muscle is singularly great ; and the head is 
 of a wedge-like shape, so that the crea,ture can force itself even 
 through hard wood. It feeds entirely upon the substance of the 
 tree in which it takes up its residence, and leaves in its tunnels a 
 considerable amount of debris. As the creature increases in size, 
 its tunnel increases in diameter ; and it is an amusing task to cut 
 up an old and soft-wooded tree, and follow the caterpillar through 
 Its manifold windings. 
 
 It lives for some three years in the larval condition, and during 
 the winter it lies dormant in an ingeniously made cocoon, con- 
 structed from wood-chips and silken thread, a large store of which 
 can be produced by this caterpillar. Several cocoons are now be- 
 fore me, which I took from a willow-tree in Erith marshes. Out 
 of a great number of specimens I have selected four, in order to 
 show the different dimensions of the cocoons. The largest is two 
 inches and a quarter in length, and rather more than an inch in 
 width. In shape it is nearly cylindrical, except at the ends, which 
 are rounded. One of them is intact, but the other has a round hole 
 through which the larva has emerged. It is composed of wood- 
 chips of various sizes, looking like ordinary sawdust, which are 
 loosely, though thickly, fastened upon a silken framework. Near 
 one end of the cocoon the chips'are very heavily massed, for what 
 purpose seems doubtful. Eough, however, as is the exterior of 
 the cocoon,. the inside is quite smooth and soft, not unlike the in- 
 terior of the tube made by the trap-door spider. 
 
 The smallest cocoon is barely an inch in length, and is made of 
 much smaller chips, fastened together so strongly that the cocoon 
 retains its cylindrical form when handled, whereas the larger speci- 
 men is so loosely made that it collapses under the least pressure. 
 The other two are intermediate in point of size, but precisely sim- 
 ilar in point of construction. Besides them there is a specimen 
 of the cocoon in which the creature undergoes its last change. 
 
208 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 This is of far stronger texture than either of the others, being quite 
 hard, like papier-mache, and dark and polished within. 
 
 Generally, just before the moth emerges, the chrysalis works it- 
 self along, so that it partially projects from the hole, thus enabling 
 the insect to escape at once into the outer world. In some in- 
 stances, however, this is not the case, and in the present specimen 
 the empty chrysalis shell may be seen, its shattered sides showing 
 the manner in which the inclosed moth made its exit. The hole 
 through which the moth emerged from the cocoon is of a wonder- 
 fully small size, considering the dimensions of the perfect insect, 
 and its sides are very ragged and irregular. Like the other co- 
 coons, it is strongly imbued with the characteristic odor, which has 
 attached itself so strongly to my fingers that careful ablution will 
 be needed before I shall venture to produce my hands in society. 
 
 The course taken by the larva is most erratic. Sometimes it 
 travels just below the bark, and then turns suddenly, and dives 
 into the very heart of the tree. It is much given to making these 
 sudden changes, and frequently returns nearly on its former track, 
 a mere shell of wood dividing the two passages. The winter co- 
 coons may be found in various parts of the tree, some deeply buried 
 in the wood. Others near the exterior. The pupal cocoon is, as far 
 as I know from personal experience, very near the exterior of the 
 tree, so that when the perfect insect is freed from its enwrapments, 
 it is obliged to traverse only a very short distance before finding 
 itself in the open air. 
 
 To keep this larva until it passes through its different stages is 
 by no means a difficult process, and demands less trouble than is 
 given by the generality of caterpillars. The larva is easily found ; 
 for whenever an old Ayillow-tree has a powerful scent, apd exhibits 
 certain round holes in its bark, the Goat Moth caterpillar is sure 
 to be an inmate. Cut down th^ tree, and with a saw and chisel 
 break it up, until the caterpillars are found. The chisel is used as 
 much for ripping as for cutting ; and the use of the mallet should 
 be avoided as much as possible, lest the jarring strokes should in- 
 jure the caterpillar. To the ears of the searcher, a few blows with 
 a mallet on the chisel do not appear very formidable ; but to an 
 animal inclosed in the wood the shock of every stroke must be 
 terrible, on account of the sound-conducting power of the sub- 
 stance in which it lies. ' 
 
 When one or two of the caterpillars have been obtained, they 
 should be placed in a metal box, as their sharp jaws would soon 
 
GOAT MOTH. 209 
 
 force a passage through a wooden prison, and a quantity of the 
 wood should be inclosed with them. No farther trouble is re- 
 quired ; for as they eat the dry wood, and do not need to be sup- 
 plied daily with fresh food, as is the case with the leaf-eating cater- 
 pillars, they are quite content, and feed and grow nearly as well 
 as if they had been left in undisturbed possession of the tree in 
 which they were hatched. 
 
 Should any of them die, or should a sufficient number be cap- 
 tured to spare a specimen or two, dissection should be employed, 
 in order to show a very peculiar structure, which is probably of 
 use in enabling the caterpillar to make its way through the wood. 
 When laid on its back, and opened, the general structure of the 
 interior resembles that of the silk-worm, save that the muscles 
 are far more strongly defined, and the silk-producing organs are 
 comparatively smaller. Toward the head, however, a pair of or- 
 gans are seen, which at once arrest the attention. A couple of 
 membraneous sacs — something like the honey -bag of the bee, only 
 very much larger, and long in proportion to their width — lie on 
 either side of the neck, if we may so term the first few segments 
 of the larva. They are generally rather flaccid, so that their sides 
 are wrinkled longitudinally. From the upper part of each of 
 these proceeds a delicate thread, which the microscope shows to 
 be hollow ; and which is, in fact, a duct leading into the mouth. 
 These sacs contain a very foetid fluid, which is supposed to 
 moisten the wood, and partly to soften it, so that it can be 
 shredded with comparative ease. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to refer the inquiring reader to Lyon- 
 nett's magnificent work on this subject, as the book is a model of 
 skill and perseverance. Still, books are chiefly useful as guides, 
 and not as substitutes for practical experience; and though the 
 beautiful work just mentioned may be perfectly familiar, it ought 
 only to act as a guide to the investigator, and not to supply the 
 place of actual dissection. 
 
 Another moth belonging to the same family is also a notable 
 borer into wood. This is the pretty insect called the Wood- 
 leopard Moth {Zeuzera cesculi), a rarer moth than that which 
 has just been described, though not by any means a scarce insect 
 when the entomologist knows when and where to look for it. 
 
 The larva of the Wood-leopard Moth is rather pretty in color, 
 being whitish-yellow, spotted regularly with black, and having a 
 
 
 
210 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 reddish-brown patch at either extremity. It lives in the interior 
 of many trees, avoiding, however, those .which have a very hard- 
 grained wood. Most of the forest trees are subject to its attacks, 
 and the ordinary fruit-trees of our gardens, such as the apple, pear, 
 chestnut, and walnut, are often seriously damaged by this pretty 
 but destructive insect. Like the goat moth, it makes a strong co- 
 coon, in which it can lie safely throughout its pupal condition, 
 and, as with that insect, the walls of the cocoon are rather rough 
 outside and smooth within. When the cocoon is quite dry it is 
 very brittle, and is apt to snap if carelessly handled. This cocoon 
 may often be found when the trees are cut up for firewood ; and 
 as it generally lies very near the exterior, a strong pocket-knife 
 will sometimes disclose it. 
 
 The perfect insect is remarkably pretty, considering the sim- 
 plicity of its coloring, which consists of black upon white. The 
 former color, however, is so disposed, that the wings look as if 
 they were made of the minutest miniver, and the feathery anten- 
 nae add considerably to its beauty. 
 
 Some of thg most elegant and curious British Lepidoptera are 
 also among the most destructive. 
 
 The various species belonging to the remarkable family ^ge- 
 riadae, properly called Clear-wing Moths, are terrible enemies to 
 the gardener, as well as to the landowner, their larvae feeding 
 upon the pith, and generally preferring the young wood to that 
 of a more advanced growth. In some cases they live in the roots, 
 and are quite as destructive as their relations who prefer the 
 branches. All the Clear-wings are distinguished by the fact that 
 the greater part of their wings is simply membraneous and trans- 
 parent, without the beautiful feathery scales that are worn by the 
 Lepidoptera as an order. Some of them resemble hornets, others 
 are often mistaken for wasps, while several species are wonder- 
 fully like gnats, and as they fly about in the sunshine may readily 
 be mistaken for these insects. 
 
 Of one of these insects, JSgeria asiliformis, known to collectors 
 as the Bbeeze-fly Clear-wing, Mr. J. Eennie writes as follows : 
 ""We observed above a dozen of them, during this summer, in the 
 trunk of a poplar, one side of which had been stripped of its bark. 
 It was this portion of the trunk which all the caterpillars selected 
 for their final retreat, not one having been observed where the 
 tree was covered with bark. The ingenuity of the little archi- 
 
GNAT CLEAR-WING — WOLF MOTH. 211 
 
 tect consisted in scraping the cell almost to the surface of the 
 wood, leaving only an exterior covering of unbroken wood, as 
 thin as writing-paper. Previous, therefore, to the chrysalis mak- 
 ing its way through this feeble barrier, it could not have been 
 suspected that an insect was lodged under the smooth wood. We 
 observed more than one of these insects in the act of breaking 
 through this covering, within which there is besides a round 
 movable lid, of a sort of brown wax." 
 
 The last-mentioned peculiarity is worthy of special notice, be- 
 cause it is not a general feature in the history of the Clear- wings. 
 Just when they are about to change into the pupal form, they 
 usually nibble a hole through the exterior of the branch, and then 
 make a partial cocoon out of the debris, taking' care to place them- 
 selves so that the head is toward the orifice. The abdominal seg- 
 ments of the chrysalis are furnished with points directed back- 
 ward, so that by alternately extending and contracting the abdo- 
 men, the creature is pushed onward. When it is going to break 
 out of its chrysalis case it uses these little points, and forces itself 
 partially through the hole, thus allowing the perfect moth to is- 
 sue at once into the world. 
 
 All gardeners should beware of one very pretty little species, 
 the Gnat Cleae-wing {Mgerm tipuliformis), which is often to be 
 found upon currant-bushes, sitting itself upon the leaves, enjoying 
 the warm sunbeams, and ever and anon opening and closing its 
 fan-like tail. The larva of this insect lives in the young shoots 
 of the currant, and in some seasons damages the crops consider- 
 ably. » 
 
 With two more species of lepidopteran burrowers we must close 
 our list, one of them boring into wood and the other into wax. 
 
 The first of these insects. Tinea granella, is sometimes called 
 the Wolf Moth. It is a very small insect, and is closely allied 
 to the common clothes moth, so deservedly hated by fur-dealers, 
 careful housewives, and keepers of museums. The larva of this 
 insect feeds upob the corn, covering it at the same time with a 
 tissue of silken threads. The most curious portion of the life of 
 this insect is, that after the larva has finished eating the corn, it 
 proceeds to the sides of the granary, and there burrows into the 
 wood, making its holes so closely together that, if the timber had 
 been taken out of the sea, the Gribble would have had the credit 
 of the tunnels. Nothing seems to stop this little creature, and it 
 bores through deal planks with perfect ease, making its way even 
 
212 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 through the knots without being checked either by the hardness 
 of the wood, or the abundance of turpentine with which the knots 
 in deal are saturated. This is the more astonishing, because tur- 
 pentine is mostly fatal to insects, and a little spirit of turpentine 
 in a box will effectually keep off all moths and beetles. 
 
 In these burrows the larvae change into the pupal state, and 
 there remain until the following summer, when they emerge in 
 hosts, ready to deposit their eggs upon the corn, and raise up 
 fresh armies of devourers. Another singular fact is, that after 
 these caterpillars have lived for so long upon corn, their tastes 
 should change so suddenly as to induce them to take to wood, 
 and wood moreover which is never free from turpentine, how- 
 ever well it may be seasoned. 
 
 The last of our burrowers is the Honey-comb Moth, belonging 
 to the genus Galleria. Two species of this genus are known in 
 England, both of which are plentiful in this country. 
 
 These moths live in the comb of the hive-bee, and when once 
 they have succeeded in depositing their eggs, the combs are gener- , 
 ally doomed. The envenomed stings of the bees are useless 
 against these little pests, for though their bodies are soft they 
 take care to conceal themselves in a stout silken tube, and their 
 heads are hard, horny, and penetrable by no sting borne by bee. 
 I once had a very complete case of honey-comb utterly destroyed 
 by the Gralleria Moths, which draw their silken tubes through 
 and through the combs, ate up even my beautiful royal cells, de- 
 voured all the bea-bread, and converted the carefully chosen spec- 
 imens into an undistinguishable mass of dirty silk, debris and 
 moths, both dead and living. 
 
 Not long ago, one of my friends, who was about to deliver a 
 lecture on the structure of the bee's cell, and who had got together 
 a collection of combs for the purpose of illustration, came to me in 
 dire distress, and showed me the combs, all covered with the tun- 
 nels of the Galleria Moth. The ■ damage which they had done 
 was very great, but their presence was discovered in time to pre- 
 vent them from utterly destroying the combs. After all the cat- 
 erpillars that could be captured had been destroyed, a wide- 
 mouthed bottle containing spirit of turpentine was placed in the 
 box, and speedily killed the survivors, while a bath in a solution 
 of corrosive sublimate protected the remaining combs against a 
 future brood of Galleria Moth. 
 
' THE HARVEST-MOUSE. 213 
 
 Although there are still in my list many names of burrowing 
 insects which have not yet beenr described, it is necessary that we 
 should take our leave of the burrowers aad proceed to tHe next 
 chapter. 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 PENSILE MAMMALIA. 
 
 The Haevest-mousb — its Appearance. — Eeasou for its Name. — Mouse Nests. — 
 Home of the Harvest-mouse. — A curious Problem. — Food of the Harvest-mouse, 
 and its Agility. — The Squikrel. — Its summer and winter " Cage." — Boldness 
 of the Squirrel. — Materials for the Nest, and their Arrangement. 
 
 There are not many mammalia which make pensile nests, 
 and we are, therefore, the more pleased to find that one of the 
 most interesting inhabits this country. This is the well-known 
 HARVEST-MOUSE'(M'crom?/s minutus), the smallest example of the 
 mammalia in England, and nearly in the world. 
 
 This elegant little creature is so tiny that, when full-grown, it 
 weighs scarcely more than th^ sixth of an ounce, whereas the or- 
 dinary mouse weighs almost an entire ounce. Its color is a very 
 warm brown above, almost amounting to chestnut, and below it 
 is pure white, the line of demarcation being strongly defined. 
 The color is slightly variable in different lights, because each hair 
 is red at the tip and brown at the base, and every movemeftt of 
 the animal naturally causes the two tints to be alternately visible 
 and concealed. 
 
 It is called the Harvest-mouse because it is usually found at 
 harvest-time, and in some parts of the country it is captured by 
 hundreds, in barns and ricks. To the ricks it would never gain 
 admission, provided they are built on proper staddles, were it not 
 that it gets into the sheaves as they stand in the field, and is car- 
 ried within them by the laborers. Other mice, however, are some- 
 times called by this name, although they have no fair title to it ; 
 but the genuine Harvest-mouse can always be distinguished by 
 its very small size, and the bright ruddy hue of the back and the 
 white of the abdomen. Moreover, the ears of the Harvest-mouse 
 are shorter in proportion than those of the ordinary mouse, the 
 head is larger and inore slender, and the eyes are not so project- 
 ing, so that a very brief inspection will suffice to tell the observer 
 whether he is looking at an adult Harvest-mouse or a young spec- 
 imen of any other species. 
 
214: HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Mice always make very comfortable nests for their young, gath- 
 ering together great quantities of wool, rags, paper, hair, moss, 
 feathers, and similar substances, and rolling them into a baU-like 
 mass, in the middle of which the young are placed. I have seen 
 many of these nests, and only once have known an exception to 
 the rule, when the mouse had made its nest of empty and broken 
 nutshella The Harvest-mouse, however, surpasses all its conge- 
 ners in the beauty and elegance of its home, which is not only 
 constructed with remarkable neatness, but is suspended above the 
 ground in such a manner as to entitle it to the name of a true 
 pensile nest. Generally it is hung to several stout grass-stems ; 
 sometimes it is fastened to wheat-straws ; and in one case, men- 
 tioned by Gilbert White, it was suspended from the head of a 
 thistle. 
 
 It is a very beautiful structure, being made of very narrow 
 grasses, and woven so carefully as to form a bollow globe, rather 
 larger than a cricket-ball, and very nearly as round. How the 
 little creature contrives to form so complicated an object as a hol- 
 low sphere with thin walls is still a'problem. It is another prob- « 
 lem how the young are placed in it, and another how they are 
 fed. The walls are so thin that an object inside the nest can be 
 easily seen from any part of the exterior ; there is no opening 
 whatever, and when the young are in the nest they are packed so 
 tightly that their bodies press against the wall in every direction. 
 As there is no defined opening, and as the walls are so loosely 
 woven, it is probable that tlie mother is able to push her way be- 
 tween the meshes, and so to arrange or feed her young. 
 
 The position of the nest, which is always at some little height, 
 presupposes a climbing power in the architect. All mice and 
 rats are good climbers, being able to scramble up perpendicular 
 walls, provided that their surfaces be rough, and even to lower 
 themselves head downward by clinging with the curved claws of 
 their hind feet. It is also a noticeable fact that the joint of the 
 hind foot is so loosely articulated that it can be turned nearly 
 half round, and so permits great freedom of movement. The 
 Harvest-mouse is even better constructed for climbing than the 
 ordinary mouse, inasmuch as its long and flexible toes can grasp' 
 the grass-stem as firmly as a monkey's paw holds a bough, and 
 the long, slender tail is also partially prehensile, aiding the animal 
 greatly in sustaining itself, though it is not gifted with the sensi- 
 tive mobility of the same organ in the spider, monkey, or kin- 
 kajou. 
 
HARVEST M0U8K. 
 
THE SQUIRREL. 217 
 
 As the food of the Harvest-mouse consists greatly of insects, 
 flies being especial favorites, it is evident that great agility is 
 needed. In order to show the active character of the quadruped, 
 one of the Harvest-mice is represented in the act of climbing to- 
 ward a fly, on which it is about to pounce. Under such circum- 
 stances its leap is remarkably swift, and its aim is as accurate as 
 that of the swallow. Even in captivity it has been known to 
 take flies from the hand of its owner, and to leap along the wires 
 of its cage as smartly as if it were trying to capture an insect that 
 could escape. 
 
 The Harvest-mouse is tolerably prolific, and in the airy cradle 
 may sometimes be seen as many as eight young mice, all packed 
 together like herrings in a barrel. 
 
 There is another well-known British mammal which, at all 
 events at one season of the year, may be classed among those 
 creatures, who build pensile nests. This is the common Squirrel, 
 so plentifiil in well- wooded districts, and so scarce where trees are 
 few. 
 
 The Squirrel is an admirable nest-builder, though it can not 
 lay claim to the exquisite neatness which distinguishes the har- 
 vest-mouse. As is well known, the Squirrel constructs two kinds 
 of nests, or "cages," as they are popularly called, one being its 
 winter home, wherein it can remain in a state of hibernation, and 
 the other its summer residence. These two. nests are as different 
 as a town mansion and a shooting-box, the former being strong, 
 thick-walled, sheltered, and warm, and the other light and airy. 
 The winter cage is almost invariably placed in the fork of some 
 tree, generally where two branches start from the trunk. It is 
 well concealed by the boughs on which it rests, and which serve 
 also as a shelter from the wind. The summer cage, on the con- 
 trary, is comparatively frail, and is placed nearly at the extremity 
 of slender boughs, which bend with its weight, and cause the airy 
 cradle to rock and dance with every gust of wind. 
 
 As if conscious of the impregnable situation which it has cho» 
 sen, the squirrel takes no pains to conceal the summer cage, but 
 builds it so openly that it can be seen from a considerable dis- 
 tance; whereas the winter home requires a practiced eye to de- 
 tect it. So confident is the animal in the strength of its posi- 
 tion, that it can scarcely be induced to leave the nest, and will 
 sit there in spite of shouts and stones, provided that the missiles 
 
218 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 do not actually strike the nest. A well-aimed stone will gener- 
 ally alarm the cunning little animal, and cause it to make one of 
 its rapid rushes to the top of the tree. The niaterials of the 
 Squirrel's cage are very similar to those of an ordinary bird's- 
 nest, consisting of twigs, leaves, moss, and other vegetable sub- 
 stances. Its structure is tolerably compact, though it will not 
 endure rough handling without being injured. 
 
 In this aerial nest the young squirrels are born, making their 
 appearance in the middle of summer, and remaining with their 
 mothet until the following spring. There are generally three or 
 four young; and though the nest appears to be so slight, it is 
 capable of sustaining the united weight of young and parents. 
 The Squirrel does not seem to make more nests than can be 
 avoided, and, like many nest-builders, inhabits the same domicile 
 year after year, until it is quite unfit for occupation. Should the 
 nest be assailed while the young are still helpless, the mother 
 takes them in her mouth one by one, leaps away with them, and 
 deposits them in some place of safety. The materials of which 
 the nest are made are grass, moss, and leaves, together with a few 
 twigs, and the shape is nearly spherical. The winter cage, how- 
 ever, is most irregular in form, being accommodated to the space 
 between the boughs in which it is built, and is very thick and 
 warm. 
 
 The amount of materials collected for this purpose is surpris- 
 ing. All of them are large and thick- walled, but in some, which 
 are probably old nests, with the accumulation of years upon 
 them, the mass of dried vegetable substances is almpst incredible. 
 I have looked into many a winter cage, and on one occasion, when 
 the nest was so hidden that those below could hardly see it, I 
 pulled out whole armfuls of moss, leav.es, and grass, and threw 
 them to the ground, where they made a heap like a haycock. 
 The spectators said it looked like the conjuror's trick of produc- 
 ing shawls, flowers, and goblets out of an empty hat. The nest 
 had been deserted for some time, and all the materials were mat- 
 ted together by repeated rains. 
 
PENSILE BIEDS. 219 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PENSILE bird's. 
 
 Weaver Birds and their general Habits. — Eed-billed Weavee Bird. — Its bo- 
 vine Friends.— Its Use to the Buffalo.— Other parasitic Birds.— The Spotted- 
 backed Weaver Bird. — Its Nest and variable Method of Construction. — The 
 Mahali Weaver Bird.— Shape of the Nest.— Singular Defense.— Theories re- 
 specting the Structure. — Habits of the Bird. — Remarkable Nests of Weavers. 
 
 Account of Weavers engaged in Nest-building. — ^Very curious Contrivance. — 
 The Gold-capped Weaver.— Structure and Situation of the Nest.— The Taha 
 
 Weaver Bird. — Locality selected for its Nest Destructiveness to Crops. — The 
 
 Palm Swift.- Its general Habits.— The Nest and its variable Structure.— Silk- 
 cotton.— The Tailor Bird.— Antiquity of Handicrafts.— Structure of the Nest. 
 —The Fan-tailed Warbler.- Singular Method of fixing its Nest.— The Pen- 
 DULINE TiTMonSE.— Its Habits and Food.— Remarkable Nest and its Form. 
 
 Although the majority of nest-making birds may be called 
 Weavers, there is one family to which the name is ;par excellence 
 and with justice applied. These are the remarkable birds which 
 are grouped together under the name of Ploceidse, all being in- 
 habitants of the hot portions of the Old World, such as Asia and 
 Africa. The last-mentioned continent is peculiarly rich in Weav- 
 er birds, as may be seen from a glance at the plate which accom- 
 panies this description, on which are shown a number of species, 
 together with their nests. 
 
 For the most part, the Weaver Birds suspend their nests to the 
 ends of twigs, small branches, drooping parasites, palm-leaves, or 
 reeds, and many species always hang their nests over water, and 
 at no very great height above its surface. The object of this cu- 
 rious locality is evidently that the eggs and young should be 
 saved from the innumerable monkeys that swarm in the forests, 
 and whose filching paws would rob many a poor bird of its young 
 brood. As, however, the branches are very slender, the weight 
 of the monkey, however small the animal may be, is more than 
 sufficient to immerse the would-be thief in the water, and so to 
 put a stop to his marauding propensities. It is well known that 
 the monkey race are very fond of a little bird, mouse, or egg, and 
 that they have such a predilection for blood, that they will snatch 
 the feathers out of parrots' tails, in order to suck the raw and 
 bleeding quills. 
 
220 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Snakes, too, also inveterate nest-robbers, some of them living 
 almost exclusively on young birds and eggs, are effectually de- 
 barred from entering the nests, so that the parent birds need not 
 trouble themselves about either foe.' Although they may repose 
 in perfect safety, undismayed by the approach of either snake or 
 monkey, they never can. see one of their enemies without scolding 
 at it, screaming hoarsely, shooting close to its body, and, if possi- 
 ble, indulging in a passing peck. Such a scene is depicted in the 
 illustration, where Weaver Birds of several species have united 
 in their attacks upon a monkey that is endeavoring to rob' a nest, 
 and has met with a suitable fate. 
 
 We will now proceed to examine the several species, together 
 with their nests and general habits. 
 
 Our first example of the African Weavers is the Eed-billed 
 Weaver Bird, one of the most plentiful of its kind. Its scien- 
 tific name is Textor eryihrorhynchus, and it is remarkable for at- 
 tending the buffaloes wherever they go. Should the buffalo be 
 driven from any locality, as is often the case when civilization be- 
 gins to make its mark on a country, the Eed-billed Weaver Bird 
 also disappears, and is only to be found in those parts of the land 
 where its huge associate can live in security. 
 
 The reason for this peculiarity is, that the bird finds the greater 
 part of its food upon the buffalo, catching and devouring the va- 
 rious parasites and insects which always accompany these animals. 
 Wherever the buffalo exists, there the Weaver Bird may be seen, 
 flitting about the animal as unconcernedly as if it were carved out 
 of wood, perching on its head and pecking among the hair, set- 
 tling on the massive horns and leaping at passing flies, while ever 
 and anon it makes a dash along the back,, digs away at the thick 
 hide, and presently sits quietly on the buffalo, eating something 
 which it has just secured. 
 
 The buffalo has very good reason to encourage the presence of 
 its feathered allies, for not only do they free it from the troiible- 
 somQ insects, but they are always vigilant, and serve to detect dan- 
 ger. As soon as the bird perceives, or fancies that it perceives, 
 any thing that is suspicious, it ceases from feeding, and looks anx- 
 iously about. Should its suspicions prove correct, the bird flies 
 in the air with the peculiar whirring sound that is indicative of 
 danger, and which is known to the buffalo as well as to itself 
 As soon as the signal of danger is thus given, the buffalo dashes 
 
AFRICAN WEAVEES. 
 
THE SPOTTED-BACKED "WEAVER BIRD. 223 
 
 away into the thickest underwood, accompanied bj its faithful 
 friends. The reader must not suppose that every buffalo has its 
 bird, or that even a herd of buffaloes must necessarily be accom- 
 panied by the "Weavers. Sometimes a large party of buffaloes 
 may be without a single bird ; only where buffaloes do not exist, 
 these "Weavers are not to be found. 
 
 There are several other birds which are in the habit of attach- 
 ing themselves to animals, such as the well-known zic-zac, which 
 befriends the crocodile ; the beef-eater, which perches upon the 
 rhinoceros; and a congener, which is found upon the buffalo. 
 This last bird, however, pays more attention to the " wurbles," 
 or larvae of the bot-flies, which burrow into the skin, and make 
 such ugly holes in the hide. All these birds feed upon the para- 
 sites and other creatures that are found upon the animal which 
 they effect ; and in every case they become watchful guardians, 
 their own alarm being communicated to the larger animal. 
 
 Toward the upper part of the illustration may be seen a num- 
 ber of roundish nests, hung on branches in several rows. These 
 are built by the Spotted-backed Weaver Bird, and are slight- 
 ly variable in the method of their construction, some having the 
 entrance nearly at the bottom, and others more toward the sides. 
 They are all, however, constructed of similaV materials, and the 
 different position of the mouth is evidently intended merely as 
 an accommodation to circumstances. Their eggs are not numer- 
 ous, seldom exceeding four, and their color is delicate green, 
 something like those of our common starling. The bird is not 
 very plentiful, and seems to be rather limited in its range, not 
 appearing westward of the district called Kafi&r-land. Its scien- 
 tific name'is Phceus spilonotus, and it is sometimes called the Yel- 
 low-crowned Weaver Bird. 
 
 All the pensile birds are remarkable for the eccentricity of 
 shape and design which marks their nests ; although they agree 
 in one point, namely, that they dangle at the end of twigs, and 
 dance about merrily at every breeze. Some of them are very 
 long, others are very short; some have their entrance at the side, 
 others from below, and others, again, from near the top. Some 
 are hung, hammock-like, from one twig to another; others are 
 suspended to the extremity of the twig itself; while others that 
 build in the palms, which have no true branches, and no twigs at 
 
224 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 all, fasten their nests to the extremities of the leaves. Some are 
 made of various fibres, and others of the coarsest grass-straws : 
 some are so loose in their texture that the eggs can be plainly 
 seen through them; while others are so strong and thick, that 
 they almost look as if they were made by a professional thatcher. 
 
 A good example of the last-mentioned description of nest is 
 the Mahali Weaver Bird of South Africa {Pliopasser Mahali). 
 Although the architect is a small bird, measuring only six inches 
 in total length, the nest which it makes is of considerable size, and 
 is formed of substances so stout, that, when the edifice and the 
 builder are compared together, the strength of the bird seems 
 quite inadequate to the management of such materials. 
 
 The general shape of the nest is not unlike that of a Florence 
 oil-flask, supposing the neck to be shortened and widened, the 
 body to be lengthened, and the whole flask to be enlaiged to 
 treble its dimensions. Instead, however, of being smooth on the 
 exterior, like the flask, it is intentionally made as rough as possi- 
 ble. The ends of all the grass-stalks, which are of very great 
 thickness, project outward, and point toward the mouth of the 
 nest, which hangs downward ; so that they serve as eaves where- 
 by the rain is thrown off the nest, and possibly serve also as a 
 protection against foes, though the latter theory has not yet been 
 corroborated by observation. 
 
 It is true that the grass stems protrude from the nest like 
 " quills upon the fretful porcupine ;" but that they really afford 
 any obstacle to the attacks of a snake or a monkey I can not be- 
 lieve. If the snake were able to get at the nest at all, it could 
 glide into the aperture, with an upward curve of the flexible body, 
 without troubling itself about the spikes ; and if a monkey were 
 to reach the nest, it seems to me that the projecting ^rass-stems 
 would rather assist than deter it from taking the eggs, as one 
 hand could steady the nest by holding the spikes, while the other 
 was thrust into the aperture. Other nests, moreover, though ex- 
 posed to the same enemies, and even when placed upon the same 
 trees, do not possess this remarkable armature ; and it is hardly 
 to be supposed that if this abatis-like exterior were absolutely 
 needful in the defense of the inmates, it would not be given to all 
 the birds which build under similar conditions. The same may 
 be said of the nests of the Pyrgitse. There are many structures 
 ampng animal habitations, the use of which seems to be problem- 
 atical ; and until the case in point be decided by observation, it 
 must remain an open question. 
 
THE MAHALI WEAVEB. 225 
 
 Dr. Smith remarks that the nests of certain Pyrgitae — i. e. little 
 birds which are popularly called sparrows in South Africa— .are 
 armed in a similar manner, but with sticks and twigs, instead of 
 grass.' 
 
 The Mahali is a very sociable bird, being seldom seen alone, 
 and usually assembling in flocks, which sometimes congregate on 
 the ground, and at others assemble in the branches. It is equally 
 sociable in the disposition of its nests, twenty or thirty of these 
 curious structures being often found gathered closely together on 
 the branches of a single tree. Although its colors are not bril- 
 liant, it is a pretty bird, the back being of that peculiar brown 
 which is called " liver" by dog-fanciers, and the under parts white, 
 a long patch of snowy white also passing over each cheek. It is 
 about as large as our common starling, the total length being rath- 
 er more than six inches. 
 
 Perhaps the most singular-looking nest made by these birds is 
 that of a rather small, yellow-colored species {Phceus ocularius), a 
 figure of which may be seen in the left-hand lower corner of the 
 illustration. This nest looks very like a chemist's retort, with 
 the bulb upward — or, to speak more familiarly, like a very large 
 horse-pistol suspended by the butt. The substance of which it is 
 made is a very narrow, stiff and elastic grass, scarcely larger than 
 the ordinary twine used for tying up small parcels, and inter- 
 woven with a skill that seems far beyond the capabilities of a 
 mere bird. 
 
 The following account of Weaver Birds engaged in nest-mak- 
 tng has been forwarded to me by Captain Drayson, E.A., who has 
 frequently watched the whole proceedings : 
 
 " The bird that builds these nests is colonially termed the Yel- 
 low Oriole. The ingenious little creature is nearly as large as a 
 thrush, and is of a bright yellow color, except the ends of the 
 wings, which are of a brownish hue. It is gregarious ; and when 
 a good locality ^as been found, several hundred nests will be sus- 
 pended from some dozen trees, within a few yards of each other. 
 The most pliant branches are invariably selected, from which the 
 nest is suspended ; and in all cases the end of the nest overhangs 
 the stream, so that any additional weight would bring the nest 
 into the water. 
 
 " The birds make a great disturbance when building, there be- 
 ing usually a regular fight in order to secure th^ best places. In 
 
 P 
 
226 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 building, the bird's first commence by working some stout flags or 
 reeds from the branch, so as to hang downward. They then at- 
 tach the upper part of the nest to the branch, so as to form the 
 dome-like roof. By degrees they complete the globular bulb, 
 still working downward, and, lastly, the neck is attached to the 
 body of the nest. Great skill is required to keep the neck even 
 and open, and yet no machine could accomplish the work better 
 than do these ingenious little architects. The upper part of the 
 nest is very thick and firmly built, more than twice as thick as 
 the neck, and the material of which it is made is far stronger. In 
 some instances I have seen one nest 'attached to another ; and 
 when this is the case, the second builder strengthens the first nest, 
 and then attaches his own work thereto. 
 
 " Should by chance a hawk or monkey venture into the vicin- 
 ity of a colony of birds, it is chased and chirped at by hundreds 
 of these little creatures, who make common cause against the in- 
 truder, and quickly drive him off. During the building of the 
 nests, the river side is a most interesting place, as the intelligence 
 and diligence of the birds are most remarkable." 
 
 If the hand be carefully introduced up the neck of one of these 
 nests, its admirable fitness for the nurture of the young birds is at 
 once perceived. When merely viewed from the outside, the nest . 
 looks as if it would be a very unsafe cradle, and would permit 
 the young birds to fall through the neck into the water. A sec- 
 tion of the nest, however, shows that no habitation can be safer, 
 and even the hand can detect the wonderfully ingenious manner 
 in which the interior is constructed. Just where the neck is 
 united to the bulb, a kind of wall or partition is made, about two 
 inches in height, which runs completely across the bulb, and ef- 
 fectually prevents the young birds from falling into the neck. 
 
 Although the nests are seen in considerable numbers, the feath- 
 ered architect does not seem to be a particularly sociable bird, 
 seldom being seen in flocks, and, as a general fact, the male and 
 female associate together and keep all other birds at a distance. 
 The eggs are generally three in number, very pale blue with a 
 few brownish spots, the spots being chiefly gathered toward the 
 larger end. The parent birds are very assiduous in their house- 
 hold cares, and each sits alternately until the eggs are hatched. 
 So absorbed are they in their task that they can be captured 
 alive, merely by grasping the lower end of the neck with one 
 hand, and then ftsutiously introducing the other hand into the 
 
GOLD-CAPPED WEAVER BIED. 227 
 
 nest. Perhaps this want of caution may arise from the nature of 
 
 the nest, and the birds being free from all ordinary danger ; and 
 
 if the nest had been open, like that of most birds, the inhabitants 
 
 would probably be as timid as is usually the case with birds when 
 
 disturbed in their nests. 
 
 4 
 
 Below the first-mentioned nest, and nearly in the lower centre 
 of the illustration, may be seen the beautiful nest of the Gold- 
 capped Weaver Bird, Ploceus ictei-ocephalus, the figure being 
 drawn from a specimen in my own collection. The nest of this 
 bird is notable for the extreme neatness and compactness of its 
 structure, for it can endure a vast amount of careless handling, 
 and still retain its beautiful contour. The nest was taken from 
 the banks of a river near Natal, and was suspended from two 
 reeds, so as to hang over the water, and at no great distance from 
 the surface. 
 
 The whole structure is apparently composed of the same plant, 
 namely, a kind of small reed, but the materials are taken from a 
 different portion of the plant, according to the part of the nest for 
 which they are required. The whole exterior, as well as the 
 walls, are made of the reed-^tems, woven very closely together, 
 and being of no trifling thickness. There is a considerable amount 
 of elasticity in the structure, and the whole nest is so strong that 
 it might be kicked down stairs, or be thrown from the top of the 
 Monument, without much apparent deterioration. The interior, 
 however, is constructed after a very different fashion. Instead of 
 the rough, strong workmanship of the exterior, with its peed-stems 
 interlacing among each other, as if woven by human art, and its 
 pale yellow hue, the inside exhibits a lining of flat leaves, laid art- 
 istically over each other so as to form a soft, smooth resting-place, 
 but not interlacing at all, being held in their place by their own 
 elasticity. Their color is of a pale bluish-gray, and the contrast 
 which they present to the exterior is very strongly marked. In 
 size the nest is about as large as an ordinary cocoa-nut — not quite 
 so long, though broader. 
 
 Mr. Swainson mentions that in one specimen of the nest made 
 by this bird there was a peculiarity about the opening. "The 
 aperture is lateral, but not upon the top, so that it serves the 
 purpose of a window to the inmates, who are sheltered overhead 
 by the convex top of the nest. There is something very ingen- 
 ious in the construction of this opening, which iff not, as it at first 
 
228 HOMES "WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 appears, round, but semicircular, the arch being bound round with 
 a stronger band than usual, and the plane or base much stronger, 
 and composed of straight pieces of the stalks of the grass, evident- 
 ly for the purpose of giving to that part on which the birds perch- 
 ed greater strength and substance." 
 
 In the right - hand lower corner of the illustration is a nest 
 of another species of Weaver Bird, the pretty Taha Weaver, 
 Euplectes Taha. 
 
 This species, though plentiful, is rather limited in range, and, 
 according to Dr. Smith, is not seen southward of lat. 26°. North- 
 ward of that line, however, it was found in numbers, associating 
 in large flocks, and generally haunting the neighborhood of riv- 
 ers. In some places the trees that grew near the rivers were fill- 
 ed with crowds of the Taha Weaver Bird. In some localities, 
 where the ground is cultivated, the Taha Weaver is more plenti- 
 ful than is liked by the natives, for it is very destructive among 
 the gardens ; and, in places where it is very numerous, a contin- 
 ual watch must be kept lest the crop should be utterly destroyed. 
 An allied bird, Euplectes oryx, is equally destructive in the sum- 
 mer months. ' 
 
 Although the Taha Weavers are mostly found among trees, at 
 the commencement of the breeding season they leave the branch- 
 es and retire to the reeds that fringe the river sides, and upon 
 these reeds they build their pensile nest. The plumage of the 
 Taha Weaver varies greatly according to the season of the year, 
 the yellow of the summer coat being freely interspersed with 
 brown dashes in the winter. Even the beak is said to change its 
 color, and to be lighter in the summer than in the winter. 
 
 As in the illustration of African Weaver Birds so many nests 
 and their architects are introduced, I will give a brief summary 
 of its contents. 
 
 In the right-hand upper corner are seen the curious nests of the 
 Mahali Weaver, accompanied by the birds themselves. Just be- 
 low the Mahali are several rows of nests pendent from boughs. 
 These are the homes of the Spotted Weaver, and are represented 
 as attacked by monkeys, which are being ducked for their pains, 
 and will not succeed in reaching the nests. The monkey is the 
 vervet, Cercopithecus pygeryihrus, commonly called the green mon- 
 key, and is of tlje species that so frequently accompany organ- 
 
THE PALM SWIFT. 229 
 
 grinders in this country. Assailing and bickering at the mon- 
 keys are several other species of Weavers. Some of the Spotted 
 Weavers are defending their homes, and are aided by three other 
 species, Phceus subaureus, known by its lighter hue ; Hyphantor- 
 nis texior, distinguished by its dark bill ; and Textor erythrorhyn- 
 chus, known by its light bill. 
 
 Eather in the background, and in the centre, are some nests 
 of Ploceus Capensis, woven with a palm-leaf. In the left-hand 
 lower corner is the long, retort-sBaped nest of Iflp.pretty Yellow 
 Weaver ; in the corresponding right corner is the Taha Weaver ; 
 and h3,nging over the water at the bottom of the illustration is 
 the habitation of the Yellow-capped Weaver. 
 
 In Jamaica there is a bird which would not allow any illustra- 
 tion . of its size and beauty, but is nevertheless a most interesting 
 species. This is the Palm Swift {Tachomis phoenicolia), easily 
 known by the broad white belt on its black body, something like 
 the white band on the common house-martin. 
 
 As is implied by its generic name, the Palm Swift is celebrated 
 for its very great speed, which it exhibits by its .darting flight 
 over the grass savannas. As, moreover, it resides in Jamaica 
 throughout the whole year, it gives every opportunity for ob- 
 serving its habits. 
 
 The nest of this bird is very curious, and always pensile ; and, 
 though it can never be mistaken for that of any other bird, it is 
 built after a very diverse .fashion. Usually it is fastened to the 
 spathe of the common cocoa-nut palm, being cemented to the leaf 
 so firmly, that if it be pulled away by force, the outside integu- 
 ment of/the leaf comes away also. The nest is ingeniously hid- 
 den Jn the leaf, so that it would not be noticed by an ordinary ob- 
 server, were it not that in some cases the bird is so very liberal 
 of its materials that their superabundance betrays its presence. 
 The nest is made of cotton and feathers, the cotton forming the . 
 exterior and the feathers the lining. The walls of the nest are 
 very strong, though flexible, and something like felt, being firmly 
 compacted, and containing an enormous mass of downy feathers, 
 in the middle of which the eggs are laid. 
 
 The cotton is of a very short staple,, and is not the substance 
 used in commerce, but the produce of the silk-cotton -trees belong-, 
 ing to the genus Bombax. , These trees are of very great size, the 
 trunks running nearly a hundred feet in height without a branch. 
 
230 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 and being even more than proportionately thick. The cotton is 
 of very trifling use in commerce, the staple being not much more 
 than .an inch in length, and' is chiefly employed for stuf&ng mat- 
 tresses and pillows. The native tribes of Guiana use it for the 
 tiny arrows which they project through their long and slender 
 air-guns, fastening it upon the head of the arrows so as to make 
 them fit the tube. A quantity of this cotton is now before me, 
 and it is evident that the very qualities which render it useless 
 for commercialBp mechanical purposes are precisely those which 
 are best adaptea for the structure of the nest. It is remarkably 
 fine in texture, being almost silky to the touch ; and, instead of 
 becoming inextricably entangled, as is the case with ordinary 
 cotton-wool, it can not be handled without leaving a number of 
 short fibres on the fingers. Its usual color is yellowish, but occa- 
 sionally it is nearly white. 
 
 Several nests are often found in each spathe ; and it is a cu- 
 rious fact that, in such cases, they are agglutinated together with 
 the same substance that fastens them so firmly to the leaf, and 
 are connected by a kind of gallery, which runs along the side, 
 and communicates with each nest. It is thought that the bird 
 occupies the same nest repeatedly, after the manner of swallows 
 and martins, and that it does not desert the tenement until the 
 spathe becomes detached and falls to the ground, after the custom 
 of its kind. Fallen spathes are plentiful under the palms, and in 
 them the nests of the Palm Swift are frequently seen. 
 
 Sometimes the Palm Swift chooses another tree, and builds its 
 nest in the palmetto, a palm belonging to the genus Chamcerops. 
 In such cases, the nest is of a different shape to that which is 
 found in the cocoa-palm, something resembling in form the India- 
 rubber tobacco-pouches which are now so common. The exte- 
 rior of the nest is loose and woolly, instead of being firm and com- 
 pact; and in some instances it is so very loose, that it looks just 
 like a doll's wig. The eggs of the Palm Swift are white. 
 
 The man who first invented sewing in all probability thought 
 that he had discovered, or rather created, an art which was en- 
 tirely new, and that to him alone was due the credit of perceiving 
 the virtues of a fibre thrust through holes. 
 
 . The capabilities of his invention he could not be expected to 
 foresee, inasmuch as he would in all probability limit its powers 
 to the decoration rather than the clothing of his own person. In 
 
THE TAILOE BIED. 231 
 
 process of time he might comprehend that, by means of the nee- 
 dle and thread, a number of small leaves or skins might be made 
 to serve the same purpose as a single large one, and as his instru- 
 ments improved, so would his work. There are, it is true, certain 
 nations who have been acquainted with the art of sewing from 
 time immemorial, and never seem to have made the least progress 
 in it. The native Australian, for example, displays wonderful in- 
 genuity in making thread from the sinews of the kangarpo's tail, 
 and needles from the emu's bones ; but there his invention seems 
 to have stopped, and, up to the present time, the junction of a 
 couple of kangaroo skins, or the sewing together of a few "opos- 
 sum" furs, seem to be the limits of his powers. Still, in other 
 countries, the needle and thread have, as a rule, exhibited a reg- 
 ular improvement, until they have culminated in the sewing-ma- 
 chine of the present day. Had, however, some good genius ena- 
 bled the original founder of the art to foresee its effect upon the 
 world, he might well have been proud of his discovery, the earli- 
 est of human arts. 
 
 The respectable guild of tailors, indeed, were wont to attribute 
 to their mystery an antiquity surpassing that of any other handi- 
 craft, and, on the strength of a certain passage in Genesis, claimed 
 Adam as the first tailor. As to the smiths and musicians, the 
 tailors looked down upon them as of comparatively recent origin, 
 and considered even the mysterious order of Free-masons as mod- 
 ern upstarts. Had they been moderately skilled in ornithology, 
 they might have claimed a still -older origin'^ on the grounds that, 
 long before man came on the earth, the needle and the thread 
 were used for sewing two objects together. 
 
 The wonderful little bird, whose portrait is accurately given in 
 the accompanying illustration, is popularly known by the appro- 
 priate title of Tailor Bird, its scientific name being Orihotamus 
 hngicaudiLs. The manner In which it constructs its pensile nest 
 is very singular. Choosing a convenient leaf, generally one which 
 hangs from the end of a slender twig, it pierces a row of holes 
 along each edge, using its beak in the same manner that a shoe- 
 maker uses his awl, the two instruments being very similar to each 
 other in shape, though not in material. These holes are not at all 
 regular, and in some cases there are so many of them that the bird 
 seems to have found s6me special gratification in making them, 
 just as a boy who has a new knife makes havoc on every piece 
 of wood which he can obtain. 
 
232 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The Tailor Bird, 
 
 When the holes are completed, the bird next procures its 
 thread, which is a long fibre of some plant, generally much longer 
 than is needed for the task which it performs. Having found its 
 thread, the feathered tailor begins to pass it through the holes, 
 drawing the sides of the leaf toward each other, so as to form a 
 kind of hollow cone, the point downward. Generally a single 
 leaf is used for this purpose, but whenever the bird can not find 
 one that is sufficiently large, it sews two together, or even fetches 
 another leaf and fastens it with the fibre. Within the hollow thus 
 formed the bird next deposits a quantity of soft white down, like 
 short cotton-wool, and thus constructs a warm, light, and elegant 
 nest, which is scarcely visible among the leafage of the tree, and 
 which is safe from almost every foe except man. 
 
 There are several nests of the Tailor Bird in the British Muse- 
 um, one composed of several leaves, and the other in which one 
 leaf is used. It is a pity that in all instances the leaf has been 
 plucked from the twig on which it grew ; and it is to be wished 
 that when other specimens are brought to England the twig will 
 be cut off, and that if the leaf should fall off, it may be replaced 
 on the spot whereon it grew. Beautiful as is the detached nest. 
 
THE PENDULINE TITMOUSE. 233 
 
 it does not give nearly so vivid an idea of its object as if it were 
 still suspended to its branch. 
 
 The Tailor Bird is a native of India, and is tolerably familiar, 
 haunting the habitations of man, and being often seen in the gar- 
 dens and compounds, feeding away in conscious security. It 
 seems to care little about lofty situations, and mostly prefers the 
 ground, or lower branches of the trees, and flies to and fro with a 
 peculiar undulating flight. Many species of the same genus are 
 known to ornithologists. 
 
 The tailor bird is not the only member of the feathered tribe 
 which sews leaves together in order to form a locality for its nest. 
 A rather pretty bird, the Fan -tailed Warbler (Salicaria cisti- 
 cola), has a similar method of action, though the nest can not be 
 ranked among the pensiles. 
 
 This bird builds among reeds, sewing together a number of 
 their flat blades in order to make a hollow wherein its nest may 
 be hidden ; but the method which it employs is not precisely the 
 same as that which is used by the tailor bird. Instead of passing 
 its thread continuously through the holes, and thus sewing the 
 leaves together, it has a great number of threads, and makes a 
 knot at the end of each, in order to prevent it from being pulled 
 through the hole. A description and beautiful figure of this bird 
 may be seen in Gould's "Birds of Europe," vol. ii. 
 
 The odd little titmice can be admitted among the Pensile Birds, 
 as one of them constructs a habitation as purely pensile as any 
 which has yet been mentioned, and which yields in beauty to 
 none. This is the Penduline Titmouse {jEgiihalus pendulinus), 
 a native of Southern and Eastern Europe. As is the case with 
 all its family, it is a little bird, scarcely exceeding four inches in 
 length, and being marked with pleasing though not very brilliant 
 colors. In general habits it resembles the bearded titmouse of 
 England, haunting the sides of streams, and feeding upon the 
 seeds of aquatic plants, as well as upon the various insects, larvae, 
 and small mollusks that are found so plentifully in the water. 
 
 The chief point of interest in this b(ird is, however, concentrated 
 in its nest, which is made in a flask-like shape, and is mostly sus- 
 pended to the extremity of some twig that overhangs the water. 
 Willows, and other trees that are fond of the water, are favored 
 residences of this curious little bird. The larger end of the nest 
 
234 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 hangs downward, so that at a little distance it looks like a huge 
 pear with a rather long stem. The material of the nest is the cot- 
 tony down of the willow and poplar, and the opening is always at 
 the side. The position chosen is not invariably at the end of a 
 twig, as the nest is sometimes found among the reeds, hidden by 
 their thick stems from observation. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PENSILE BIRDS (^Continued). 
 
 Australian Pensiles. — The Yellow-theoated Sericornm. — Its Habits. — Singular 
 Position for its Nest. — Conscious Security. — The Eock Warbler. — Shape and 
 Locality of its Nest. — The Yellow-tailed Acanthiza. — Its Color and Song. — 
 Supplementary Nests. — The Pinc-pino and its Home. — Supposed Use of the sup- 
 plementary Nest. — The Singing Honet-eatee and its Nest. — The Myall or 
 Weeping Acacia. — Various Materials. — The Lunulated Honey-eater. — A new 
 Material. — The Painted Honet-eater, its Habits and Nest. — The Art of Pres- 
 ervation. — Nests and their Branches. — The Color of Eggs. — The White-throat- 
 ed HoNET-EATEE and its Habits. — Its curious Nest. — Locality of the Nest. — The 
 Golden-ceested Ween, and the Eesemblance of its Nest to those of the Honey- 
 eater. — The Swallow Dicjeum. — Its Song, and Beauty of its Plumage. — The 
 - Nest, its Materials, Form, and Position. — The Malurus and its Nest. — The Ham- 
 mock Bird. — Singular Method of suspending the Nest. — The White-shafted 
 Fantail. — Strange Form of the Nest. — The Appendage or Tail of the Nest. 
 
 Some very remarkable instances of pensile birds' -nests are 
 found in Australia, and for many of them we are indebted to the 
 patient and careful research of Mr. J. Gould, from whose skillful 
 works on ornithology several illustrations have been, by permis- 
 sion, copied. 
 
 A very curious instance is found in the nest of the Yellow- 
 throated Sericornis {Sericornis ciireogularis), a rather pretty, but 
 not a striking bird. The general color is simple brown, and, as 
 its name imparts, the throat is of a citron-yellow. The only re- 
 markable point in the color, beside the yellow throat, is a rather 
 large patch of black, which envelops the eye and passes down 
 each side of the neck, nearly as far as the shoulders. It is the 
 largest of its genus, and, although not rare, is seldom seen except 
 by those who know where to look for it, as it is scarcely ever 
 observed on the wing, but remains among the thick underwood, 
 flitting occasionally between the branches, but mostly remaining 
 on the ground, where it pecks about in search of the insects on 
 which it feeds. 
 
THE YELLOW-THROATED SEEICORNIS. 235 
 
 The reason for its mention in this work is the singular struc- 
 ture of its nest, which is described by Mr, Gould in the following 
 words : 
 
 " One of the most interesting points connected with the history 
 of this species is the situation chosen for its nest. * 
 
 
 PtilotuB SonoruB. 
 
 Sei'icomis Gitreogularis. 
 
 Entomophila Ficta. 
 
 Entomophila Albogularia. 
 Origma Rubricata. 
 
 "All those who have rambled in the Australian forests must 
 have observed that, in their more dense and humid parts, an at- 
 mosphere peculiarly adapted for the rapid and abundant growth 
 of mosses of various kinds is generated^ and that these mosses not 
 only grow upon the trunks of decayed trees, but are often accumu- 
 lated in large masses at the extremities of the drooping branches. 
 These masses often become of sufficient size to admit of the bird 
 constructing a nest in the centre of them, with so much of art that 
 
236 HOMES WIIHOUT HANDS. 
 
 it is impossible to distinguish it from any of the other pendulous 
 masses in the vicinity. These bunches are frequently a yard in 
 length, and in some places hang so near the ground as to strike 
 the head of the explorer during his rambles ; in others they are 
 placed High up on the trees, but only in such parts of the forest 
 where there is an open space entirely shaded by overhanging fo- 
 liage. As will be readily conceived, in whatever situations they 
 are met with, they at all times form a remarkable and conspicu- 
 ous feature in the landscape. 
 
 " Although the nest is constantly disturbed by the wind, and 
 liable to be shaken when the tree is disturbed, so secure does the 
 inmate consider itself from danger or intrusion of any kind, that 
 I have frequently captured the female while sitting on her eggs, 
 a feat that may always be accomplished by carefully placing the 
 hand over the entrance — that is, if it can be detected, to effect 
 which no slight degree of close prying and examination is nec- 
 essary. 
 
 " The nest is formed of the inner bark of trees, intermingled 
 with green moss, which soon vegetates ; sometimes dried grasses 
 and fibrous roots form part of the materials of which it is com- 
 posed, and it is warmly lined with feathers. The eggs, which are 
 three in number, and much elongated in form, vary considerably 
 in color, the most constant tint being a clove-brown, freckled over 
 the end with dark umber-brown, frequently assuming the form of 
 a complete band or zone ; their medium length is one inch, and 
 their breadth eight lines." 
 
 If the reader will bear in mind the remarkable shape of this 
 and a few other nests, he will see, in a future page, how wonder- 
 ful is the -resemblance between the pensile nests of birds and in- 
 sects. 
 
 Pensile birds do not always suspend their nests to the 
 branches of trees, but in some instances choose exactly the local- 
 ities which appear to be the most unsuited for the purpose. Still 
 keeping to Australia, we may find a most wonderful example of 
 a pensile nest near mountain courses. The bird which makes it 
 is called, indifferently, tl^^ EooK Warbler, or the Cataract 
 Bird {Origma rubricata), because it is always found where water- 
 courses rush through rocky ground. So attached is the bird to 
 these localities, that it is never seen in the forest, nor ever has 
 been observed to perch upon a branch. The generic name, Orig- 
 
THE ROCK WARBLER — ^THE TELLOW-TAILED ACANTHIZA. 237 
 
 ma, is derived from a Greek word signifying a rock or a precipice, 
 and is more appropriate than are many scientific titles. 
 
 It is a small bird, no larger than our sparrow, and is soberly 
 colored, the general hue being brown, relieved by a dull red on 
 the breast, something like that of the female robin. It has a me- 
 lodious though not very powerful note ; but its chief claims to 
 admiration are founded upon the extraordinary nest which it 
 builds. In general shape this nest somewhat resembles a claret 
 jug without a handle, having a long, slender neck and a globular 
 and suddenly-rounded bulb. 
 
 It is suspended from the rocks in sheltered places, and where- 
 ever.an overhanging ledge of rock affords protection from the ele- 
 ments there the strange nests may be found. Just as the martins 
 take a fancy to some favored spot, and build whole rows of nests 
 on one side of some particular house, utterly disdaining neighbor- 
 ing houses which, to all appearance, afford exactly the same ad- 
 vantages, so do the Eock Warblers affect some particular rock, 
 and hang their nests by dozens in clbse proximity to each other. 
 The material of the nest is the long moss which is plentiful in the 
 country ; and, as may be seen from the illustration, the entrance 
 is near the centre of the rounded bulb. In consequence of the 
 material of which the nest is constructed, it is very rough on the 
 exterior, though smooth and comfortable enough within. 
 
 Australia certainly produces some of the most singular ob- 
 jects in the world. Among the many varieties of birds'-nests 
 which are found in this region, there is one of a very curious 
 form, resembling very greatly a common cottage loaf, and being 
 in fact a double nest, one being placed upon the other. 
 
 The bird which makes this nest is termed the Yellow-tailed 
 Acanthiza {Acanthiza chrysorrho&d)^ and is not uncommon in dif- 
 ferent parts of Australasia. It is rather a neat-looking bird, the 
 colors being beautifully blended together. The back and upper 
 parts are greenish, like the hue of our common wood-wren, and 
 below it is pale yellow, while there is a patch of bright golden 
 yellow at the base of the tail. As if to contradict the popular 
 idea that the birds of Australia have no song, the Yellow-tailed 
 Acanthiza sings a bright, cheerful note, very like that of the gold- 
 finch, so that it is in all points a pleasing little bird. 
 
 It is seldom seen on the wing, or, at all events, seldom flies 
 to any distance, as it prefers to remain on the ground, or in the 
 
238 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 bush, and when disturbed will fly for a few yards and then settle 
 again. It is generally found in small flocks, consisting of six or 
 ten in number, and as it is by no means timid, will allow itself 
 to be approached closely before it takes alarm. 
 
 The nest is a very remarkable structure. In most cases it is 
 formed as has just been mentioned, a little nest being stuck on 
 the large one. The materials of which it is made are grass, wood, 
 and leaves, and the structune is rather loose and careless. Gener- 
 ally it is suspended from the delicate mimosa branches, especially 
 in Van Diemen's Land ; but when it builds in gardens, as is often 
 the case, it mostly prefers a low shrub for that purpose. Unfor- 
 tunately for the bird, the bronze cuckoo has a predilection for its 
 nest, and lays its eggs therein. Whenever this is the case, the 
 parasitic bird takes entire possession of the nest, and no other 
 young are found in it. 
 
 The supplementary nest is not invariably present, and both the 
 size and shape are extremely variable. The reader may perhaps 
 remember that the Pinc-pinc of Africa {Drymoica iexirix) has a 
 similar custom, constructing a supplementary roosting-place upon 
 the nest. The home of the Pinc-pinc is of much firmer structure 
 than that of the Yellow-tailed Acanthiza, being made of vegetable 
 fibres, interwoven so st^pngly and elaborately that a thick, felt- 
 like substance is produced. The entrance to the nest is formed 
 in a tubular shape, and projects for an inch or two, so as to look 
 like a spout, and near the entrance is constructed a rounded pro- 
 jection on which a bird can repose. 
 
 Some persons think that the male bird uses this perch, and that 
 he posts himself by the entrance in order to act as a sentry and to 
 keep guard over the inmates. It is more probable, however, that 
 the projection is used, not so much as a resting-place for the male, 
 although he may possibly take a fancy for sitting in the fresh air 
 rather than in the nest, as a perch on which the bird can settle 
 before it passes into the tubular entrance. This supposition is 
 borne out by the fact that there are mostly several of these 
 perches on each nest, so that the whole structure assumes a rather 
 awkward and irregular aspect. The nest is of very large dimen- 
 sions when compared with its architect, being on the average four 
 inches in diameter. 
 
 There is another species of Acanthiza {Acanthiza reguloides) 
 which lives in Australia, and builds a nest very similar in its 
 materials and the general principles of its structure to that of the 
 
THE SINGING HONEY-EATER. 239 
 
 bird already described, except that the supplementary nest is not 
 present. 
 
 A MOST beautiful pensile nest is made by the Singing Honey- 
 eater {Piiloius sonorus), a species which is spread over a large 
 portion of Australasia. 
 
 Here we have another example of an Australian singing-bird, 
 for the melody of this creature is so. loud, so full, and so rich in 
 tone, that Mr. Gould compares it to that of the missel thrush. 
 It is a soberly-colored bird, though easily identified, the back be- 
 ing pale brown, the top of the head yellow, and a deep black 
 patch passing over the eye, and turning downward along th'6 side 
 of the neck. It is a lively bird, as are all those feathered crea- 
 tures which feed chiefly on insects, and even in midwinter its 
 melodious song may be heard in full vigor. 
 
 There is a very common tree in Australia, popularly called the 
 myall, known to scientific botanists as Acacia pendula. The twigs 
 of this tree are long and very slender, and the leaves are so nar- 
 row and delicate that at a little distance they look more like 
 grass-blades than the leaf of a tree. The reader may remember 
 that this is a characteristic of all drooping or " weeping" trees, 
 the leaf and the twig being slender in proportion to each other. 
 The weeping birch and the weeping willow of our own country 
 are good examples of this peculiarity. 
 
 Thus, as both the leaves and the twigs of the myall are extra- 
 ordinarily long and slender, the tree is chosen by many birds 
 which build pensile nests, as will be seen in the course of this 
 volume. It seems a tree that was made for the express purpose, 
 because the long and slender twigs serve the double purpose of 
 affording a firm attachment for the nest and suspending it where 
 no ordinary foe can reach it, while the delicate leaves give their 
 aid in fastening the nest to the twigs, and at the same time serve 
 to conceal the structure, from prying eyes. 
 
 Although the general structure of the nest is the same in all 
 parts of the country, the materials necessarily differ. In New 
 South Wales, the external shell of the nest is formed of very fine 
 dry stalks, not thicker than twine, while the lining is composed 
 of fibrous roots, matted together with spiders' webs. It is fasten- 
 ed by the rim to the twigs, and as a few of the slender twigs oc- 
 casionally are interwoven into the nest, it hangs quite securely. 
 In Western Australia the nest is made of grasses, which, although 
 
240 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 green when first woven, become white and dry in a short time. 
 The grass is mingled with the hair of the kangaroo and the fur 
 of som6 phalangist, vulgarly called opossum, which serve to mat 
 the grass together and to make it impervious to the wind and 
 rain ; and the interior is neatly lined with grasses and vegetable 
 down. 
 
 There are many Honey-eaters in Australia, all of which are 
 easily known by the hairy tuft at the end of the long tongue, 
 which is used for licking the sweet juices out of flowers. The 
 entomological reader may perhaps remember that the tongue of 
 the hive-bee is constructed on precisely the same principle, being 
 long, slender, mobile, and fringed with hair at its top. 
 
 Many of them construct nests which may fairly be reckoned 
 among the pensile, and one of the prettiest among the number is 
 that which is built by the Lunulated Honey-eater {Meliihreptes 
 lunulatus). The bird is easily recognized by the white crescentic 
 mark which runs round the back of the neck, the horns pointing 
 upward toward the opening of the mouth, and forming a striking 
 contrast with the black hue of the head and neck. 
 
 The nest of this bird is very like that of the Singing Honey- 
 eater, but is mostly suspended to the thinnest twigs which grow 
 at the summit of the enormous Eucalypti-trees. Owing to the 
 great height at which it is placed, and the leaves which surround 
 it, none but an experienced eye can detect it. The walls of the 
 nest are ingeniously made of the inner rind or "liber" of the 
 stringy-bark and other gum-trees, a material which is not unlike 
 the "bass" with which all gardeners are so familiar. The hair 
 of various animals is mixed with the bark, and since sheep have 
 been introduced into Australia, the bird has always availed itself 
 copiously of their wool, finding that it can be worked well into 
 the nest, and serves to bind the materials firmly together. As 
 the nest is always hung by the rim to the twigs, strength of sub- 
 stance is an absolute necessity, and the toughness of fibre and the 
 felting property of the wool make it a most valuable addition to 
 the building materials used by the bird. 
 
 For the lining of the nest, the Lunulated Honey-eater retains 
 the materials to which it has always been accustomed, and uses 
 the fur of the phalangists, which has the advantage of being very 
 soft, very warm, of retaining its elasticity, and of not adhering to 
 the claws of the inmates, as would be the case with wool. 
 
4 * 
 
 THE PAINTED HONEY-EATEE. 241 
 
 Theiie is another of these pretty birds, called the Painted 
 Honey-eater, on account of the variety of its coloring. Its sci- 
 entific name is EntoTnophila picta. The general color of this hand- 
 some bird is rich brown above, with the exception of a yellow 
 patch on the base of the tail, and white, slightly spotted, below. 
 A characteristic mark of the species is a little patch, of pure white 
 just by the ears. 
 
 This handsome species inhabits the interior of New South 
 Wales, and does not confine itself merely to a diet of sweet juices, 
 but feeds much on small insects. The generic' title, Entomophila, 
 is composed of two Greek words, which signify insect-lover, and 
 is given to this bird, and several other Honey-eaters, on account 
 of their insect-eating habits. The birds are extremely active, and 
 devote much of their time to the pursuit of insects on the wing, 
 in which occupation they have a great resemblance to our well- 
 known fly-catcher. They sit on a branch, keeping a careful 
 watch, and whenever an insect passes near, they dart into the air, 
 catch it, and return to their post. They are generally seen in 
 pairs, and are very playful, chasing each other merrily, and spread- 
 ing their tails so as to show the white color. When on the wing, 
 they are ^o like the common goldfinch that they might easily be 
 mistaken for that bird, the patchy distribution of the color, and 
 the white spot on the face, adding greatly to the resemblance. 
 The nest of this bird is a beautiful example of the pensiles, and 
 on looking at a specimen it is impossible to restrain a feeling of 
 regret that the art of preservation as it now stands will not per- 
 mit us to retain the branch and its delicate leaves in all their 
 lovely greenery, their long, spear-like blades affording so beauti- 
 ful a contrast to the dry and withered substance of which the 
 nest is made. 
 
 I may perhaps throw out a hint to collectors of birds'-nests, that 
 they would always increase the value of the nest by retaining as 
 much as possible of the branch on which it was placed, as the in- 
 terest greatly depends upon the precise relation which the nest 
 bears to its locality. None, for example, can properly appreciate 
 the extreme beauty of the nest built by the chaffinch until they 
 see the exquisite manner in which the exterior is covered with 
 mosses and lichens, which exactly resemble in color the bark of 
 the branches amid which it rests. The pretty cuplike nest of the 
 goldfinch, the domed structure of the long-tailed titmouse, the 
 basin-shaped home of the thrush, and the clumsy structure of the 
 
 Q 
 
242 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 rook, are all so beautifully adapted to tlie situation whicli they 
 occupy, that to remove them from their surroundings is to de- 
 prive them of half their value. 
 
 Although the leaves can not be induced to retain their form or 
 color, and always become crisp, and dry, and shriveled, and brown, 
 the branches still keep their form, and, if properly managed, may 
 be made to retain their position. The best plan for restoring the 
 nest to its original appearance is to substitute for the dried foliage 
 a new set of artificial leaves, which are now made so true to nature 
 that they can scarcely be distinguished from their living models. 
 Only, it is to be hoped that the arsenical green will not be used, 
 not only on account of its poisonous qualities, but also of its pecul- 
 iar hue, which is quite unlike that of living leaves. The life-like 
 appearance of the bark can easily be restored by the judicious use 
 of color, moistened wafers, and varnish. 
 
 The eggs, too, should always be made to appear in their natural 
 hues, which in many instances are lost when the contents are re- 
 moved. This is invariably the case with all of the smaller eggs 
 where the shell is not deeply colored ; and in some instances, such , 
 as the egg of the kingfisher, the swift, the dipper, and the sand- 
 martin, the color of the egg is changed from delicate pinl^o chalk- 
 white. I always renew the color of these e^gs by injecting a mix- 
 ture of carmine and gamboge — a single drop is sufficient for a 
 small egg ; and in order to prevent it from drying in streaks and 
 blots, I hold it over a spirit-lamp, or before a fire, and turn it con- 
 tinually until it is quite dry. An unblown egg should be kept 
 as a model whereby the color can be precisely determined ; and 
 when it is properly done, the effect is very beautiful. A pure white 
 egg, like that of the kingfisher, is much improved by heating the 
 shell, after the color is dry, and then injecting a little boiling wax, 
 so as to back up the color, and restore the beautiful translucence 
 of the unblown egg. A tiny scrap of silver-paper should then be 
 fastened over the orifice, in order to prevent dust from entering. 
 
 To return to our Honey-eaters. The material of which the 
 nest of the Painted Honey-eater is composed is fine fibrous roots, 
 interwoven very artfully, but loosely, and being of so frail a struc- 
 ture, that much care is required to remove it without damage. It 
 is fastened by the rim to the delicate twigs of the beautiful weep- 
 ing acacia {Acacia pendula), whose long lanceolate leaves droop 
 over and nearly cover it. It is a very small nest in proportion 
 to the size of the bird. 
 
THE WHITE-THEOATED HONEY-EATEE. 243 
 
 Still keeping to the same interesting family of birds, we find 
 among the pensile builders another species of Honey -eater. 
 
 The White-theoated Honey-eatee {Eniomophila albogularis) 
 is rather like the Painted Honey-eater, being brown above, white 
 'below, and having a yellow patch on the base of the tail. It is, 
 however, easily distinguished from its congener by the peculiarity 
 from which it derives its name — viz., a large patch of pure white 
 in the front of the throat, extending as far as the eyes. The top 
 of the head is grayish-blue, and the breast is buff. 
 
 It is a lively, active little creature, ever on the move, and de- 
 lighting to flit from branch to branch, but not caring to make long 
 flights. As it flies from one bough to another, it utters a musical 
 little song, much like that of the goldfinch, and continues to sing 
 for a considerable time. It detests wind, and is mostly seen in 
 the thick bush, and loves to frequent the masses of mangroves 
 which edge bays and creeks, because the air is comparatively still. 
 In these places' may be found its curious nest, which is about as 
 large as a breakfast-cup, and very much of the same shape. Tt is 
 made of the delicate paper-like bark of the Melaleucse, and various 
 vegetable fibres, with which it is ingeniously hung to the branches. 
 The broad, thin bark causes it to be very smooth on the exterior. 
 For the lining, the bird is not indebted to any animal or bird, but 
 uses grass-bladeS, which are neatly laid, and form a soft resting- 
 place for the eggs. 
 
 The nest is placed very low, being often found scarcely two feet 
 from the water, in that point resembling the nest of the African 
 weaver birds, which have already been described. It is always 
 hung near the extremity of a branch, and invariably is so placed 
 as to be under the protection of a spray of leaves, which act as a 
 roof whereby the rain is thrown off. 
 
 In order that these singular Australian nests which have been 
 described may be compared with each other at a glance, five of 
 the most remarkable examples have been placed in the same 
 illustration, and by comparing the description with the figures, a 
 better idea will be obtained than if each had formed the subject 
 of a separate illustration. 
 
 Befoee proceeding to describe another remarkable pensile 
 builder of Australia, I must draw the attention of the reader to 
 a bird of our own country, which often builds a pensile nest, in 
 some respects resembling that of the White-throated Honey-eater. 
 
244 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Want of space forbids me to introduce an illustration of this ex- 
 quisite little creature, including a figure ,of its nest, which equals 
 in beauty the home of many foreign birds. As, however, this nest 
 is tolerably familiar, and examples can always be obtained, I have 
 preferred to insert figures of the nests made by exotic and less 
 known birds. 
 
 The Golden-crested Ween {Regulus cristatus), whose form 
 and colors are so well known as to require no description, builds 
 a beautifully neat little nest, thickly lined with feathers, in which 
 the minute little nestlings can lie securely. The nest is always 
 placed under the protection of a natural roof, a spray of leaves 
 being a favorite spot. Almost invariably the nest is fairly sus- 
 pended, and in several instances I have noticed that three branch- 
 es were used for the purpose. 
 
 We will now return to our Australian birds. 
 
 There is a genus of very small birds, called Dicseum, which is 
 spread over many parts of the world, and finds several represent- 
 atives in Australia. All are interesting birds ; but as the present 
 work only treats of birds as the architects of their nests, it is nec- 
 essary to select one which builds a pensile habitation. This is 
 the Swallow Dictum {Dicceum Mrundinacewm), a bird scarcely 
 as large as our common wren, and glowing with brilliant colors, 
 the whole of the upper part being deep, glossy blue-black ; the 
 throat, breast, and under tail-coverts of a fiery scarlfet; and the 
 abdomen pure white. It has a very sweet though low and in- 
 ward note, so faint as scarcely to be audible from the tops of the 
 trees, but continued for a long time together. 
 
 Artificial aids to vision are required in order to watch the hab- 
 its of the Diceeum, for it loves the tops of the tallest trees, where 
 its minute body can scarcely be seen without the assistance of 
 glasses. The Casuarinis are favorite trees with this bird, which 
 is fond of flitting about the branches of a parasitic plant called 
 loranthus, which bears viscid berries. It is not precisely known 
 whether the bird haunts the loranthus for the sake of the berries 
 or of the insects, but as the Dicseum is one of the insect eaters, the 
 latter supposition is probably correct. 
 
 It is very seldom if ever seen on the ground, and its flight 
 among the upper branches is quick, sharp, and darting. 
 
 The nest of the Swallow Dicseum is as pretty as its architect, 
 and its ordinary shape can be seen in the accompanying illustra- 
 
THE SWALLOW DICTUM. 
 
 245 
 
 The Swallow Dicseum 
 
 tion, though the plain black and white of a wood engraving can 
 give but little idea of its full beauty. In color it is nearly pure 
 >7hite, being made of the cotton-like down which accompanies 
 and defends the seeds of many plants, and this material is so art- 
 fully woven that the nest almost looks aS if it were made from a 
 piece of very white cloth. It is always purse-like in form, though 
 its shape is slightly variable, and is suspended by the upper por- 
 tion to the twigs at the very summit of the tree. Generally it 
 hangs its nest upon the parasitic plant which has already been 
 mentioned, but it often selects the Casuarinae, or the delicate 
 twigs of the myall or weeping acacia for that purpose. The av- 
 erage number of eggs is five, and their color is grayish-white 
 thickly powdered with small brown specks. Their length is 
 about three quarters of an inch, and their breadth rather less than 
 half an inch. 
 
246 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 There is a nest of another Australian bird which has some re- 
 semblance to that of the Swallow Dicseum, namely, the home of 
 the species called Malurus cyaneus, one of a rather large group of 
 birds which are peculiar to Australia. Like the habitation which 
 has already been described, the nest of the Malurus is placed 
 very high on the tree, and is purse-like in shape, having an aper- 
 ture in the side through which the bird can pass. The Malurus 
 belongs to the same group of birds as the remarkable emeu-wren, 
 so well known for its long, hair-like tail-feathers, and its odd cus- 
 tom of holding that appendage erect as it trips over the grass. 
 The Malurus has the same habit, though its tail is comparatively 
 short, and does not attract much attention. 
 
 In a previous page it has been mentioned that a bird was un- 
 doubtedly the first tailor, and used needle and thread ages before 
 man had invented such implements. We now come to a bird 
 which may be accepted as the first hammock-maker, its nest be- 
 ing made of a hammock-like shape, tad slung just as a seaman 
 slings his oscillating couch. Scarcely any more comfortable bed 
 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 -EATEE {Pledorhynchus lanceolaius), on account of the 
 shape of its feathers. It is not a brilliantly colored 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 w6nderful 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 op- 
 posite extremities of the rim, the tree selected being the myall, 
 or weeping acacia. The nest is rather small in proportion to the 
 
THE WHITE-SHAFTED FANTAIL. 
 
 247 
 
 The Lanceolate Honey eater iPlecioi ItyTwhus lanceoUttus').^ 
 
 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. 
 
 OtJE last example of the Australian pensile nests is one which 
 is made by the White-shafted Fantail {Bhipidura albica), a 
 native of Yan Dieman's Land, and the southern and western por- 
 tions 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 Baatail 
 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 
 
248 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 can be the object of this appendage no one knows, and there is 
 no purpose that it can even be imagined to fulfill, 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 ia made are the delicate inner 
 bark of the gum-tree, together with mosses, and the soft down ob- 
 tained 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 pen- 
 sile 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 charac- 
 ter, 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 be- 
 comes as shy, as suspicious, and as timid as it was formerly bold 
 and confiding. It can not 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 en- 
 deavors to decoy the intruder in another direction. The White- 
 shafted Fantail rears at least two broods in a season, and has oc- 
 casionally 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 ofispring. 
 
 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. 
 
HUMMING-BIBDS. 249 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PENSILE BIRDS (Continued). ■ 
 
 American Pensile Birds. — Humming-birds, and the general Structure of their 
 Nests. — The Little Hermit, its Color, Habits, and Nest. — The Gray-throated 
 Hermit and its Hardihood. — The Pigmy Hermit audits Seed-nest. — The Long- 
 tailed 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 Coekeea, its Color, Nest, and Hab- 
 its. — 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 CKEstED Cassique, its Size, Form, and Colors. — Its remarkable Nest. — 
 Difficulty of obtaining Nests. — The Great-greeted Fly-catcher, and its use 
 of Serpent-sloughs. — The Red-eyed Fly-catcher, Whip-Tom-Kellt. — Low 
 Elevation of its Nest. — The White-eyed Fly-catcher, its Nest, and Fondness 
 for the Prickly Vine. — The Prairie Warbler, its Habits and Nest. — The Pine- 
 creeping Warelek. — The Asiatic Pensiles. — The Baya Sparrow. — Its Color 
 and Social Habits. — Singular Form of the Nest. 
 
 Having now taken a cursory glance at the pensile nests con- 
 structed by the feathered inhabitants of Africa and Australia, we 
 again cross the sea and come to America. There are many pen- 
 sile 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 won- 
 derful strength and elasticity — as strong, indeed, as the silkefi 
 lines of our well-known brown-tailed moth, which, though tightly 
 
250 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 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. 
 
 Little Hermit iPJuxethomia eremita). 
 
 Our first example of the pensile Humming-birds is the beau- 
 tiful species called the Little Heemit {Phaeihomis eremita), 
 a bird which is known by the warm ruddy color 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 
 
GEAY-THROATED HERMIT. 251 
 
 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 diminish- 
 ing on either side. The second peculiarity is, that the two sexes 
 are nearly alike in their coloring, 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 fan-tailed warbler, which 
 has already been described. 
 
 The nest which is here figured was attached to the very ex- 
 tremity of the leaf, so that the long tail hung down freely. The 
 Inaterials 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 dicotyledon- 
 ous leaf for its pendent home. 
 
 Other nests made by birds of the same genus are worthy of a 
 passing mention. 
 
 First, there is the pretty nest of the Gray-throated Hermit 
 {Phaeihornis 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 surpris- 
 ing, many species being found only on the highest mountains, 
 and one bird, the Ohimborazian Hill Star, inhabiting a zone that 
 is never less than twelve tholfcand feet, and seldom more than 
 sixteen thousand, above the level of the sea. Immediately above 
 the last-mentioned elevation the line of perpetual snow begins, 
 and, though the bird can exist just below it, the absence of vege- 
 tation prevents it overpassing that line. 
 
 The nest of the Gray-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. 
 
252 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 if we may so call the lengthened appendage, is not free, but at- 
 tached 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 {Phaeiliornis pygmceus), 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 gray-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 exte- 
 rior 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 248 it was mentioned 
 that the general form of the nest made by the white-shafted fan- 
 tail was similar to that constructed by one of the humming-birds. 
 The species in question is the Hyhcharis cyaiieus, and the nest 
 resembles that of the fan-tailed 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 de- 
 scribes, with the vivacity of an eye-witness, the manner in which 
 the female Long-tailed ,Humming-bird {TrocMlus Polytmm) 
 builds its pensile home. The neSt is made of fine moss, cotton 
 fibres, spiders'-web, and studded externally with lichens, and is 
 one of the true pensiles, sometimes being found over water, and 
 in one instance overhanging the sea waves, suspended to a twig 
 of wild vine. The account is as follows : 
 
 " Suddenly I heard the whirr of a humming-bird, and on look- 
 ing up I saw a female Polytmus-hoveriijg opposite the nest with 
 a mass of silk-cotton in her beak. Deterred by the sight of me, 
 she presently retired to a twig a few paces distant, on which she 
 
LONG-TAILED HUMMING-BIRD. 253 
 
 sat. I immediately sank down among the rocks as gently as pos- 
 sible, and remained perfectly still. In a few seconds she came 
 again, and, after hovering a moment, disappeared behind one of 
 the projections, whence in a few seconds she emerged again and 
 flew off. I then examined the place, and found, to my delight, a 
 new nest. 
 
 " I again sat down on the stones in front, where I could see the 
 nest, not concealing myself, but remaining motionless, waiting for 
 the bird's reappearance. I had not to wait long; a loud whirr, 
 and there she was, suspended in the air before her nest. She soon 
 espied me, and came within a foot of my eyes, hovering just in 
 front of my face. I remained still, however, when I heard the 
 whirring of another just above me, perhaps the mate, but I durst 
 not look toward him, lest the turning of my head should frighten 
 the female. In a minute or two the other was gone, and she 
 alighted again on the twig, where she sat some little time preen- 
 ing her feathers, and apparently clearing her mouth from the cot- 
 ton fibres, for she swiftly projected the tongue an inch and a half 
 from the beak, continuing the same curv£ as that of the beak. 
 
 "When she arose it was to perform a very interesting action, 
 for she flew to the face of the rock, which was thickly clothed 
 with soft downy moss, and, hovering on the wing as if before a 
 flower, began to pluck the moss until she had a large bunch of it 
 in her beak. Then I saw her fly to the nest, and, having seated 
 herself in it, proceeded to place the new materials, pressing, and 
 arranging, and interweaving the whole with her beak, while she 
 fashioned the cup-like form of the interior by the pressure of her 
 white breast, moving round and round as she sat. My presence 
 appeared to be no hinderance to her proceedings, although only a 
 few feet distant ; at length she left the place, and I left also." 
 
 The bird whose proceedings are thus vividly described is a 
 lovely species, remarkable for the very great length of the two 
 central tail-feathers, which are very narrow, and twice as long as 
 the bird from the point of the beak to the root of the tail. They 
 cross each other as the bird is at rest, and their color is deep pur- 
 ple-black. The rest of the plumage is most lovely, the upper 
 parts being green, with a golden gloss, and the throat and lower 
 parts emerald-green. The top of the head is deep velvet-like 
 black, and surmounted with a small plume. These are the colors 
 of the adult male, the female being without the two long feathers 
 in the tail, the top of the head brown, and the throat and breast 
 white, slightly speckled with green. 
 
254 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 In tlie accompanying illustration may be seen figures of the 
 nests made by three different species of humming-birds, each of 
 which is remarkable for some peculiarity of structure, though they 
 are all pensile. 
 
 The first of these nests is that which is made by the White- 
 sided Hill Star {Oreotrochilus kucopleurus), a native of the Andes 
 of Acoucagua, inhabiting a zone of very great elevation, seldom 
 being seen less than ten thousand feet above the level of the sea. 
 With the exception of a bright emerald-green gorget, it is rather 
 a dull-colored bird, the prevailing hue being brown. The nest is 
 shaped something like a hammock, not unlike that of the lanceo- 
 late honey-eater, described and figured on page 247, and is fast- 
 ened, not to a twig, or a leaf, or a branch, but to the side of a rock, 
 being suspended by one side, so as to leave the remainder free. 
 
 As is the case with the generality of humming-birds' nests, cob- 
 webs are employed for the purpose of fastening the structure to 
 the object to which it hangs. The materials of which the nest is 
 made are chiefly moss, down, and feathers, the feathers being pro- 
 fusely stuck on the outside. 
 
 This is not the only humming-bird which hangs its nest from 
 rocks, for the lovely Sappho Comet ( Cometes sparganurus), some- 
 times called the Bar-tailed Humming-bird, on account of the 
 dark bars which cross its tail, has a similar custom. 
 
 This splendid bird inhabits Bolivia, and is a very familiar and 
 bold little creature. The nest is made chiefly of vegetable fibres 
 and moss, and furnished with a long appendage similar to those 
 which are made by so many humming-birds, for no conceivable 
 reason. The nest is lined with hair, probably that of the viscacha, 
 one of the llamas, and is hung against tne side of a rock or a wall, 
 sometimes being attached to the wall itself, but generally suspend- 
 ed from some twig or hanging root. The bird always selects 
 some spot where the nest can be sheltered by an overhanging 
 ledge of rock, probably because the very loose structure of the 
 nest requires that some such precaution should be taken. The 
 portion of the nest that rests against the wall is always looser than 
 the remainder of tbe structure. There are two eggs, of a rather 
 large size for humming-birds to lay, being about half an inch in 
 length. 
 
 The Chimborazian Hill Star {Oreotrochilus Chimhorazo) also 
 hangs its nest against perpendicular rocks. 
 
THE CHIMBORAZIAN HILL STAR. 
 
 255 
 
 This singular bird, like its congener, the White-throated Hill 
 Star, prefers elevated situations, and is found at still higher alti- 
 tudes. Specimens are never found less than twelve thousand 
 feet above the level of the sea, and are frequently seen at the as- 
 tonishing elevation of sixteen thousand feet, where it thrives in 
 spite of the extreme cold which continually reigns and checks the 
 magnificent flowering plants which are so plentiful toward the 
 foot of the mountain. As may be seen from the name of the 
 bird, it lives upon Chimborazo, and feeds upon the juices of the 
 yellow Chvquirojqua insignis, an alpine plant with large blossoms. 
 
 
 
 -^' % 
 
 Sawbill Hummifag-bird. Brazilian Wood Nymph. White-eided Hill Star. 
 
 It is not a brilliantly-colored bird, the general colors being pale 
 dusky green, relieved by a splendid emerald patch upon the chest. 
 The nest of the Chimborazian Hill Star is made chiefly of lichens, 
 and is hung against the sides of some perpendicular rock, where 
 it is sheltered by a shelf overhead. There is another Hill Star 
 which much resembles this species, but does not possess the green 
 patch on the throat. This species also inhabits a volcanic mount- 
 ain, being confined within a narrow zone of some two hundred 
 yards in width. It is a remarkable fact, that though this speciesi. 
 
256 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 which takes its name of Pichinchian Hill Star from the mount- 
 ain on which it resides, is placed within thirty miles of the Chim- 
 borazian Hill Star, neither species is found upon the mountain 
 which is appropriated to its congener. Pichinchia is in -the re- 
 public of Ecuador. 
 
 There is a very remarkable nest. made by one of these birds, 
 called the Sawbill Humming-bird {Grypus noevius), because the 
 slender bill is notched in a saw-like fashion on the edges of both 
 mandibles. These serrations do not reach along the whole bill, 
 but only to a short distance from the tip. In appearance it is not 
 so strikingly beautiful as many of the humming-birds, and is chief- 
 ly remarkable for its reddish throat dotted with white, and having 
 a black mark down its centre. There are several humming-birds 
 which have the serrated edges to the mandibles, and are in conse- 
 quence called Sawbills, but the present species is the most worthy 
 of notice with respect to its nest. It is only found in the south 
 of Brazil. 
 
 The nest of the Sawbill is made of fine vegetable fibres, woven 
 together so as to look like an open network purse, the outer walls 
 being so loosely made as to permit the eggs and lining to be visi- 
 ble. Leaves, mosses, and lichens are also woven into the nest, and 
 are packed rather tightly under the eggs. The edge, however, is 
 always left loose. The nest is suspended at the end of some leaf, 
 usually that of the palm. 
 
 Mr. Gould mentions that the bird is found in the depths of vir- 
 gin forests, and is most plentiful about thirty miles from Nova 
 Fribergo in the months of July, August, September, and part of 
 October. It is generally seen darting round the orchidaceous 
 plants which flower so richly in that fertile climate, and is a rath- 
 er noisy bird, uttering loud and piercing cries, and making a 
 great whirring sound with its wings as it dashes through the air. 
 It is very strong and energetic on the wing, and is seldom seen 
 to alight. That the Sawbill feeds on insects has been satisfacto- 
 rily proved by the presence of small beetles in the throat of new- 
 ly-killed birds ; and to judge by its actions, the hovering flight 
 and frequent stoop like that of the falcon, the bird feeds also on 
 flies and other winged insects. 
 
 Although ii is necessarily impossible to describe or even enu- 
 merate one tithe of the interesting nests made by humming-birds, 
 
BRAZILIAN WOOD NYMPH. ' 257 
 
 I must cursorily mention one or two more of the most curious ex- 
 amples. One of these birds is the Brazilian Wood Nymph 
 {Thalurania glaucopis), a species which is perhaps more persecuted 
 than any other, its singular beauty causing its plumage to be 
 sought after. 
 
 The feathers on the crown of the head and front of the throat 
 are of the most lovely azure, and are largely used by the inmates 
 of several convents at Eio Janeiro for the purpose of being made 
 into the beautiful feather flowers which the nuns manufacture so 
 skillfully. Thousands of these birds are slaughtered merely for 
 the crest and gorget ; but so prolific are they, and so ingeniously 
 do they hide their nests, that the persecution of many years has 
 scarcely diminished their numbers. Moreover, fortunately for 
 the preservation of the species, the colors of the female are so 
 dull and sober, that her feathers are of no value, and she is al- 
 lowed to escape the fate that befalls the more brightly colored 
 male. It is a lively little bird, and when alarmed utters a hur- 
 ried cry, sounding like the word "Pip, pip, pip," very sharply 
 pronounced. 
 
 The nest of the Brazilian Wood Nymph is exceedingly pretty, 
 and is hung to the tip of some delicate, twig, generally that of 
 one of the creeping plants which trail their long stems so luxuri- 
 antly over the branches of the great forest trees. The walls of 
 the nest are made of vegetable fibres, generally taken from the 
 fruit of some palm, and upon the outside are fastened many patch- 
 es of flat lichen, so that the whole nest, which is very long in pro- 
 portion to its width, may easily escape detection. 
 
 The second species is to be found in every collection of hum- 
 ming-birds, and even the glass cases of these creatures which are 
 sold in the shops are seldom without a specimen of the EuBY 
 AND Topaz Humming-bird {Ghrysolampis moscMtus). It derives 
 its name from the rich ruby red which decorates the crown of the 
 head, and the fiery topaz which blazes on the gorget. This spe- 
 cies has a very wide range of residence, being found throughout 
 Bahia, all the Guianas, Trinidad, and the Caraccas, and is killed 
 by thousands for the sake of its plumage. I was about to say for 
 the sake of its skin, but as that expression would imply that the 
 humming-birds seen in cases are all skinned and stuffed, it can 
 not be rightly used. 
 
 A stuffed humming-bird is very seldom seen, though thousands 
 
 E 
 
258 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 are annually sold under that name. In fact, the birds are so tiny, 
 and the amount of flesh is so small, that very few persons care to 
 take the trouble and run the risk of skinning such minute crea- 
 tures, and content themselves with removing the inside, supply- 
 ing its place with cotton, inserting wires, as is customary in birds 
 stuffed according to the present fashion, fixing the birds in appro- 
 priate attitudes, and then drying them, trusting to the feathers to 
 cover deficiencies. Of course the soft and rounded cpntours are 
 lost by so rough a process, but as the general public that buys 
 stuffed birds is too uncritical to perceive such defects, and too in- 
 different to trouble themselves about them, even when pointed 
 out, the professional taxidermists have no inducement to waste 
 their time upon tedious and unremunerative work. 
 
 "We now leave the Humming-birds, and pass to other inhabit- 
 ants of America. 
 
 Still keeping to Brazil, we come upon another pensile bird, 
 called the Azure Cceeeba {Ccereha cyanea). This beautiful little 
 creature scarcely yields to any of the gorgeous humming-birds in 
 the glory of its plumage, and far exceeds many of them in the 
 fiery brilliance of its hues. Blue is the chief color in this Ccere- 
 ba, and, strange to say, different qualities of blue are found in the 
 same bird, without jarring with each other, so wonderfully are 
 they dispersed and so artistically are the various shades separated 
 by velvet-black stripes and patches. The greater part of the 
 body is rich azure, with the exception of a velvet-black stripe' that 
 runs round the crown of the head, and widens into a patch on the 
 back of the neck. The quill-feathers of the wing are also black, 
 and a black streak is drawn from the corner of the mouth to the 
 neck, enveloping the eye in its course. 
 
 Separated from the azure blue of the body by the black streak 
 just mentioned, a large patch of feathers on the top of the head 
 grows and flashes with metallic splendor, and is of a vivid verdi- 
 ter blue. 
 
 The nest of the Azure Coereba is pear-shaped in form, the hol- 
 low for the eggs and young being in the large rounded portion, 
 and the slender part of the pear representing the " tail" of the 
 nest, which is long and slender, like that of many birds which 
 have already been mentioned, except that instead of being solid 
 and pointed, it is hollow, and has the opening to the nest in the 
 extremity. In order, therefore, to reach the nest proper, the bird 
 
BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 259 
 
 is obliged to enter from below and climb up the hollow shaft, as 
 is the case with some of the African weaver birds. The sub- 
 stances of which the nest is made are long vegetable fibres and 
 slender grasses, and the manner in which these simple materials 
 are woven into so beautiful a nest is remarkably ingenious, and 
 may challenge comparison with the architecture of any other bird. 
 The Azure Coereba is a small bird, about the size of our spar- 
 row, but with a long, slender, and slightly-curve,d beak, as is most- 
 ly the case with the large and irhportant family to which it be- 
 longs. It feeds chiefly on insects, and may be seen busily en- 
 gaged among the flowers of its native land, flitting from one blos- 
 som to another, and daintily extracting the minute insects that en- 
 deavor to conceal themselves within the recesses of the petals. 
 
 Still keeping to America, we may see more examples of pen- 
 sile nests. Two differently-shaped specimens are given in the 
 following illustration, in order that they may be compared with 
 each other. 
 
 The first in order is that of the Baltimore Oriole ( Yphantes 
 Baltimore), a pretty bird, colored with orange and black in bold 
 contrast to each other. Its name is derived, not from any partic- 
 ular locality, but from the orange and black of its plumage, those 
 being the heraldic colors of Lord Baltimore, formerly proprietor 
 of Baltimore. It does not receive the full coloring until its third 
 year, the orange hues being simply yellow at the end of the sec- 
 ond year, and having no red in them until the last moult is com- 
 pleted. So far, indeed, is it from belonging to any particular lo- 
 cality, that it is spread over a very wide range of country, inhab- 
 iting the whole of America from Canada to Brazil. The Balti- 
 more Oriole goes by many names ; some, such as Golden Kobin 
 and Firebird, being in allusion to its plumage, and others, such 
 as Hang-nest and Hanging Bird, from the beautiful pensile nest . 
 which it makes. 
 
 The general shape of these nests is much the same in every 
 specimen, and a good idea of it may be formed from the illustra- 
 tion, which was taken from a nest in my own possession. It is 
 always pensile, and is hung by the rim to the under side of some 
 slender bough, usually at a considerable elevation from the ground. 
 It is almost entirely made of vegetable fibres, and is so strongly 
 constructed that, although it had been knocked abo,ut for some 
 years in the neglected spot whence I rescued it, and was once 
 
260 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Crested Cassique. 
 
 Baltimore Oriole. 
 
 crushed into a shapeless mass at the bottom of a wine-hamper 
 by a careless servant, and covered with soot and dust, it has re- 
 tained its form, and shows perfectly well how the fastening to the 
 branches was managed; 
 
 The materials of the nest are, however, extremely variable, the 
 bird having a natural genius for nidification, and being always 
 ready to take advantage of any new discovery in architecture. 
 One of these nests, described by Wilson, was deeper in proportion 
 than the specimen which has been figured, being five inches in its 
 widest diameter and seven in depth, the opening being contracted 
 to two and a half inches. Various materials, such as flax, tow, 
 hair, and wool, were woven into the walls, which were strength- 
 ened by horse-hairs, some two feet in length, sewn through and 
 through the fabric. Cow's hair was also employed for the bot- 
 
BALTIMOEB ORIOLE — OECHARD ORIOLE. 261 
 
 torn of the nest, and, like the walls, was sewn together with long 
 horse-hairs. 
 
 The same writer remarks, that " so solicitous is the Baltimore to 
 procure proper materials for his nest, that in the season of build- 
 ing, the women in thp country are under the necessity of narrow- 
 ly watching their threads that may chance to be out bleaching, 
 and the farmer to secure his young grafts ; as the Baltimore, find- 
 ing the former, and the strings which tie the latter, so well adapted 
 for his purpose, frequently carries off both. Or, should the one 
 be over-heavy, and the other too firmly tied, he will try at them 
 for a considerable time before he gives up the attempt. Skeins 
 of silk and hanks of thread have often been found, after the leaves 
 were fallen, hanging round the Baltimore's nest, but so woven up 
 and entangled as to be entirely irreclaimable. 
 
 " Before the introduction of Europeans, no such materials could 
 have been obtained here ; but, with the sagacity of a good archi- 
 tect, he has improved this circumstance to his advantage, and the 
 strongest and best materials are uniformly found in those parts 
 by which the whole is supported." ' 
 
 This bird is very fearless, and, like some other species, is fond 
 of the society of mankind, building in gardens and orchards, and 
 piping its mellow notes within the very streets, in calm defiance 
 of the roar and rattle of town life. This fearlessness of disposition 
 enables observers to watch its proceedings very closely, and in 
 general the bird is found to begin its nest by working the stron- 
 gest threads or strings round a forked branch, so as to mark out 
 the entrance, and then by weaving the remainder of the nest upon 
 the strings. The neatness and strength of construction are, how- 
 ever, very variable ; and it is suggested by "Wilson that the infe- 
 rior nests are probably made by young and inexperienced birds, 
 their architectural powers increasing with practice. 
 
 A CLOSELY allied species, the Orchard Oriole, or Bob-o'-link 
 {Xanthornis varius\ is equally notable for its skill in nest-building, 
 if such a word may be used of a structure which is begun at the 
 top and carried downward, after the fashion employed in Laputa. 
 
 It is a pretty bird, but not so pretty as the Baltimore Oriole, 
 and the tints are very differently disposed, scarcely any two indi- 
 viduals having the colors in exactly the same places. Like the 
 Baltimore Oriole, it is extremely variable in different stages of its 
 existence, the young male bearing great resemblance to the ma- 
 
262 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 ture female, and not attaining its full beauty until its third year. 
 When adult, the whole of the head, neck, upper part of the back, 
 breast, wings, and tail are deep black, and a rich ruddy chestnut 
 hue occupies the remainder of the breast, the under parts of the 
 body, and part of the wing-coverts, some of which are tipped with 
 white. The young male and the adult female are yellowish-olive 
 above instead of black, with brown wings, and yellow on the breast 
 and abdomen ; while the male of the second year has much the 
 same colors, but is known by a patch of black over the head and 
 on 'the throat, together with a few chestnut feathers on the flanks 
 and abdomen. It is smaller than the Baltimore Oriole, and more 
 slenderly made. 
 
 The nest of this bird is almost as variable in structure as is its 
 architect in color, its form being accommodated to the situation in 
 which it is placed. When fastened to a tolerably stout branch, 
 its depth is less than its diameter, and it is firmly tied in sevei'al 
 directions to prevent the wind from upsetting it. But when it is 
 slung to a long and slender branch, over which the wind has great 
 power, and which is swung to a distance of fourteen or fifteen feet 
 in a smart breeze, the nest is made of much greater depth, and is 
 of a lighter construction. The weeping willow is a favorite tree 
 with this bird, as the drooping leaves conceal the nest effectually, 
 and the delicate twigs can be gathered together so as to suppprt 
 the entire circumference of the entrance. 
 
 Wilson remarks, in allusion to these nests, that they " exhibit 
 not only art in the construction, but judgment in adapting their 
 fabrications so judiciously to their particular situations. If the 
 actions of birds proceeded, as some would have us believe, from 
 the mere impulses of that thing called instinct, individuals of the 
 same species would uniformly build their nests in the same man- 
 ner, wherever they might happen to fix it; but it is evident, from 
 those just mentioned, and from a thousand such circumstances, 
 that they reason, d, priori, from cause to consequence, persistently 
 managing with a constant eye to future necessity and conven- 
 ience." 
 
 The popular name of Orchard Oriole is given to this species 
 because it is a familiar and bold bird, not in the least fearing the 
 vicinity of man, but rather seeming to find a protection therein, 
 and loving to build its pensile nests in orchards. As is the case 
 with many British birds, it long had an evil reputation which it 
 did not deserve, and was thought to devour the ripe fruit of the 
 
CRESTED CASSIQUE, OR CRESTED ORIOLE. ,263 
 
 trees in which the fiest was placed. Cultivators now know better, 
 and are aware that, so far from being a foe, it is one of their best 
 friends, eating vast numbers of the noxious insects which infest 
 fruit-trees, and saving many a crop by its exertions to procure 
 food for itself and young family. 
 
 Indeed, one of the nests has been observed to be completely 
 overshadowed by a large bunch of apples, which had grown over 
 the entrance, and had absorbed more than half the space through 
 which the bird was accustomed to enter its home. Yet, although 
 the destruction of the fruit would have been a positive conven- 
 ience to the Oriole, not a single apple was, touched, and the bird 
 slid in and out of its nest as cautiousTy as if it were aware of the 
 value set on the fruit, and determined not to injure it. 
 
 On the left hand of the Baltimore Oriole's nest is represented 
 a very curious structure swaying in the wind, long, purse-like, 
 and having the entrance near the top. This is the nest of the 
 Crested Cassique, or Crested Oriole {Oadcus cristatus), and 
 the bird- itself is seen clinging to the lower part of the nest. 
 
 There are several species of Cassiques, all of which are natives 
 of tropical America, and build nests of a similar structure. The 
 Crested Cassique is the largest of the genus, equaling the com- 
 mon jackdaw in size, and its nest is larger and more striking than 
 that of any other species. It loves the tallest trees, and may be 
 seen actively traversing the branches in search of food, pecking 
 here and there in haste as it trips along, or passing from one tree 
 to another with a rapid darting flight, snapping at insects as it 
 dashes through the air. Like the preceding species, it is fond of 
 human society, and builds its pensile nest close to the habitation 
 of man, so that its customs can be easily watched. 
 
 The bird is a handsome creature, the greater part of the body 
 being rich chocolate, the wings dark green, and the outer tail- 
 feathers bright yellow, this color being displayed conspicuously 
 as the bird flies, particularly when it makes a sharp turn in the 
 air, and is obliged to spread its tail-feathers rapidly. The beak 
 of this species is very remarkable, being of a green color, and ex- 
 tending far up thfe forehead. The head is adorned with a long 
 pointed crest, from which its popular name of Crested Oriole is 
 derived. In some favored apots these birds are quite plentiful, 
 producing a beautiful effect, as the variegated plumage gleams 
 among the foliage, while the bird is engaged in its active quest 
 after food. 
 
264 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The nest of the Crested Cassique is of great length, and, as may 
 be seen by the illustration, has the entrance like that of a pocket. 
 The opening is rather small when compared with the size of the 
 nest itself, and the bird always dives head foremost into its home, 
 its yellow tail flashing a last golden gleam before it disappears. 
 The nest is strongly built, and the materials are rather coarse, not 
 in' the least resembling the delicate and neatly -rounded fibres of 
 which many of the weaver nests are made. These nests often 
 exceed a yard in length, and, owing to their great size, are very 
 conspicuous, as the wind sways them backward and forward from 
 the bough. 
 
 The same may be said respecting the nests of other Cassiques, 
 and the stay-at-home reader is often apt to wonder why the trav- 
 eler does not ascend every tree on which he sees a nest, and bring 
 it down. There are two reasons why such nests are not so com- 
 mon in European museums as their number would seem to prom- 
 ise. One reason is, that the trees are not easily climbed. Some 
 of them run to a height of eighty or a hundred feet without a 
 bough ;■ others have stems of great girth and wondrous smooth- 
 ness, so that to ascend them is as difficult as to climb a greased 
 pole at a fair ; others again, which do not appear to present any 
 difficulties, have their stems beset with thorny spikes, from an 
 inch to two inches in length, as strong as nails and as sharp as 
 needles. 
 
 Supposing, however, that the traveler is a practiced climber, 
 and always carries with him a rope and climbing spurs, and that 
 by dint of the pointed spurs sticking into the tree, and the strong 
 leather gaiters repelling the thorns, and the rope enabling him to 
 pull himself upward, he has arrived at the branches, he still finds 
 many an obstacle to overcome. In the first place, distances are 
 mightily deceptive when viewed from below, and a nest which 
 appears from the ground to be close to a certain branch, is found 
 really to be some yards on one side, and as many above. , 
 
 Most birds, especially the tropical birds, have a custom of pla- 
 cing their nests at the very ends of boughs, where the twigs could 
 not sustain the weight of a monkey, much less that of a man, so 
 that the adventurous climber finds himself scarcely nearer his ob-* 
 ject than when he stood upon the ground. Such nests can only 
 be obtained by skillfully throwing a rope around the branch to 
 which they are hung, drawing it up, severing it as near the nests 
 as possible, and then lowering the whole to the earth. 
 
CRESTED CASSIQUE, OB CRESTED ORIOLE. 265 
 
 Supposing, however, that he has successfully overcome his dif- 
 ficulties, and has been able to reach the nest, he still finds him- 
 self in a very awkward position on account of the multitudinous 
 insects which swarm upon tropical trees, and the majority of 
 which can either sting or bite savagely. There are many kinds 
 of wasps, larger, fiercer, and more irritable than the little yellow 
 and black insect which terrifies us so much in this country, and 
 these creatures have a habit of fixing their nests among the 
 branches, where they are concealed by the leaves, and can not be 
 seen by the climber until he nearly strikes them with his hands. 
 
 But the very worst of all his foes are the ants and termites, 
 which infest the trees to a wonderful degree. The ants are of 
 various kinds. There are arboreal ants, which make their nests 
 among the branches, and there are terrestrial ants, which make 
 their homes under the earth, but ascend the trees in search of in- 
 sects or to procure materials for their subterranean abode. 
 
 The termites, again, are found on many trees, and in some in- 
 stances actually hollow out the branches, so that when the climb- 
 er grasps a bough for the purpose of hauling himself up by it, 
 the treacherous branch breaks in his hands, and pours out a flood 
 of angry insects, all provided with means of offense, and anxious 
 to wreak their vengeance on the enemy. Even the natives, ac- 
 customed as they are to these pests of their woods, and versed in 
 every method of foiling them, confess themselves worsted by the 
 ants, and are often forced to yield the point to their tiny foes. 
 
 In some cases, they attack so fiercely that the unlucky climber 
 is perforce obliged to descend the tree with all speed, and envelop 
 himself in smoke in order to rid himself of his adversaries ; or, 
 whenever a river flows beneath the branches, the tortured native 
 is fain to fling himself into it, and to drown off the myriad in- 
 sects who are burying their jaws, or stings, or both, in his flesh. 
 A naturalist's labors in a tropical forest are very pleasant reading 
 at home, but they are not quite so pleasant to perform, even set- 
 ting aside the chances of fever, and snake-bites, and the certainty 
 of being sucked by thousands of musquitoes, sand-flies, and other 
 winged plagues. 
 
 Before leaving the American pensile birds, we must briefly 
 notice one or two other species. The Fly -catchers of all coun- 
 tries are generally notable for the beauty or eccentricity of their 
 nests, one of the oddest being that of the Great - crested Fly- 
 
266 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 CATCHER of America, which always uses the cast slough of snakes 
 when building its nest. The reason no one seems to know, 
 though several opinions have been offered ; one person thinking 
 the snake-slough is peculiarly grateful to the young birds which 
 are intended to lie upon it, and another, that the presence of the 
 cast slough acts as a scarecrow, and frightens away obnoxious 
 birds. One conjecture is as good as another, and both are absurd- 
 ly bad. 
 
 The species which we have now to notice is the Eed-eted 
 Fly-catcher {Muscicapa oUvacea) popularly known as "Whip- 
 Tom-Kelly," from its peculiar articulate cry, which is said to bear 
 a strangely exact resemblance to the words " Tom Kelly, Whip- 
 tom-kel-ly," and is uttered so loudly and briskly that it can be 
 heard at a considerable distance. It inhabits a tolerably wide 
 range of country, being found from Georgia to the St. Lawrence, 
 and in many parts is plentiful. 
 
 The nest of the Eed-eyed Fly-catcher is small and very neatly 
 made, and, contrary to the usual custom of pensile nests, is placed 
 near the ground, seldom at a height of more than five feet. 
 Bushes and dwarf trees, such as dogwood or saplings, are usually 
 chosen by the bird when it looks about for a branch wherefrom 
 to hang its nest. A wonderful array of materials is employed by 
 the feathered architect, which makes use of bits of hornets' nests, 
 dried leaves, flax fibres, strips of vine bark, fragments of paper 
 and hair, and binds all these articles firmly together with the silk 
 produced by some caterpillars. The lining is made of fine grass- 
 es, hair, and the delicate bark of the vine. 
 
 The nest is wonderfully strong — so compact, indeed, that after it 
 has served the purpose of its architect, it is usurped by other birds 
 in the following year, and saves them the trouble of building en- 
 tire nests of their own. Even the mammalia receive some benefit 
 from the nest, for the field-mouse often takes 'possession of it, and 
 rears its young in the pensile cradle. 
 
 An allied species, the White-eyed Ply-catcher {Muscicapa 
 cantrix), builds a very pretty pensile nest, and uses so much old 
 newspaper in the construction of its home that it has gone by the 
 name of the Politician. The other materials used in the struc- 
 ture of the nest are bits of old rotten wood, vegetable fibres, and 
 other light substances, woven together with wild silk, and the 
 lining is mostly of dried grasses and hair. 
 
 The form of the nest is nearly that of an inverted cone, and it 
 
THE PRAIRIE AND PINE-CREEPING WARBLER. 267 
 
 is suspended by part of the rim to the bend of a species of smi- 
 lax, that is popularly called the prickly vine, and which grows 
 in low thickets. The bird is very fond of this smilax, and rarely 
 chooses any other tree for the reception of its nest, so that the 
 home of the White-eyed Fly -catcher is not vpry difficult to find ; 
 moreover, the bird is so jealous and so bold when engaged in 
 rearing its young, that it betrays the position of the nest by scold- 
 ing angrily as soon as a human being approaches the thicket, and 
 by dashing violently at the intruder with impotent rage. 
 
 Another pensile species is the Prairie Warbler {Sylvia mi- 
 nuta), a bird which, as its specific name denotes, is of very small 
 size, not reaching five inches in total length. 
 
 It is a lively little bird, but withal deliberately cool in its move- 
 ments, flitting about among the foliage and grass with a quick, 
 though jerking, regular movement, and yet inspecting every leaf 
 and blade with perfect composure ; chirping feebly all the while, 
 and allowing itself to be watched without betraying any alarm. 
 The nest of this little bird is unusually small, even when the size 
 of the feathered architect is taken into consideration, and when 
 dry weighs scarcely a quarter of an ounce. The materials of 
 which it is made are moss, mixed with rotten and very dry wood, 
 fastened together with caterpillar silk, and the lining is made of 
 very fine and delicate fibres of grape-vine bark. 
 
 Our last example of American pensile birds is the Pine- 
 creeping Warbler {Sylvia pinus), a pretty little species, which 
 has many of the , actions that characterize the titmice, flitting 
 among the branches like these birds, and hanging head down- 
 ward from the twigs while looking for insects. Sometimes it 
 runs along the ground, and is equally active there; and when 
 disturbed, it flies upward, and clings to the trunk of the nearest. 
 tree, the whole movement being so peculiar that the bird can be 
 distinguished at a long distance. 
 
 The Pine-creeping Warbler is found in the pine-woods of the 
 Southern States, where it assembles in little flocks of twenty or 
 thirty in number. Its nest is suspended from the horizontal fork 
 of some small branch, and is made of strips of grape-vine bark 
 and rotten wood, tied firmly together with caterpillar silk. Some- 
 times the bird finds a hornet's nest, and rightly considering that 
 the substance of which it is made is the driest and lightest rotten 
 
268 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 wood that can be obtained, robs the insect, and builds its own 
 nest with the spoils. The interior of the nest is lined with the 
 fine roots of plants and dry pine-leaves, which latter materials af- 
 ford a softer bed than their shape seems to indicate. 
 
 As we are near the end of our list of pensile birds, we must 
 turn to Asia for a specimen as reiparkable as any which has yet 
 been mentioned. This js the nest (jf the Ba-ta Sparrow, some- 
 times called the Toddy Bird, a native of several parts of India, 
 and found in Ceylon. 
 
 Baya Sparrow. 
 
 As may be seen by the illustration, the nests are variable in 
 shape, and hang close to each other ; indeed, the birds are very 
 sociable in all their manners, and fly about in great numbers, 
 flocks of thousands flitting among the branches and displaying 
 their pretty plumage to the sun. They have no song, and can 
 only chirp in a monotonous manner ; but the want of song 
 finds its compensation in the brilliancy of the plumage, which 
 is mostly bright yellow, the wings, back, and tail being brown. 
 They are particularly fond of the acacias and date trees, and 
 
PENSILE INSECTS. 269 
 
 choose the branches of those trees for the suspension of their 
 nests. 
 
 Sometimes the nest is only made for incubation, sometijiaes it 
 is intended merely as an arbor in which the male sits while the 
 female incubates her eggs, and sometimes it consists of the nest 
 and arbor united, producing a most curious effect. This " arbor," 
 in fact, serves precisely the same purpose as the supplementary 
 nest of the pinc-pinc and other birds which have already been 
 described. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 PENSILE INSECTS. 
 
 The Hymenoptera. — Australian Insects. — The Ceematogaster and Negeo-head. 
 — The Geeen Ant, its Habits and Nest, — An African Species. — Pensile Ants of 
 America. — The Aeispa and its remarkable Nest. — Ingenious Entrance. — The 
 TATnA, or Ddtchman's Pipe. — Structure and Shape of its Nest. — Firmness of 
 the Walls. — Average Number of Cells in each Tier. — The common Wasp as » 
 Pensile Insect. — Gigantic Nest. — Union of three Colonies.-^ Character of the 
 Wasp. — The Nokwegian Wasp. — Structure and Locality of its Nest. — Classifica- 
 tion of the Wasps. — The Campantjlar Wasp and the Noetheen Wasp. — The 
 Chaktekgus, or Pasteeoaed Wasp. — Mode by which the Nest is suspended. — 
 Method of Structure. — Meaning of the Name. — Enormous Nest from Ceylon. — 
 Various Wasp Nests. — The Polistes as a Pensile Insect. — Singular Nest in the 
 British Museum. — The GisEonS Ant. — Honey Wasps, the general Characteris- 
 tics of their Nests. — The Mtkapetea. — Its singular Nest. — Structure of , the 
 Walls and Use of the Projections. — The Nectaeinia. — Why so called. — Locality 
 of the Nest. — Size of the Insect. — The Teigona and its Nest. — Ichneumon Flies. 
 — Different Species of Mioeogastee, and their Habitations. — The Peeiliius. — 
 Weevils. — Beautiful Cocoon of Cionus. — The Empeeoe Moth and its Home. — 
 The Atlas Moth and other Silk Producers. — The HonSE-BniLDEE Moth and 
 its movable Dwelling. — The Tigee Moth and its Hammock. — The Ctpeess- 
 spnEGE Moth. — Various Leaf-rollers. — Suspended Cocoon. — Lbae-eueeowees 
 and their Homes. — The Spidee. 
 
 We now leave the birds, and proceed to the insects which 
 make pensile nests. Some of them, such as those which will be 
 first described, do not become pensile architects until they have 
 attained their perfect state, while many others form tjieir nests, 
 either as a place of refuge during their larval life, or as an asylum 
 in which they can rest while in the transition state of pupa. 
 
 Just as the Hymenoptera are the best burrowers, so are they 
 the best insect artisans when the nests are suspended, and we 
 shall therefore take them first in order. The reader will prob- 
 
270 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 ably recall to mind, during the perusal of the following pages, that 
 several admirable examples of pensile nest-makers are not men- 
 tioned. The reason for their temporary omission is, that some 
 of them make their nests of mud, and will therefore be described 
 under the head of Builders ; while others make their joint homes 
 on so large a scale that they will be considered under the head of 
 Social Nest-makers. 
 
 Upon the large illustration will be seen several examples of 
 pensile nests ; and, as many Australian insects are remarkable for 
 the beauty and singularity of the pensile nests which they build, 
 I have selected three of the most remarkable instances for illus- 
 tration. Adhering to the principle which has been followed 
 throughout the work, the scene of the drawing has been laid in 
 Australia, and the general contour of the country, the peculiar 
 foliage, the animals which enliven the scene, and the singular 
 manner in which a wooded district is often dotted with trees, 
 have been carefully represented. 
 
 In the upper corner of the drawing is seen the large nest of a 
 remarkable ant, called Gremaiogaster Iceviceps. I do not know 
 whether this species has any particular name, but in the Brazils 
 an allied species goes by the name of Negro-head A^t, because the 
 nest is round, like the bullet-shaped head of a Negro, and is cov- 
 ered on the exterior with little projections that are supposed to 
 resemble the close woolly hair. ' 
 
 "When the ant runs about, it has a curious habit of holding its 
 abdomen so high in the air that it curves over the back and over- 
 hangs the thorax, a peculiarity which has earned for the genus 
 the name of Crematogaster, or " hanging-belly." At first sight 
 the nest bears a close resemblance to the pensile habitation of cer- 
 tain wasps, but when subjected to a nearer examination it proves 
 to be even more complicated, being composed of multitudinous 
 curved and intricate ramifications, all leading to the interior gal- 
 leries and cells. 
 
 There are other ants which have the habit of carrying thei ab- 
 domen erect, such as Myrmica Xirbii, and Formica elaia. The 
 former of these insects makes its nest in the branches of trees, and 
 composes it of cowdung, having the art of spreading that singular 
 material into thin flaky masses, which overlap each other like the 
 tiles of a house. There is a separate roof to the nest which is 
 partly dome-like^ and projects on all sides beyond the circumfer- 
 
OREMATOGABTER LiBVIOEPB. 
 
THE GEEEN ANT. 273 
 
 ence of tlie nest. The latter insect fixes its nest in the thicker 
 branches, and forms it of mixed mud and leaves. 
 
 At the foot of the illustration is seen another rounded nest, 
 also made by an ant called (Ecophylla virescens. Travelers know 
 it by the name of the Geeen Ant ; a title which is very insuffi- 
 cient, as it embraces several other species. The name of ffico- 
 phylla is compounded of two Greek words, the former signifying 
 a house, and the second a leaf, and is given to this insect because 
 it makes its home of dead leaves. 
 
 This ant is sometimes very troublesome to travelers, who may 
 unconsciously disturb one of the nests that hang among the 
 branches, nearly concealed by the leaves. The ants come patter- 
 ing down like hail-drops, and in a moment he will be covered 
 with a whole swarm of them, seeking for unprotected parts which 
 they can wound, and having a special faculty for getting down 
 the neck. 
 
 The nest is about eight inches in diameter, and is made in a 
 very singular manner. The general mass of its substance is com- 
 posed of leaves which have been cut by the ants and masticated 
 until they form a coarse pulp, something like that which is made 
 by the wasp and hornet, except that the material is green leaves 
 instead of wood fibres. With this substance the nest is formed, 
 and is hung among the thickest foliage, being sustained not only 
 by the branches, but by the leaves, which are worked into the 
 nest, and in many parts project from its outer wall. The outside 
 of the nest is easily to be distinguished from that of the Crema- 
 togaster by the smoothness and regularity of its walls. A spe- 
 cies of this genus inhabits Africa, and was discovered by Mr. Fox- 
 croft, who noticed that whenever the ants were disturbed, they 
 ran about the outside of their nest so fast and in such numbers, 
 that their pattering steps on the papery covering of the nest de- 
 luded him into the idea that rain was falling on the leaves 
 above. 
 
 Befoee describing the third nest in the illustration, which is 
 the workmanship of a wasp, I will briefly mention one or two re- 
 markable instances of pensile nests made by ants. One species, 
 Formica hipinosa, which inhabits Central America, makes usfe of 
 the silk-cotton which is produced by the seed-vessels of the cot- 
 ton-tree {Bomhax ceiba), and makes it into a sponge-like mass, 
 
 S 
 
274 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 which much resembles amadou, and, like that substance, is ex- 
 tremely valuable for stopping violent discharges of blood. 
 
 Another ant, Formica merdicola, rivals the Myrmica Kirbii in 
 the singularity of the material which it uses in the construction 
 of its nest, employing horsedung for that purpose, and fixing its 
 home either on the stems of reeds, at some distance from the 
 ground, or on the spiny trunks of certain palms. There are also 
 ants which form their nests from vegetable hairs, such as the 
 Formica molesians, which employs extremely minute hairs, and 
 makes with them a nearly globular nest, which is placed in the 
 petioles and vesicles of different plants. 
 
 We now proceed to the third figure in the illustration, placed 
 upon the tree near the centre. This represents the remarkable 
 nest of Ahispa Fphi^ppium, an Australian insect, belonging to the 
 wasp tribe. 
 
 The nest is not very large, being about three or four inches in 
 diameter, and rather more in height, exclusive of the entrance 
 tunnel. The material is clay, lyieaded and masticated by the in- 
 sect until perfectly plastic, and then moulded into a. very remark- 
 able form. 
 
 The exterior view of the nest presents a curious outline, show- 
 ing the pipe through which the insect enters, and which reminds 
 the observer of the tube constructed by several pensile birds. 
 Strange as is the external appearance of the nest, a longitudinal 
 section shows a still more extraordinary construction of the inte- 
 rior. The tube does not merely act as an entrance, but is carried 
 about an inch into the interior of the nest, possibly in order to 
 prevent the young insects from falling out before they are fit to 
 cope with the world. The bottom of the nest through which it 
 passes is nearly flat, and the whole shape of the edifice is not un- 
 like a large clay thimble, with the opening closed by a circular 
 flat cake of hard mud. 
 
 Attached to the ceiling of the nest is a single layer of cells, ar- 
 SJ^nged without any particular order or regularity ; and it is a cu- 
 rious fact, that only a single wasp has been observed in the act of 
 building the nests, or making the interior arrangement. 
 
 This is not the only insect that makes entrance tubes to its 
 nests ; for the Trypoxylon aurifrons, a native of the Amazons, has 
 been noticed to build similar entrances, though much shorter. 
 This insect will be again mentioned, under the head of Builders. 
 
THE TATUA MOBIO. 275 
 
 In the accompanying illustration may be seen two specimens 
 of a remarkable pensile nest that is made by a wasp called Tatua 
 morio, an insect which is notable for having the basal segment of 
 the abdomen narrowed" into long and slender footstalks, not un- 
 like that of the Bumenes, and others. 
 
 The nest of this species is made of the papery substance used 
 by many wasps, except that the material is so hard and smooth 
 
 as to resemble white cardboard. The general form of the nest i^ 
 shown in the engraving, being somewhat like a sugar-loaf, ^. e., a 
 round-topped cone with a flat bottom. It is found in several 
 parts of Central America ; and in Guiana the nest goes by the 
 popular name of " the Dutchman's pipe," being supposed to bear, 
 in shape and dimensions, some resemblance to the pipe-bowl cele- 
 brated by Washington Irving. The exterior walls are so hard, 
 
276 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 firm, and smooth, that they can withstand any vicissitudes of 
 weather, neither the fierce storms that blow in those regions, nor 
 the torrents of rain that occasionally fall, having any power over 
 an edifice so well protected. ' 
 
 The tiers of cells are variable in number ; a rather remarkable 
 fact, as the floors are made before the cells are built. In a good 
 specimen of this nest in the British Museum there are only four 
 tiers of cells. How many tiers are completed before the insects 
 begin to aifix cells to them, or whether the cells are made as soon 
 as the floors are finished, are two points in the history of this 
 wasp which'have not yet been decided. These floors extend com- 
 pletely to the walls, to which they are fastened on all sides, and 
 the insects gain admission to the different floors by means of a 
 central opening, which runs through them all. 
 
 In Mr. Waterton's museum at Walton Hall are several speci- 
 mens of these nests, one of which is cut open so as to show the 
 interior, as well as the central aperture, the whole of the bottom 
 being cut away and raised like the lid of a box. The substance 
 of this nest resembles thin brownish pasteboard, and, as is the 
 custom with most of the wasp tribe, the cells are placed with 
 their mouths downward, the nurses being enabled to attend to 
 their charges by remaining on the floor of the next tier of cells. 
 Taking one row of cells as an average, I counted twenty-four 
 from the central aperture to the circumference, thus giving a tol- 
 erable notion of the number of cells in each tier. * The aperture 
 is not precisely in the middle, so that some rows of cells are nec- 
 essarily larger than others, but I purposely selected a row which 
 seemed to afford a fair average. 
 
 The common Wasp ( Vespa vulgaris) figures in several cS,paci- 
 ties. It has already been mentioned as a Burrower, deserves 
 notice as a Social Insect, and must now be briefly described as a 
 buUder of pensile nests. 
 
 * In the splendid museum at Oxford there is an object which 
 never fails to attract the notice of visitors, whether entomologists 
 or not. It is a square glass case, some four feet in height by two 
 in width, and the interior "of this large case is almost entirely 
 filled by a single wasp's nest. This enormous nest resembles a 
 turnip in shape, but with the addition of a large knob at the to^, 
 by means of which it is suspended. 
 
 Its origin is sufBiciently remarkable. On the 18th of July, 
 
TEEE WASPS. 277 
 
 1857, this nest was found at Cokethorpe Park, Oxfordsliire, being 
 then of moderate dimensions, and measuring about five inches in 
 diameter. It was taken from the ground, and hung near the 
 window of a dwelling-house upon the ground floor, so as to give 
 the inmates facility in procuring food. There was no danger in 
 the experiment, for, as has been mentioned on page 165, the wasp 
 is really a good-natured insect, unless irritated, and can be watched 
 as safely as the hive-bee. 
 
 In order to induce the laborers to work with more assiduity, 
 the wasps were supplied with food in the shape of sugar and 
 beer, of which mixture they consumed a large amouni, their daily 
 allowance being a pound of sugar to a pint of beer, and the aggre- 
 gate weight being two pounds. Under such favorable auspices 
 they built their nest at a wonderful rate, when they were sud- 
 denly re-enforced after a singular manner. It so happened that 
 on the first floor of the house two other wasps' nests had been 
 placed. The workers of these nests were not fed like their kins- 
 men below, and, in consequence, about the end of August they 
 deserted their own house, and united with the more favored 
 wasps on the ground floor. The three colonies having thus 
 joined their forces, the nest grew with marvelous rapidity, and at 
 last attained the gigantic size which has already been mentioned. 
 
 In shape it is very irregular, as though the turnip to which it 
 was compared had been made of a soft, yielding substance, and 
 had been thrown down and roughly handled. The entrance is 
 close to the bottom of the nest, and a little on one side, and just 
 by the opening the nest is flattened, and seems as if it had been 
 pinched by some giant finger and thumb. For this singular 
 structure we are indebted to Mr. S. Stone, of Brighthampton. 
 
 There are also certain British wasps which always make pen- 
 sile nests, though none of them are so complicated or so finely 
 constructed as those of the pasteboard wasps of hotter climates. 
 
 These are popularly called Tree Wasps, and the best known 
 among these pensile wasps is the insect which is .sometimes 
 known as Vespa Britannica, but which is now named Vespa Nor- 
 wegica, and may therefore be called the Norwegian Wasp. I 
 may here mention that, until a very late period, the history of the 
 wasp — whether British or foreign — was in dire chaos, the species, 
 sexes, and varieties being so confounded together that even the 
 best entomologists could make nothing of them. 
 
278 ' HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 In Mr. West-wood's admirable " Classification of Insects," pub- 
 lished in 1840, the following passage occurs, showing how keenly 
 an accomplished entomologist could feel the want of sound in- 
 formation on a difficult subject. In vol. ii. of that work, page 
 248, Mr. Westwood remarks as follows : " The specific differences 
 of the British species of wasps require a more minute investiga- 
 tion than has yet been given to them. This can only be done by 
 studying the habits of the difierent species, in conjunction with 
 individuals of the different sexes, from the nest of each. Thirty 
 years ago the necessity for such an inquiry was ^pointed out by 
 Latreille, wljo added ' Utinam exergat alius Kirby, qui banc famil- 
 iam elucubret' {i e., ' Would that another Kirby would arise, who 
 would elucidate this family'). But the wasps still remain in as 
 great or greater confusion than they were at that period." 
 
 Since that time, the "other Kirby" has arisen in the person of 
 Mr. F. Smith, who has disentangled the knotty confusion in which 
 the wasps were enveloped, and has recorded his observations in 
 the Catalogue of Hymenoptera in the British Museum, published 
 by order of the trustees in 1858, some forty-eight years after La- 
 treille had invoked assistance. 
 
 Of the species in question Mr. Smith remarks that it is rare in 
 the south and west of England, but is not uncommon in York- 
 shire and plentiful in Scotland. It seems to be a nocturnal insect, 
 for a collector of lepidoptera found that when " sugaring" trees at 
 night for the purpose of attracting moths, numbers of these wasps 
 settled on the sweet bait, and not only were more numerous than 
 the lepidoptera, but actually resented any attempts at dislodg- 
 ment. 
 
 The nest of this insect is always pensile, and is hung from the 
 branches of a tree or shrub, the fir and gooseberry being the 
 favorites. A' pretty specimen in our own collection was taken 
 from a gooseberry-tree in a garden, and another similar nest was 
 found at no great distance. One of these nests I presented to the 
 British Museum, and the other is now before me. It is very 
 small, only having, one " terrace," in which are thirteen cells, ar- 
 ranged in five rows, four being in the central row, and the rest 
 graduating regularly. It is almost as large as a well-sized turnip 
 radish, and something of the same shape, supposing the radish to 
 be suspended by the root, and to be cut off just below the leaves. 
 The outer envelope is composed of three layers overlapping each 
 other, which are very fragile, considering the work they have to 
 perform. 
 
THE CAMPANULAR WASP — THE PASTEBOAKD WASP. 279 
 
 The wasp itself is prettily marked, and although it is variable 
 in coloring, can be recognized by the black anchor-shaped mark 
 on the clypeus, and the squared black spot on the segments of the 
 abdomen. 
 
 Another species of British Tree Wasp is the Campanular 
 Wasp {Vespa sylvestris), a species which has received a multitude 
 of scientific names, but which is not variable in color as that 
 which has just been mentioned. Though it has a wider distri- 
 bution than the Norwegian wasp, it is scarcely so plentiful an in- 
 sect, and is remarkable for an occasional habit ef making a sub- 
 terranean nest like that of the common wasp. The Northern 
 Wasp ( Vespa horealis or arborea) is another of the pensile wasps, 
 and is mostly found in the north of England and Scotland. Its 
 nest is built in fir-trees. I may perhaps mention that the tree 
 wasps may always be distinguished from their subterranean breth- 
 ren by the color of the antennae, workers and females having the 
 scape black in the ground wasps, and those which build in trees 
 having it yellow in both sexes. 
 
 The nest of the tatua, which has recently been described, must 
 not be confounded with that of the Pasteboard Wasp {Charter- 
 gus nidulans), although both insects inhabit the same country, and 
 the nest of the latter bears a great external resemblance to the 
 pendulous nest of the tatua. But, when examined closely, this 
 nest is seen to have a remarkable addition to its structure, the 
 hole through which the branch is passed being very large, so as 
 to permit the nest to swing freely in the wind. In most speci- 
 mens of these nests the hole is simply made through the thick 
 upper end of the structure, but in a few examples the pasteboard- 
 like substance is so moulded that it looks as if a ring had been 
 added to the top of the nest. 
 
 The dimensions of the Chartergus' nest are extremely variable, 
 each structure appearing to be capable 'of unlimited enlargement. 
 The mode by which the wasps increase the size of their pensile 
 home is equally simple and efi&caoious. When the number of 
 the inhabitants becomes so large that a fresh series of cells is re- 
 quired, the insects enlarge their home with perfe(ct ease, and at 
 the same time without destroying its symmetry, a point which is 
 often forgotten when human architects undertake the enlargement 
 of some fine old edifice. Taking the bottom of the nest as the 
 
280 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Starting-point, they build upon it a series of cells, taking care to 
 add another row or two to the circumference, so as to increase 
 the diameter in proportion to the length. They then add fresh 
 material to the outer wall, which is lengthened so as to include 
 the new tier of cells, and then the bottom is closed with a new 
 floor, which in its turn will become the ceiling of the next tier of 
 cells. 
 
 Chartergua Nidulans. 
 
 These nests are therefore permanent ; unlike the habitations of 
 the common British wasps, which are only used for a single sea- 
 son and then deserted, the few surviving females seeking their 
 winter quarters elsewhere, and always choosing some fresh spot 
 for the nucleus of a fresh colony. On the average, a well-sized 
 nest of the Chartergus is about one foot in length and of propor- 
 tionate width, a few being found of larger dimensions, and many 
 of smalier. Now and then a positive giant of a nest is discovered, 
 where the colony has not only been undisturbed, but surround- 
 ing circumstances have been favorable to its continued increase. 
 The name Chartergus is derived from two Greek words, signify- 
 ing paper-maker. 
 
 One of the largest, if not the very largest of these pasteboard 
 nests that has yet been discovered, was found in Ceylon, attached 
 to the inside of a huge palm-leaf, and was of the astonishing 
 length of six feet. Now, to form an idea of a. nest six feet in 
 
THE PASTEBOARD WASP. 281 
 
 length is not very easy. It is as easy to write tlie words six feet 
 as six inches, but the idea which is to be conveyed is another 
 matter, the cubical measurement being absolutely enormous. 
 
 The gigantic wasp's nest which has lately been described is so 
 conspicuous an object that, although it is only a little more than 
 three feet in length, no one can enter the room without noticing 
 it. But a nest six feet in length is so huge as scarcely to be cred- 
 ited except from actual sight. Such a nest could hardly be taken 
 through an ordinary doorway, and- there are few houses of the 
 modern build which could receive it into any room except through 
 the window after both sashes have been removed. We all know 
 how conspicuous among ordinary men is one who measures six 
 feet in height, and we shall form a better idea of the nest in ques- 
 tion if we reckon it to be equal in length to a " six-foot" man, and 
 of course to occupy much more space, on account of its bell-like 
 shape. • 
 
 Mr. Westwood mentions the nest of an allied species of wasp, 
 which is about eight inches in diameter, and is so hard and smooth 
 on the exterior thg,t it almost seems to be made of pottery instead 
 of vegetable fibre. This nest is in the museum of the Jardin des 
 Plantes, in Paris. 
 
 I HAVE already mentioned that there are many genera of nest- 
 making insects, whose habitations are in some degree similar, and 
 yet present such salient points of difference that they must be 
 classed under different heads. Such, for example, is the strange 
 genus Polistes, which is spread over a large portion of the globe, 
 and which makes so singular a variety of negts. However differ- 
 ent they may be, there is always one point of union among them 
 — that the cells are exposed to the air without any covering at all, 
 and, in consequence, are made of stouter material than those of 
 ordinary wasps, which protect the cells from the weather by a 
 covering. 
 
 Many of this species make a nest of a nearly circular shape, and 
 attach it sideways to branches, walls, trunks of trees, or other sup- 
 ports; but there is a very curious nest in the. British Museum 
 which is made on a totally different principle, the combs looking 
 as if they were soft, flexible, and hung carelessly over a twig. 
 There are three of these remarkable combs; having the cells very 
 like those of the common hive-bee, both in shape and size,- but all 
 being of a dark brown hue. The cells are laid on their sides like 
 
282 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 those of the bee, and the combs are long and narrow, looking' like 
 one large comb cut into three strips. This curious nest came 
 from Siam. 
 
 In the accompanying illustration are represented two nests, 
 both from tropical America, and both found in similar localities. 
 These are the habitations of two species of wasp, which are re- 
 markable for their honey-making powers. 
 
 In the year 1780, a Spanish officer named Don Felix de Azara 
 was raised from the rank of captain to that of lieutenant colonel, 
 and sent to Paraguay, in order to decide a dispute concerning the 
 limits of the possessions respectively held by Spain and Portugal. 
 
 He was then thirty-four yeara of age, and, being a man of great 
 energy, set to work out the construction of a map of Paraguay. 
 This was a Herculean task, occupying thirteen years in its comple- 
 tion, and forcing De Azara to explore regions before unknown, 
 and to trust himself to the native tribes, who had never before 
 seen the face of a white man. While engaged in this occupation, 
 he made a vast collection of notes upon the native tribes of Para- 
 guay, as well as upon the beasts, birds, insects, and vegetation, to- 
 gether with an account of the method by which the Jesuit mis- 
 sionaries established themselves and ruled the country for many 
 years. 
 
 After his return to Europe in 1801, he published the account 
 of his travels, and met with the usual fate of those who first pene- 
 trate into unknown countries. His statements were not believed, 
 and among those which raised the greatest discredit was an ac- 
 count of certain wa^ps which made honey. Some persons said 
 that the whole statement was a fabrication, and others remarked 
 that the honey-making insects were simply bees, which De Azara 
 had erroneously considered to be wasps. Time, however, had its 
 usual effect, and De Azara, has been proved to be perfectly trust- 
 worthy in his remarks. The two specimens which are represent- 
 ed in the illustration are now in the British Museum, and af- 
 ford tangible proofs that De Azara was right and his detractors 
 wrong. 
 
 The right-hand figure represents the nest of a curious insect, 
 named by Mr. Adam "White Myra^etra scutellarius. The generic 
 title is not very appropriate, being simply a fanciful name, com- 
 posed of the names of two ancient cities, one called Myra, in Ly- 
 cia, and the other Petra, the capital town of Arabia Petrtea. 
 
THE MYRAPETBA. 
 
 283 
 
 « t 
 
 Nectarinia. 
 
 Myrapetra. 
 
 It is much to be regretted that this plan of inventing fanciful 
 names and giving them to newly-discovered species should have 
 been Bo common a practice among systematic zoologists. I hold 
 that both the generic and specific name of every animal and 
 plant should be intelligible, and refer either to some peculiarity 
 of form, habit, color, or locality. There is no great difficulty in 
 doiilg so. Greek is a language that affords an inexhaustible sup- 
 ply of compound words, and even if the nomenclator be no schol- 
 ar, any one who is moderately versed in the classics would com- 
 pose the desired names if he were only furnished with the neces- 
 sary information. 
 
 The vagaries in which some nomenclators indulge are so ab- 
 surd as scarcely to be believed. Firstly, they will invent some 
 word tbat exists in no language whatever, merely because the 
 sound pleases their ears, and they like to amuse themselves with 
 
284 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 the conjectures of future zoologists. Then they will divide the 
 word into its syllables, and make new words with them. Then 
 they will break it up into its component letters, and make as 
 many anagrams as can be pronounced. 
 
 It is quite bad enough to name a new species after some par- 
 ticular friend, or after your favorite dog, horse, or cat, or after 
 the name of your house; or, as in the present instance, to name 
 an American insect after two defunct cities of Asia and Africa. 
 The former cases show that you have a friend, or a dog, or a cat, 
 or a horse, as the case may be ; and the latter affords conjecture 
 that you have a Lempriere's Dictionary. But the allocation of 
 meaningless syllables in order to form a word which was never 
 intended to have any meaning at all, is so utterly senseless, and so 
 completely without excuse, that no words of reprobation are too 
 strong for it. The very essence of scientific nomenclature is to 
 convey ideas, whereas the names invented by the delinquents in 
 question are chosen just because they convey no ideas at all. 
 
 Such persons shelter themselves behind the great name of Lin- 
 naeus, saying that his fanciful separation of the butterflies into 
 Greeks and Trojans, knights and commoners, was quite as inde- 
 fensible as their own system, and that the name of an ancient 
 warrior conveys no idea of a butterfly. But in the days of Lin- 
 nseus, the father of scientific nomenclature, the art was in its in- 
 fancy, and necessarily crude and imperfect ; and there is no doubt 
 that if tinnseus had foreseen the enormous discoveries of later 
 times, he would have carried out fully the plan which he gener- 
 ally followed, and have made all his names descriptive. 
 
 Scientific nomenclature is of necessity quite complicated and 
 crabbed enough without the infusion of a meaningless element, 
 and those authors who introduce such terms are doing their best 
 to deter future students of zoology, and to render it a repulsive 
 rather than a fascinating science. 
 
 When we look at the remarkable nest which is made by the 
 Myrapetra, one can not but see a vast number of peculiarities 
 which would have furnished an appropriate name — a name which 
 would have stamped upon the mind something of the character 
 of the insect architect. 
 
 This beautiful nest was presented to the Museum in the year 
 1841 by Walter Hawkins, Esq., and a very elaborate memoir by 
 Mr. Adam White is to be found in the "Annals of Natural His- 
 tory," vol. vii.> page S15. 
 
THE MTBAPETEA. 285 
 
 On looking at the exterior of the nest, our attention is at once 
 excited by the material of .which it is made, and the vast number 
 of sharp tubercular projections which stud its surface. In color 
 it is dark, dull, blackish-brown, and its texture, somewhat resem- 
 bles very rough papier- mach^. On examining it with a pocket 
 magnifier a matted structure is plainly visible, as if it were made 
 of short vegetable fibres. This appearance accords with the ac- 
 counts of the natives, who say that it is made from the dung of 
 the capincha, one of the aquatic cavies of tropical America. 
 
 The whole of the exterior is thickly studded with projections, 
 varying in size and shape, but being all of some sharpness at the 
 tip. These projections are comparatively few at the top of the 
 nest, becoming gradually more numerous as they approach the 
 bottom, until at last they are set so thickly that the finger can 
 scarcely be laid between them. 
 
 The object of these projections is not ascertained. The nest 
 always hangs very low, seldom.being more than three or four feet 
 from the ground, and some writers say that the office of the sharp 
 projections is to guard the nest from the attacks of the felidse and 
 other honey and grub-loving mammalia. Such may indeed be 
 the true explanation, and indeed it is so obvious that no one could 
 avoid seeing it. But I very much doubt whether a far better ex- 
 planation is not in store, and I can not see why the Myrapetra 
 should stand in need of such protection, when the nest of the 
 Nectarinia, which is placed in precisely the same conditions, is 
 perfectly smooth and defenseless. 
 
 One use of the projections is evidently for the double purpose 
 of concealing and protecting the entrance. On looking at the 
 nest from above, no entrance is visible, and it is not until after a 
 close examination that the openings are found. They are con- 
 cealed under a row of the projections, which overhang them like 
 the eaves of a house, and effectually keep off the rains which fall 
 in such heavy torrents during tropical storms. The material of 
 which these projections are made is the same as that of which the 
 walls of the nest are built, except that it is very much thicker and 
 harder, the various layers being hardly distinguishable, even with 
 a good magnifier. 
 
 The interior of the nest is as remarkable as its exterior. 
 
 When cut open longitudinally, an operation which was care- 
 fully performed by Mr. "White, a very curious sight presents it- 
 self The nest is filled with combs, all very much curved, and 
 
286 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 these curves accommodating themselves beautifully to the gen- 
 eral form of the nest. At the top is a nearly globular mass of 
 brown, paper-like substance, ■which is apparently the nucleus of 
 the nest. The first comb closely surrounds this globular mass, 
 leaving only a small interval between them, so that it forms part 
 of a hollow sphere, and a section of it would present a form like 
 that of the capital letter laid on its back. 
 
 The rest of the combs follow in regular order, the curve of each 
 becoming shallower, until the last is but slightly depressed in the 
 centre. . They are carried to the sides of the nest and thereto at- 
 tached, except in a few places, where an open space is left between 
 the edge of the comb and the side of the nest, so as to allow the 
 wasps to have access to the different tiers of cells. As is the case 
 with most of the wasp tribe, the tiers are single, and the mouths 
 of the combs are all downward. 
 
 The depth of the cells, and consequently the thickness of the 
 combs, varies according to their position in the nest, the upper 
 cells being the largest, and those below the smallest. The lon- 
 gest cells are from five to seven lines in length, and the shortest 
 about two lines. The material of which they are made is the 
 same as that of which the exterior is formed, and is of quite as 
 dark a color. In texture, however, it is much slighter, being very 
 thin and paper-like. These cells extend to the very edges of the 
 combs, of which there are fourteen in the present specimen. The 
 length of the nest is sixteen inches, and its diameter in the wid- 
 est part is one foot. 
 
 In the upper combs was discovered a quantity of honey, which, 
 when it was found, was hard and dry, of a deep brownish-red, 
 and without either taste or scent. De Azara mentions that him- 
 self and some of his men ate the honey of the Myrapetra, and 
 that it was of a deleterious character. Another species of honey- 
 making wasp, Polistes Lichegvmia, a native of Brazil, was discov- 
 ered by M. St. Hilaire, who mentions that it lays up in the nest a 
 large provision of honey, which is very injurious to mankind, on 
 account of the poisonous plants from which it is taken. Polistes 
 gallica also fills its cells with honey, which, however, does not 
 seem to be poisonous. 
 
 Within the nest were found also the remains of insects. There 
 was the body of a black fly, which belongs or is allied to the genus 
 Bibio, and the remains of a neuropterous insect, which apparently 
 belongs to the genus Hemerobius. 
 
THE NECTAEINIA ANALIS. 287 
 
 The Myrapetra itself is cff variable size, the largest' being about 
 four lines in length, and rather more than half an inch in expanse 
 of wing. It is of a dusky brown color, and is remarkable for 
 having the first joint of the abdomen very much lengthened and 
 narrowed, so that it somewhat resembles the same organ in the 
 Pelopeeus. 
 
 At the left hand of the same illustration may be seen a rather 
 large globijar nest, suspended from the boughs. This nest is 
 shown in the position which it usually occupies, namely, hidden 
 in the dark recesses of the Brazilian forest, amid the varied vege- 
 tation which grows so profusely in the hot and wet parts of the 
 q^untry which the insect frequents. * 
 
 The name of the species which makes this nest is Nectarinia 
 analis, a title which is significant and appropriate enough, but 
 which is rather unfortunate, inasmuch as it has already been ap- 
 plied to a genus of birds, the well-known honey -suckers of Africa 
 and India, which are so frequently mistaken for humming-birds, 
 on account of their small size, their brilliant plumage, their slen- 
 der beaks, and their fondness for flowers. 
 
 This is not nearly so beautiful a nest as that which has just 
 been described, the combs being devoid of regularity, and piled 
 upon each other, as if the insect had no settled plan on which to 
 work, and put each comb in any place where there happened to 
 be room for it. Irregular, however, as the structure may seem, 
 it is not without a kind of order ; for though the combs look as if 
 they had been placed in a heap, and thei^ foiled together, so as to 
 assume a partially spherical shape, they are at all events made 
 with the intention of forming that shape, so that they may be in- 
 cluded under a single covering. In the specimen in the British 
 Museum, the outer wall of the nest has been broken away in sev- 
 eral places, so as to permit the combs to be seen. 
 
 The entrance for the insects is very small, and when the re- 
 spective dimensions of the wasp and the nest 'are taken into con- 
 sideration, it seems really wonderful that when the inhabitants 
 enter their house, they do not lose themselves in the intricate 
 windings through which they pass from one comb to another. 
 The wasp which makes this nest is bee-like in form, and very 
 small, not a quarter of an inch in length, and bearing some re- 
 semblance to those tiny solitary bees that are seen so plentifully 
 upon dandelions and various umbelliferous flowers. 
 
288 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The nest is always hung near the ground, quite as low as that 
 of the Myrapetra, and is suspended from the slender twigs and 
 long, delicate leaves which are woven into its substance, and in 
 many places pierce completely through the nest, and project 
 through the outer covering. It is, however, destitute of the sharp 
 projections which guard the home of the latter insect, and as the 
 outer wall is both thin and fragile, it would fall an easy prey to 
 any insect-eating animal that might take a fancy to it. I can not 
 but think that this utterly defenseless state of the Nectarinia's 
 nest affords a proof that the spikes upon the habitation of the 
 Myrapetra are not for the purpose of defending the nest against 
 the attacks of enemies. 
 
 'As is the case with the Myrapetra, the cells are made with walls 
 much firmeT than those of our English wasps or hornet, which 
 are only intended to hold successive generations of young, and in 
 consequence are made of a comparatively flimsy material, only 
 strengthened very slightly at the entrance. Were honey to be 
 placed in the cell of any known British wasp it would immediate- 
 ly soak into the walls of the cell, and thence escape by slow de- 
 grees ; but as the young grub, which is the only tenant of the cell, 
 is without feet and is not in the least formed for locomotion, a 
 very slight partition is sufficient to control its movements. 
 
 The grub does nothing but hold to the end of the cell with its 
 piercers, open its mouth for food, and occasionally protrude or 
 withdraw itself in a very slight degree ; and its utter immobility 
 in the larval and pupal states affords a strange contrast to the 
 restless and fussy activity which actuates it after it has attained 
 "its perfect form. 
 
 As is generally known, the nests of wild honey-bees are placed 
 in the hollows of trees. Mr. Cotton, the well-known apiarian, 
 remarked, when discussing the comparative merits of straw and 
 wooden hives, that in a state of nature the bee never builds in a 
 truss of straw, but in a hollow tree. Now, although I quite con- 
 cur with that author in his/ partiality for the wooden hive, I can 
 not see that the illustration which he employs has any thing to 
 do with the subject, or that it affords the least proof on either 
 side of the argument. Wild bees are not very likely to find 
 trusses of straw in the woods, and those trusses conveniently hol- 
 lowed to receive them. But I do think that if a few common 
 straw hives were set in the woods, the bees would be as likely to 
 take up their habitation in them as in the hollows of trees. 
 
HONEY-BEES — THE BUKNET ICHNEUMON. 289 
 
 Still, among honey-bees, of -which there are 'several species, 
 the custom of nesting in hollow trees is almost universal. Bee- _ 
 hunters, whether biped or quadruped, whether man, bird, ratel, 
 or bear, search for their sweet spoil in the trees, and know by ex- 
 perience when a tree is likely to contain honey-combs. But in 
 certain parts of tropical America the Jaees change their habits. 
 
 There is a genus of wild honey-bees, named Trigona, the mem- 
 bers of which are notable for their bold departure from ordinary 
 bee customs. They make their nests at the tops of the branches, 
 it is true, but they do not place their combs inside the hollow 
 trees, of which there is great store in the woods. The Trigonas 
 make nests of a pear shape, and of tolerable size, and hang them 
 at the very summit of trees and at the end of the slenderest twigs, 
 so that even the agile monkeys of that land, aided with their long, 
 prehensile tails, are unable to reach the nest. 
 
 It is somewhat remarkable that the habit of this insect should 
 be so different from the usual custom, and the more so that a 
 closely-allied species, inhabiting the same country, and which pos- 
 sibly belongs to the same genus, makes its nest in trees according 
 to the ordinary type, and places its combs within the hollows of 
 decaying trees. The honey of this bee is described as being very 
 sweet and richly flavored — so richly, in fact, that very little of it 
 can be taken. 
 
 A CREATURE is upon our list of pensile insects, which may also 
 be reckoned among the social or par£||^itic insects, but which 
 makes its habitation in such a manner that its proper place is 
 among the pensiles. This is the pretty little ichneumon which 
 is known to entomologists as Microgaster alvearitcs. The name 
 Microgaster is of Greek origin, and signifies "little belly,'' this 
 being a very appropriate name for this insect, whose abdomen is 
 of very small dimensions, and indeed appears to be just a little 
 supplementary growth which might be removed without causing 
 any inconvenience to the insect. It belongs to the same genus 
 as a very common insect called Microgaster ghmeratus, which will 
 be duly described when the parasitic animals are under consider- 
 ation. 
 
 With regard to this insect I have been rather fortunate, hav- 
 ing found many specimens of the nests, and bred from them sev- 
 eral hundred insects. 
 
 Although plentiful enough in certain places, the Burnet Ich- 
 
 T 
 
290 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 NEUMON, as I shall venture to call this species, is very local, and 
 while abounding in one place, may never be seen in another spot 
 at the distance of a very few hundred yards. I give it the popu- 
 lar name of Burnet Ichneumon for the same reason — comparing 
 great things with small — that Caius Martins bore the title of Co- 
 riolanus, and Publius Cornelius Scipio was termed Africanus, 
 namely, that it destroys so many Burnet Moths. 
 
 In its perfect state the Ichneumon looks like a rather small 
 gnat, and would probably be mistaken for that insect by a non- ■ 
 entomological observer. When examined through an ordinary 
 magnifying glass, it is seen to possess a wondrous beauty which 
 no one could ever suspect when looking at it with the unaided 
 eye. The body and head are of a pale yellow color, except the 
 prominent compound eyes, which are dark blackish-brown. The 
 head is round and rather small, but the thorax is of enormous 
 size, quite as proportionately large as the chest of a man would 
 be did it project some eighteen inches in front and reach to his 
 heels. 
 
 In singular contrast to the huge thorax is the very tiny abdo- 
 men, which is of a retort shape, curved, and fixed in the upper 
 surface of the thorax by its smaller end. Indeed, the abdomen 
 bears the same relation to the thorax that the " tick" in the capi- 
 tal letter Q does to the whole of the letter. The limbs are long, 
 and, when the size of the insect is considered, are singularly pow- 
 erful, especially the last pair of legs. We think the legs of the 
 kangaroo are enormously large in proportion to the size of its 
 , body, but they must be doubled in length as well as in thickness 
 to equal those of the Burnet Ichneumon. The fore-limbs are not 
 so very large, but they are long and possessed of great clasping 
 power, aided by the hooked feet. 
 
 What, then, is the use of such powerful limbs? The habits of 
 the insect supply the answer. 
 
 As is the case with many ichneumon flies, this insect — which, 
 by the way, is not a fly, but a near relation to the bee and ant — 
 deposits its eggs upon caterpillars, boring holes in their skin with 
 its pointed ovipositor, which is the analogue of the bee's sting, 
 and inserting its eggs in the perforations. As may naturally be 
 imagined, the caterpillar has a very strong objection to this pro- 
 ceeding, and when the ichneumon settles upon it, and begins to 
 use her weapon, twists and wriggles about like a captured eel. 
 
 Now the strong limbs of the ichneumon come into play. Mi- 
 
THE BURNET ICHNEUMON. 291 
 
 nute as is the insect when compared to the caterpillar, bearing 
 about the same relationship that a rabbit bears to an elephant, the . 
 legs are so long that they can include a considerable portion of 
 the skin in their embrace, and so strong that they can retain their 
 hold in spite of the contortions with which the caterpillar tries 
 to rid itself of its persecutor. Eetaining her place, therefore, the 
 ichneumon deposits a great number of eggs in the poor caterpillar, 
 and then goes to find another victim. 
 
 I am not sure whether or not the ichneumon makes a separate 
 wound for every egg. If so, the feelings of the caterpillar are not 
 to be envied, for I have found nearly a hundred and fifty ichneu- 
 mon larvse in the body of a single caterpillar. No wonder that 
 the persecuted being endeavors to fling off the creature that is in- 
 flicting so many wounds. The numerous short and bristle-like 
 hairs with which the legs are thickly clad are doubtless useful in 
 retaining the hold of the insect. 
 
 The long and slender many-jointed antennse are also covered 
 with a thick down, which has an iridescent effect when the light 
 plays on those organs, and during the life of the insect has a most 
 beautiful effect, owing to the restless, quivering movements which 
 characterize all the antennae ichneumons, and which at once serve 
 to distinguish those insects at a glance. 
 
 The chief beauty, however, of the insect lies in the wings. To 
 the naked eye they are simply colorless, transparent appendages, 
 with a little black spot on the outer edge of the upper pair. But 
 when placed under a magnifier, and with the light properly di- 
 rected upon them, they blaze out in iridescent glory that almost 
 fatigues the eye with its resplendence. One of these insects is 
 how under the microscope before me, a low power of only thirty- 
 six diameters being used, so that each wing appears to be about 
 three inches in length ; and in order to give an idea of the extra- 
 ordinary coloring of these apparently transparent organs,! will de- 
 scribe as far .as I can the appearance of the right-hand upper wirig. 
 
 The material of which it is made is a translucent membrane, ap- 
 pearing single with this low power, but shown by a higher power 
 to be double. The wing is traversed by numerous nervures to sup- 
 port it, as the tracery of a Gothic window supports the glass, and 
 which divide it into numerous compartments, technically called 
 cells, each of which is known by name to entomologists. The 
 whole of the membrane is covered with very minute hairs,' dotted 
 at regular intervals, like the holes in perforated zinc, and as each 
 
292 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 of these hairs is in fact a minute prism, they break up the light 
 into the well-known prismatic colors. 
 
 Upon the outer edge of the wing is a triangular black spot, 
 which is not transparent, and serves as a foil to show off the lovely 
 colors by which it is surrounded. The whole upper part of the 
 wing is pale yellow, passing, by the gentlest imaginable transition, 
 through delicate rays into lively pink, of the character termed 
 " rose-carmine." Toward the lower edge of the pink a slight in- 
 fusion of blue steals in, being first purple and then changing to 
 azure. Here the colors are abruptly cut by a nervure, and one 
 of the large cells next comes into view. This cell is wonderfully 
 beautiful, for the colors are no longer subdued, as i^ the case with 
 the upper part of the wing, but are startling from their extreme 
 brilliancy. The circumference, of the cell is emerald, inclosing 
 three distinct centres of coloring, which >seem to divide the cell 
 into three parts. The upper division consists of a large emerald 
 patch, changing in the centre by imperceptible gradations to gold- 
 en green. Immediately below the green comes a patch of fiery 
 ruby, edged on one side with azure and on the other with golden 
 yellow. The third, or lowermost division, is chiefly blue, edged 
 on one side with ruby and on the other with golden yellow. Thus 
 we have in this one cell three centres of color, each centre being 
 one of the three primary colors, and changing by degrees to the 
 secondaries and tertiaries. The next cell is colored in a similar 
 manner, except that the colors which form the centre of the di- 
 visions in the last-mentioned cfell form their circumferences in this 
 case ; and the base of the wings fades off into delicate shades of 
 pink and rays of golden yellow like the tip. 
 
 Now it must be borne in mind that the microscope has nothing 
 to do with the production of these colors, but is limited to their 
 exhibition. These wondrous colors already exist, although they 
 are on so small a scale that the unassisted eye fails to separate 
 them, and so they are blended together and appear to be colorless. 
 I mention these apparent platitudes because, while exhibiting the 
 microscope, I have found many persons falling into the error of 
 supposing that the wondrous beauties which they see are due either 
 to the excellence of the instrument or the skill of the operator. 
 
 After the Burnet Ichneumon has laid the eggs she leaves them 
 to be hatched in the animal, which is generally, but not always, 
 the caterpillar of the Burnet Moth {Anihrocera filipendulai),\\SQ\i & 
 pensile insect. This is not always the case, as one of my group 
 
THE BUKNET ICHNEUMON. 293 
 
 of Burnet Ichneumons proceeded from the body of a caterpillar 
 belonging to the geometridee. It was too much shriveled for 
 identification, but it was about as large as the larva of the swallow- 
 tailed moth. 
 
 In the body of the caterpillar they live until the larval stage 
 is nearly completed, aijd then they burst on all sides through the 
 skin of their victim, proceed to a small twig, and there weave a 
 number of cocoons. These cocoons are about the eighth of an 
 inch in length, cylindrical in shape, set closely side by side and 
 fastened firmly together, so as to form a flattish mass extremely 
 variable in shape and size, the latter depending on the number 
 of cocoons. One of these masses now before me consists of one 
 hundred and seventeen cocoons, and its shape is that of a segment 
 of a circle, fixed to the twig by the flat side. 
 
 The ends of the cocoons are both closed, but when the young 
 ichneumon is hatched it makes its exit by cutting a circular flap 
 from one end of the cocoon, pushing the flap outward and then 
 creeping into the air. The insects are quite indifferent as to the 
 end of the cocoon through which they escape, and in the example 
 before nie nearly two thirds of the creatures have escaped out of 
 one end and the remaining third out of the other. 
 
 The texture of these cocoons is very firm and stiff, and the silk- 
 en material is so closely fitted together as to be completely water- 
 proof. The microscope showfe that the exterior of the cocoon is 
 composed of white silken fibres matted tightly together, and rath- 
 er rough, while the inside of the circular flap shows that the in- 
 terior of each cocoon is smooth, hard, and of a pale yellow hue. 
 
 The longest and largest cells occupy the centre of the mass, 
 while those at either end are shorter, smaller, and fewer, being 
 about one fifth of the entire number. Knowing the customs of 
 most hymenopterous insects, we may conclude that the females 
 occupy the centre and the males the extremities. 
 
 There is a very remarkable pensile cocoon constructed by the 
 larva of another hymenopterous insect belonging to the same 
 family as the Burnet Ichneumon, and placed in the genus Cryptus. 
 
 The insects of this genus seem to construct a strange variety 
 of cocoons, some being white, some yellow, and some banded and 
 mottled with black- The most remarkable forms, however, are 
 those in which the cocoon is attached to a thread some inches in 
 length, the other end of which is fastened to a bough or a leaf. 
 
294 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 E^aumur, who discovered these curious objects, found that when 
 the cocoon was detached from the branch and laid on the table it 
 sprang to a distance of several inches, probably because the in- 
 closed insect was able to bend itself and then suddenly straighten 
 the body. 
 
 E^aumur believes that the Ichneumons which make these pen- 
 sile cocoons are parasitic on the processionary caterpillars, because 
 he found them plentiful near the nests of these insects. 
 
 How the cocoons are made and suspended is quite a mystery. 
 Mr. Westwood offers a suggestion that, before changing into the 
 pupal state, the insect spins its thread to the required length, and, 
 while still suspended at the end of its rope, spins the cocoon, 
 which thus becomes fastened to the thread. In a future page 
 will be described a cocoon woven on a similar plan, but made by 
 the caterpillar of one of the moths. 
 
 Mr. Westwood mentions that when examining the cocoon of 
 the Cryptus, he found that it was composed of three distinct lay- 
 ers, that on the exterior being convposed of loose silk, which could 
 be wound off like that of the common silkworm, but that the two 
 interior layers were very shining, smooth, and of a gummy mem- 
 braneous texture, thus agreeing with the cocoons of the Burnet 
 Ichneumon. 
 
 Our last example of the p'ensile nests formed by the hymen- 
 optera is a truly remarkable one. For some time I could scarcely 
 decide upon its place in the present work, whether it was to be 
 ranked as an example of the pensiles, social insects, or builde*. 
 On account, however, of the locality which is chosen for it, and 
 the peculiar method by which it is attached to the branch, I have 
 decided upon placing it among the pensile nests. 
 
 It has already been mentioned that the members of the genus 
 Polistes are in the habit of building their cells in the open air, 
 and leaving them without covering to defend them. 
 
 The shape, material, and arrangement of the comb is extremely 
 variable ; some, as that which has already been mentioned, hang- 
 ing their cell-masses to the branches, just as if a number of bee- 
 combs were simply hitched on the twig by the simple process of 
 boring a hole in the upper part of the comb, and pushing the twig 
 through it; others, again, making their cells of mud, in a nearly 
 globular shape, and fastening them on the branches like so many 
 berries. The species, however, which make the cells represented 
 
POLISTES. 
 
 295 
 
 in the illustration is one of the most remarkable, and so elegant 
 is the form of the combs, and so singular the method of their at- 
 tachment, that I have had them drawn nearly of the natural size. 
 Generally, the shape of the comb is nearly round, as is seen in 
 the upper figure of the illustration. The cells are remarkable 
 for their radiating form, the bases being a trifle smaller than the 
 mouths, a peculiarity which would hardly be noticed in a single 
 cell, but which produces the spreading outline when a number of 
 them are massed together. 
 
 NestB of Polistea. • 
 
 Some of the cells, those in the middle for example, are much 
 longer than the others, and in the specimens in the British Mu- 
 seum many of them are closed at the mouth, showing that the in- 
 sect is within, and has not yet attained its perfect state. Those 
 on the circumference, however, are much shorter, and are entirely 
 empty, not having been yet occupied. It is very possible that 
 
296 ' HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 these cells would have been lengthened had the insects been left 
 to themselves. 
 
 Although the circular shape is mostly the rule with these 
 combs, so that they look something like withered dahlias or 
 chrysanthemums, it is not the invariable form. If the reader will 
 look at the lower figure in the illustration, he will see that it is 
 much wider than long, and is apparently composed of two of the 
 circular combs fixed together. 
 
 Now comes the curious part of the structure. The combs are 
 not fastened directly to the branches, but are attacked to foot- 
 stalks which spring from their centre, and are firmly cemented 
 upon the branch or twig. How wonderfully the insect must 
 manage the comb so that it shall be balanced on this slender 
 footstalk ! To preserve the equilibrium of even an empty comb 
 would be difficult enough, but when the cells are filled with fat, 
 heavy grubs, the difficulty must be multiplied with every one. 
 
 The footstalks are made of the same papier-mache like sub- 
 stance as the cells, only the layers are so tightly compressed to- 
 gether that they form a hard, solid mass, very much like the lit- 
 tle pillars which support the different stories of an ordinary 
 wasp's nest, but of much greater size. The position of the combs 
 is extremely variable, some being nearly horizontal, and others 
 perpendicular, as shown in the illustration. These nests came 
 from Bareilly, in the East Indies. 
 
 Having now completed our notice of the pensile hymenoptera, 
 we turn to another order of insects. 
 
 We can hardly expect to find that any of the beetles can be 
 ranked among the pensile insects, their appearance and general 
 habits being opposed to such an idea. The variety of nests made 
 by the hymenoptera lead us at once to conjecture that some of 
 them may be pensile, for it is at least likely that the little archi- 
 tects which can construct the marvelous system of the honey- 
 comb, or the complicated galleries of the ant's nest, or contrive 
 the wonderful homes of the leaf-cutter bees, would be also able 
 to make nests which could be suspended from leaves or branches. 
 But there is nothing in the' general history of beetles which could 
 lead us to place them among the pensile insects, a rank, however, 
 which can be taken by a very few species, most of which belong 
 to a single group. 
 
 This group is that of the Curculionidee, or Weevils, and there 
 
WEEVILS. 297 
 
 are a few species of these long-snouted beetles ■which make for 
 themselves certain pensile habitations- of a most elegant form. 
 Two genera of Weevils are remarkable for the beauty of their 
 cocoons, namely, the Hypera and Cionus. 
 
 If the reader should desire to possess specimens of these co- 
 coons, he can not do better than procure some seeds of the com- 
 mon species of Verbascum, say the Great and "White Mulleins 
 {Verbascum Thapsus and Lychnitis), and sow them in sandy or 
 gravelly soil. The beetles of the genus Cionus feed on the mul- 
 leins, and when they are about to change into the pupal state, do 
 not trouble themselves to leave the plant upon which they have 
 been feeding.- So fond are these beetles of the Verbascum, that 
 Mr. Stephens found on a solitary plant, which was growing in a 
 garden at Eipley, all the five species of the genus. 
 
 During the month of August the larva may be found in- the 
 flowers and seeds, and one species burrows into the leaves them- 
 selves, getting between the two membranes, and feeding on the 
 soft green parenchyma. When the larva are about to enter the 
 pupal state, they cease from feeding, and spin for themselves co- 
 coons of a most remarkable shape. The cocoons are very small, 
 being on the average about as large as sweet peas, and nearly as 
 globular. They are constructed of a rather stiff and glutinous 
 thread, which is so wonderfully twined as to form large open 
 meshes of a nearly circular form. 
 
 The cocoon is very firm and elastic, feeling and looking very 
 much like those hollow spheres and cylinders that artists in hair 
 are so fond of making. The open meshes are so large that the 
 inclosed pupa can be seen through them, so that there is but lit- 
 tle protection from the elements. A very good idea of the gen- 
 eral appearance of the cocoon may be obtained from the toys 
 which are made from nuts by neat-handed school-boys, by the 
 simple process of boring them full of holes until the shell is re- 
 duced to a kind of wooden network with circular meshes. 
 
 All the beetles of the genus Cionus are pretty little creatures, 
 very hard shelled, nearly' as globular in form as the cocoon, and 
 marked with dark patches and streaks. 
 
 The cocoons of the genus Hypera are also made with open 
 meshes, and of a similarly stiff thread, but the form is oval in- 
 stead of round. The larva of the Hypera is long and narrow, 
 having its rings or segments very deeply cut, covered with bristle- 
 like hairs, and having some light lines along the back and sides. 
 
298 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The "Charan^on de la Patience" of De Geer is a beetle of this 
 genus. In both cases the cocoons are affixed to the under side 
 of the leaves, whether they are attached to the mullein or the 
 heath, so that they are not readily seen except by careful ob- 
 servers, who know where to look for them. In the insect room 
 at the British Museum there is a beautiful series of these delicate- 
 ly formed cocoons still adhering to the dry and shriveled leaves 
 of the plant on which the beetle had fed. 
 
 We now come to the pensile lepidoptera, of which a number 
 of specimens will be mentioned. They all belong to the moths, 
 the pensile butterflies being content with suspending themselves 
 by a couple of threads, without taking the trouble to build or spin 
 a nest. 
 
 One of the most beautiful of these nests is the cocoon of the 
 common Bmpeeor Moth {Satumia pavonia-minor). The moth 
 itself is very beautiful, with its broad, soft-plumaged, pink-e^ed 
 wings ; but it is even equaled by the larva in beauty of color, a 
 phenomena not very usual among the lepidoptera. The rings or 
 segments of the caterpillar are rounded and deeply cut, and are 
 remarkable for the tufts of golden -colored bristles with which 
 thejr are covered, each tuft springing from a raised and rounded 
 tubercle. The body itself is of a beautiful leaf-green. 
 
 The cocoon which is made by this remarkable insect is ex- 
 tremely beautiful, though its beauty does not appear to a careless 
 observer. Some twenty years ago, when I first began to study 
 practical entomology, and had no access to the books that were 
 then published on the subject, I took to breeding every caterpil- 
 lar that could be found, not having the least idea what kind of 
 being would issue from it. Among them was a caterpillar which 
 struck my fancy so much, by its green body and golden tufts, that 
 I made a colored drawing of it, and constructed for its benefit a 
 separate cage, wherein it lived for some little time, and then spun 
 a silken cocoon of a flask-like shape, very rough and loose on the 
 exterior. 
 
 Some time afterward, upon looking into the box, I saw a beau- 
 tiful moth clinging to the side. How the creature had gained 
 admission I could not conceive, for the cocoon seemed to be per- 
 fectly intact, and to exhibit no signs that an insect had broken 
 through the walls. Concluding, however, that the moth might 
 have crept into the box without my knowledge, or might have 
 
, THE EMPEROR AND ATLAS MOTHS. • 299 
 
 been placed there by some kind friend, I set it, and watched the 
 cocoon as usual. After a whole year had passed, I thought that 
 there must be something wrong, and so took out the cocoon and 
 carefully cut it open. 
 
 The mystery was at once explained. Within were the cast 
 shell of the chrysalis, and the dried, shriveled skin of the cater- 
 pillar, crushed up into a very small space, but recognizable by the 
 hairy tufts. The manner in which the moth had escaped was 
 also evident. Taking as our model a common Florence oil-flask, 
 from which three fourths of the neck have been removed, we 
 shall obtain a clear notion of the method by which the cocoon is 
 made, so as to allow the egress of the moth, and at the same time 
 to show no aperture through which the creature had emerged. 
 
 Let us suppose the material to be stiff, bristle-like hair, and 
 that the body of the flask is made stiff and firm by cementing the 
 hairs together, while they project loosely at the neck. Now let 
 us farther suppose that these projecting hairs are all bent inward, 
 so as to cross each other slightly, and we shall have a tolerably 
 correct idea of the manner in which the cocoon of the Emperor 
 Moth is made. It will be seen that, if a creature try to push its 
 way out from the inside, the hairs will yield and allow it to pass, 
 but that if any insect tries to push its way in from the outside, 
 the converging hairs are pressed tighter together, and effectually 
 debar it from gaining admission. 
 
 This beautiful structure is not visible until the' observer strips 
 away a thick, loose coating of yellow- white silk which covers the 
 cocoon, and probably acts as a non-conductor of heat as well as a 
 protection from the weather. This cocoon may be found upon 
 the plant on which the insect feeds, but the best method of pro- 
 curing perfect specimens is by searching for the caterpillars and 
 feeding them until they change. 
 
 On the right hand of the accompanying illustration may be 
 seen a large moth flying downward, and just above it are a couple 
 of oval objects attached to a slender bough. This moth is that 
 magnificent insect the Atlas Moth {Saturnia Atlas), and the 
 oval objects are the cocoons which are spun by its larva. 
 
 The Atlas Moth belongs to the same genus as the emperor 
 moth wbich has just been described, and is a truly splendid in- 
 sect, though without the beautiful colors which decorate the em- 
 peror. Creamy white, soft yellow, and pale brown are the chief 
 
300 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 tints of the Atlas Moth ; but they are so beautifully blended, the 
 plumage is of so downy a softness, and the expanse of wing is so 
 great, that the Atlas holds its own even amid the more vividly- 
 colored lepidoptera of its own country. 
 
 Oiketicus and Atlas Moth. 
 
 There are many members of this genus scattered over the dif- 
 ferent parts of the earth, the finest and largest specimens being 
 found between the tropics. In all the species tho antennae of the 
 males are remarkable for their beauty, being deeply feathered, 
 and shaped something like a spear^head with a triangular blade, 
 and in many examples there is a loose, membranous, talc-like 
 spot in the middle of the wing. 
 
 The cocoons of the Atlas Moth are made of silken thread, 
 much like that of the common silkworm, the cocoon being large 
 in proportion to the size of the moth, and the quantity of silk is 
 
THE AILANTHDS SILKWORM — THE HOUSE-BUILDER MOTH. 801 
 
 necessarily very great. Although the thread is not so fine or 
 glossy as that of the ordinary silkworm, it is strong, smooth, and 
 serviceable, and capable of being woven into fabrics of much 
 utility. 
 
 The well-known Eria silk of India is produced by an insect 
 closely allied to the Atlas Moth, Attacus ricini. This silk is very 
 loose in texture, and, being without gloss, has a rather flimsy look. 
 In reality, however, it is possessed of peculiar strength. 
 
 One large species of silk-producing moth, also allied to the 
 Atlas, is the Ailanthus Silkworm. The Acclimatization So- 
 ciety is endeavoring to introduce this useful insect into this coun- 
 try, and so to make England a silk-producing country. We have 
 not sufficient mulberry-trees to feed silkworms in such numbers 
 as would make their employment profitable, and thus the ordi- 
 nary silkworm is rather beyond our reach. But the insect in 
 question feeds on the Ailanthus glandulosus, a tree which has been 
 imported from China, and thrives wonderfully in the open air. 
 In March, 1864, 1 saw a young sapling about three feet in height 
 that had sprung from a seed sown in March of the previous year. 
 
 This insect is very hardy, and after it has been hatched and 
 fed for a little time like the ordinary silkworm, it is laid on the 
 growing leaves and left to shift for itself The caterpillar is 
 nothing of a wanderer, and does not attempt to straggle from 
 the tree, being content to stay and make its cocoon among the 
 branches. The moth is colored like the Atlas, being mostly of 
 a grayish-yellow, with some markings of dull violet, and some 
 spots of black and white. The caterpillar is green marked with 
 black. 
 
 There is a North American species of moth — also one of the 
 Atlas Moth's numerous allies — which displays a wonderful piece 
 of ingenuity in suspending its cocoon. This is the insect called 
 Saturnia Promeihea, which lives in the sassafras-tree. The cocoon 
 is placed within the leaf of the tree and secured by a strong web ; 
 but as the leaf would fall before the moth could escape, a strange 
 instinct is implanted in the insect, which fastens the stem of the 
 leaf to the branch by sundry silken threads, so that, although it 
 may wither and part from the branch, it can not fall to the 
 ground. 
 
 We now pass to the second insect represented in the illustra- 
 tion. This is the House-builder Moth {Oiketicus Sandersii), an 
 
802 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 insect which is common in many parts of the West Indies, in sev- 
 eral places being so plentiful that the sight of its long pendent 
 domiciles is any thing but,pleasant to the proprietor of a garden. 
 
 Out of five species of insects belonging to this singular genus, 
 the present has been selected, because, on the whole, its habitation 
 is more remarkable than that of any other species. Some of 
 them make their nest in a much stiffer form than is depicted in 
 the engraving, taking pieces of slender twigs and forming them 
 into hollow cylinders, the twigB being laid parallel to each other, 
 very much like the rods in the old Koman fasces, which were 
 borne by the lictors before the consuls. So close indeed is the 
 resemblance, that by some writers the insects have been called 
 Lictor Moths. 
 
 The reader will observe that in the illustration the nest is 
 shown as depending from the caterpillar, part of which protrudes 
 from its mouth and the other part is hidden. This attitude is 
 given because it is that in which the insect is generally seen. 
 While young the caterpillar is so strong, and the house is so 
 light, that it can carry the tail nearly upright. 
 
 Scraps of wood mixed with fragments of leaves are the materi- 
 als which are used, and they are bound together very firmly by 
 the silken threads with which so many caterpillars are endowed, 
 whether they belong to the butterflies or moths. There is a tol- 
 erable degree of elasticity about it, especially at the mouth, which 
 is slightly expanded so as to assume an irregular funnel-like 
 shape, and can be drawn together at will by means of the silken 
 threads attached to its circumference. The caterpillar has thus 
 two means of guarding itself from attacks. If it is still clinging 
 to a branch, it can retreat into the house and press the mouth so 
 firmly against the branch that it is closed effectively, just as a 
 limpet shelters its soft body by pressing the top of the shell 
 against the rock. Or, if detached, it can pull the .lips together, 
 aftd thus shut itself up in its strange house as completely as a box 
 tortoise in its shell. 
 
 Not only does the creature reside in this nest during its larval 
 condition, but also passes the pupal stage in it, and sometimes the 
 whple of its life. As soon as it ceases from feeding, and is about 
 to become a pupa, it retires far into its cell, shuts up the mouth, 
 throws off its last caterpillar skin, and there remains until the 
 larva has become a perfect insect. Should the moth be of the 
 male sex, it creeps out of the domicile and speedily takes to wing. 
 
THE HOUSE-BUILDER MOTH. 303 
 
 employing itself in the great object of its life, that of seeking a 
 mate. 
 
 In ordinary cases, to find a mate seems to be no difficult task, 
 but the House-builder Moth has no ordinary obstacles to over- 
 come. The female never leaves her cell, for she would be more 
 helpless as a moth than as a caterpillar. Among the British 
 moths we have several species in which the females are wingless, 
 but at all events they do look like moths which have been de- 
 prived of wings, and are able to move about with tolerable free- 
 dom. Of these wingless females, the common Vaporer Moth (O- 
 gyia antiqua) is a familiar example, its fat, rounded abdomen 
 and little truncated rudiments of wings being known to all col- 
 lectors. 
 
 But the female House-builder Moth is as utterly helpless a be- 
 ing as can well be conceived. She has not the least vestige of 
 wings, and but the smallest indications of legs or antennae. None 
 but an entomologist would take her for a lepidopterous insect, or 
 even for an insect at all, for she looks like a fat, down-covered 
 grub, with very feeble limbs, which can scarcely support the body, 
 and with antennae that merely consist of a few rounded joints, 
 entirely unlike the beautiful feathered forms which decorate the 
 male. 
 
 So utterly unlike a moth is this creature, that our most skillful 
 entomologists are much perplexed as to the position which the 
 insect ought to occupy. Mr. Westwood states that they are " the 
 most imperfect of all lepidopterous insects, and even less favored 
 than their larva, which they considerably resemble ;" while Mr. 
 Newman expresses still stronger opinions, and asserts that the 
 Oiketici ought to be removed from the lepidoptera altogether, and 
 placed with the Phryganeidae, or caddis flies, whose dwellings are 
 wonderfully similar to those of the Oiketici. 
 
 The Oriental idea that feminine delicacy is only to be main- 
 tained by concealing the face, seems to have been borrowed from 
 the House-builder Moth, which is a perfect model of female excel- 
 lence, according to Oriental notions, always staying at home, al- 
 ways hiding her face, and always producing enormous families. 
 Perhaps the male may be attracted to the female by some pecul- 
 iar instinct, for the eyes can have little to do with the discovery, 
 " she being so closely shut up in her house, and never leaving it 
 till the day of her death. Many British insects, such as the well- 
 known oak-egger moth, have this curious power, and the male has 
 
304 HOMES "WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 even been known to enter a pocket in which was a female shut 
 up in a box. 
 
 Theee is an allied genus, named Psyche, found in England, 
 the males of which have their wings partly transparent, rather 
 long and sharply pointed, and the females are without wings at 
 all. 
 
 The larva of this insect also makes a hollow case, and behaves 
 in a very curious manner before it assumes the pupal condition. 
 First, it fastens the mouth of the case firmly to the leaves or 
 branches of the plant on which it has been feeding, and then with- 
 draws itself into the case. Should it be a male larva, it turns 
 completely round, so that its head coincides with the opening at 
 the lower end of the case, through which it makes its escape when 
 fully developed. The female moth, however, behaves like that 
 of the House-builder, and, although she also fastens the mouth of 
 her case to the tree, she never leaves her home, and therefore 
 does not need to alter her attitude. 
 
 The name of Psyche certainly seems to be misapplied in this 
 instance. In our minds the name of Psyche conveys an idea of 
 the utmost grace and delicacy — two attributes which sculptors 
 and painters have in vain endeavored to embody. If, therefore, 
 we hear that a certain insect is named Psyche, we certainly ex- 
 pect to see a bright and elegant creature, delicate in form and 
 pleasing in color. Whereas, when the domicile is opened and 
 the real Psyche comes to view, nothing can be more disappoint- 
 ing than the fat, awkward, shapeless grub which has been glori- 
 fied with such a name. 
 
 One of our commonest moths makes a really beautiful pensile 
 nest, though it is hardly appreciated as it should be. I allude to 
 the well-known Tiger-Moth {Arctia caja), whose scarlet, white, 
 and brown robes are so familiar to every one who cares for in- 
 sects, or who happens to possess or take an interest in a garden. 
 
 In two of its stages the insect is very common. In the larval 
 condition it is popularly known as the Woolly Bear, in conse- 
 quence of the coating of long bristle-like hairs with which its 
 body is profusely covered, and which project like the quills of a 
 porcupine, or the spines of a hedgehog, whenever the creature 
 rolls itself up, a movement which it always makes when alarmed. 
 So elastic are the hairs, that the caterpillar may be thrown from 
 
THE TIGER MOTH. 305 
 
 a considerable height without suffering any injury, and in all 
 probability their formidable appearance serves to deter foes from 
 meddling with it. 
 
 Certain enemies, however, care nothing for this hairy defense, 
 but swallow the caterpillar without hesitation. Chief among 
 these foes is the cuckoo, which feeds largely on the caterpillar of 
 the Tiger Moth, and, in consequence, is subject to a very remark- 
 able phenomenon. The interior of the gizzard had long been 
 known to be lined with hair, which was thought to be a natural 
 and ordinary growth peculiar to the species. It was however 
 discovered — I believe by John Hunter — that these hairs are those 
 of the Tiger Moth, the points of which have worked themselves 
 into the coats of the organ in which they were found. Hunter 
 employs this fact as an illustration of the power and peculiar 
 movement of the gizzard. 
 
 Doubts have been thrown upon the accuracy of Hunter's state- 
 ment ; but the question has been set at rest by two facts. In the 
 first place, cuckoos that have been held in confinement do not 
 possess the hairy lining; and, in the second place, the microscope 
 proves that the hairs are those of a caterpillar, allied at least to 
 the Tiger Moth, if not belonging to the insect itself 
 
 When the caterpillar has ceased feeding, and is about to be- 
 come a pupa, it ascends some convenient object, and then spins a 
 beautiful cocoon, shaped very much like the grass hammocks 
 made by the natives of tropical America, and bearing a consider- 
 able resemblance to them in general form, as well as in the loose 
 and open meshes. So long, indeed, are the meshes made, that the 
 inclosed insect can be seen through the network, from the time 
 that the old wrinkled skin is cast off and pushed away in a heap 
 by the white and shining chrysalis, to the time when the chrys- 
 alis shell is in its turn shattered, and the perfect moth creeps 
 slowly into the air, all dull, and sodden, and bewildered, with its 
 undeveloped wings looking like four mottled split peas rather 
 than the beautiful members which they soon become, when the 
 air has passed into their vessels, and their multitudinous folds 
 have been shaken out. 
 
 I hope that none of my readers will kill a Tiger Moth in either 
 of its stages. It does no harm to the gardener, and has quite 
 enough foes of its own ; the ichneumon flies piercing it in spite 
 of its long bristles, and the cuckoo, together with other birds, 
 reveling in so large and juicy a morsel. It is a special favorite 
 
 U 
 
306 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 of mine, this great moth, for I have kept so many hundreds of 
 them, and have admired the wondrous details of their anatomy 
 so often, that I am always glad to say a kind word for a creature 
 which has afforded me so much amusement and instruction. 
 
 Among the pensile insects may be reckoned the beautiful BuE- 
 NET Moth {Anthrocera Jilipendulce), an insect which has already 
 been mentioned while treating of the pensile hymenoptera. 
 
 This insect, which is well known for its splendid colors of deep 
 velvet green and blazing scarlet, is also notable for the shape of 
 its antennae, which are so swollen toward the tips as to induce 
 many persons to reckon the insect as a butterfly rather than a 
 moth. 
 
 The shape of the cocoon of the Burnet Moth is not unlike that 
 of the Tiger Moth, but its material and position are very different. 
 The cocoon of the tiger moth is slung horizontally, in hammock 
 fashion, while that of the Burnet is set perpendicularly, and fast- 
 ened to the upper part of a grass stem, one side being firmly 
 pressed against it. The substance of the cocoon is quite opaque, 
 grayish, rather stout, very tough, and having the silken threads, 
 of which it is chiefly made, so conspicuous, that many persons 
 take the cocoon to be the work of a spider. 
 
 Sometimes in a field, or even in a limited portion of a field, 
 these cocoons are so numerous that, at a little distance, they look 
 almost as if they were the seeds of a plant rather than the cocoons 
 of an insect. In such cases the moths themselves may generally 
 be found near the cocoons, sometimes being on the ground and 
 sometimes on the wing. These moths are peculiarly liable to the 
 attacks of the ichneumon flies, for not only does the Burnet ich- 
 neumon make them its special prey, but I have seen a large per- . 
 centage of the cocoons bored full of holes, which show that one 
 of the parasitic hymenopteras has laid its eggs in the caterpillar ; 
 that the young have been developed, and made their escape to 
 continue the work of destruction ; and that the caterpillar which 
 nurtured them is lying dead within its useless cocoon. 
 
 There are others of our finest and yet commonest moths which 
 make to themselves pensile habitations in which they pass the 
 long time of helplessness when they are in the pupal state. Any 
 thing more utterly helpless than the pupa of certain moths can 
 not well be imagined, their only protection consisting either in 
 
THE DRINKER MOTH — THE OAK-EGGER MOTH. 307 
 
 their hiding-place or the sheltering armor in which the creature 
 is enveloped. 
 
 The fur-clad Drinker Moth, for example (Odonestis poiaioria), 
 spins a cocoon which bears some resemblance in its texture to 
 that of the Burnet Moth, though it is rather looser in structure 
 and is of much larger dimensions. The general color of the co- 
 coon is gray, with a few brownish mottlings here and there, and 
 in form it is spindle-shaped, being widest in the centre, and dimin- 
 ishing to a point at either extremity. Conspicuous as this cocoon 
 appears to be when exhibited in a glass case, it is any thing but 
 conspicuous in the position wherein it is placed by the insect. I 
 have bred at least two hundred moths from the caterpillar, and 
 though the space was necessarily limited, many of the cocoons es- 
 caped observation until after the moth had been developed and 
 made its escape. 
 
 Like the Burnet Moth, the Drinker is very liable to the attacks 
 of ichneumons. There is now before me a cocoon which was 
 made in 1846, and is preserved as one of the first instances of an 
 entomologist's disappointment. As it now lies on its slab of 
 white cardboard, it looks as if a charge of dust-shot had been 
 fired through it, no less than seventeen minute holes being per- 
 ceptible on one side alone, each hole representing at least one ich- 
 neumon fly which had made its escape after fulfilling its destruct- 
 ive mission. 
 
 The handsome Oak-egger Moth {Oasiropacha quercus) affords 
 another example of the pensile cocoon. Of these insects also I 
 have had great numbers; and some specimens of the moth, chrys- 
 alis, and cocoon are now before me, the cocoon unchanged by the 
 eighteen years which have elapsed since it was made, but the 
 moth sadly faded, after the manner of its kind when exposed to 
 the action of light. This insect, by the way, is one of those which 
 suffer the most from the fumes of sulphur, a lesson which I long 
 ago learned from experience. Having been told that the best 
 "method of killing moths was to expose them to the fumes of 
 burning sulphur, I invented an apparatus which would cause the 
 insects to be enveloped in dense fumes, while the heat of the 
 burning sulphur was carried off in another directioni 
 
 Of its efiicacy as a means of destruction no complaint can bo 
 made, inasmuch as it destroyed the insect in a very few moments ; 
 but as it likewise discharged the colors, its use was soon given up. 
 
308 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 All the beautiful scarlets lost their tone, and became pale orange, 
 and in the case of the Oak-egger and similar moths, the warm 
 dun of the wings changed to dirty yellow. Moreover, the subli- ■ 
 mated suphur was sure to rest upon the wings, and to destroy 
 their delicacy. 
 
 Camphor, which is so largely and so wrongly used in cabinets, 
 is liable to the same objection. Its volatility is extreme, a large 
 lump vanishing in a wonderfully short time when exposed to the 
 air. The pieces of camphor used in cabinets continually need 
 renewal, and the question frequently arises. Where has the cam- 
 phor gone ? The answer may be found in the dimmed glass, on 
 which a deposit has been left, and which is so difficult to be 
 cleaned, as well as on the inclosed insects, the lustre of whose 
 bodies is sadly marred by the same substance. 
 
 Large as is the caterpillar of the Oak-egger Moth, it is con- 
 tracted into a comparatively small chrysalis when it assumes the 
 pupal state, and makes a cocoon which only allows enough space 
 for the pupa and the cast larval skin. The form of the cocoon is 
 egg-shaped, whence the name of Oak-egger, and its substance is 
 rather peculiar, being thin, hard, and rather brittle when quite 
 dry. Externally it is surrounded by a loose layer of silken 
 threads, by means of ^hich it is attached to the plant on which 
 it hangs ; but the cocoon itself is smooth, very much the color of 
 half-charred paper, and in spite of its brittleness is possessed of 
 some elasticity. 
 
 The manner in which the insect packs itself in so narrow a 
 cell is most ingenious, and a cocoon may well be sacrificed in or- 
 der to show the method by which this feat is achieved. If a co- 
 coon be opened longitudinally, the chrysalis will be seen to fill 
 the whole of the interior. On examining it more closely, the cast 
 skin is seen to envelop the whole abdomen of the pupa, being 
 pushed down in folds so as to fit closely round the pointed abdo- 
 men, and to occupy as little space as possible. 
 
 When the moth escapes from the cocoon, it breaks away quite 
 a large hole at the end next the head, and slips out of the chrys- 
 alis shell with great ease, by lifting up a large flap which covers 
 the legs and the head, and which gives way at the line of de- 
 marcation which separates it from the wings. In consequence 
 of this arrangement, the pupal shell and the cast caterpillar skin 
 remain in exactly the same position, and by means of a little in- 
 genuity the raised flap can be replaced and fastened so as to give 
 
LITTLE EGGBB MOTH — MODE OF SUSPENSION. 309 
 
 no indications that the insect has ever broken it. These cocoons 
 are far more conspicuous than those of the Drinker Moth, and 
 are attached rather lightly to the stems of various plants. 
 
 There is a smaller insect, popularly called the Little Egger 
 Moth (Eriogaster lanestris), which spins a cocoon of a similar 
 structure, except that the walls are of even harder and more uni- 
 form texture, scarcely larger than a wren's egg, and of a substance 
 which looks almost as if it were made of the same material as the 
 egg. When broken, it is found to be even more brittle than that 
 of the larger insect. Owing, in all probability, to the exceeding 
 closeness of the structure, which would exclude air from the in- 
 habitant, it is perforated with one or two very tiny, and very cir- 
 cular holes, which look just as if some one had been trying to kill 
 the insect by piercing the cocoon with a fine needle or pin. 
 
 Even from the outside these perforations are visible, but they 
 are much more evident when the cocoon is opened. The object 
 of these holes is, however, conjectural, and it would be a useful 
 experiment to stop them with wax, in order to see whether the 
 inclosed insect could be developed when the air was thus ex- 
 cluded. I believe that there are none of these holes in the co- 
 coon of the large Oak-egger Moth, and if there be any such per- 
 forations, they are so minute as to escape ijotice. 
 
 If the reader will refer to page 294, he will see an account of 
 certain cocoons which are made by hymenopterous insects, and 
 suspended by a single thread from the branches. In Mr. H. W. 
 Bates's work on the natural history of the Amazon Eiver, there 
 is a most interesting account of a pensile cocoon also suspended 
 by a single thread, but which is the work of a lepidopterous in- 
 sect. It will be seen that Mr. Bates was able to see the insects 
 spin the cocoon, and his account exactly tallies with Mr. West- 
 wood's conjecture as to the method by which the creature man- 
 ages to produce a hollow cocoon at the end of a single thread. 
 Mr. Bates's account is as follows : 
 
 " The first that may be mentioned is one of the most beautiful 
 examples of insect workmanship I ever saw. It is a cocoon, 
 aboul the size of a sparrow's egg, woven by a caterpillar in broad 
 meshes, of either buff or rose-colored silk, and is frequently seen 
 in the narrow alleys of the forest, suspended from the extreme tip 
 of an outstanding leaf by a strong silken thread, five or six inches 
 in length. It forms a very conspicuous object, hanging thus in 
 
310 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 mid-air. The glossy threads with which it is knitted are stout, 
 and the structure is therefore not liable to be torn by the beaks 
 of insectivorous birds, while its pendulous position makes it 
 doubly secure against their attacks, the apparatus giving way 
 when they peck at it. There is a small orifice at each end of the 
 egg-shaped bag, to admit of the escape of the moth when it 
 changes from the little chrysalis which sleeps tranquilly in its 
 airy cage. The moth is of a dull slaty color, and belongs to the 
 Lithosiidse group of the silkworm family {Bomhyddm). 
 
 " When the caterpillar begins its work, it lets itself down from 
 the tip of the leaf which it has chosen by spinning a thread of 
 silk, the thickness of which it slowly increases as it descends. 
 Having given the proper length to the cord, it proceeds to weave 
 its elegant bag, placing itself in the centre, and spinning rings of 
 silk at regular intervals, connecting them at the same time by 
 means of the loose thread ; so that the whole, when finished, 
 forms a loose web, with quadrangular meshes of nearly equal size 
 throughout. The task occupies about four days : when finished, 
 the inclosed caterpillar becomes sluggish, its skin shrivels and 
 cracks, and there then remains a motionless chrysalis of narrow 
 shape, leaning against the sides of its silken cage." 
 
 Some other lepidopterous insects suspend themselves by single 
 threads, but most of them make their habitations of leaves, so 
 that, when suspended, they do not attract much attention, look- 
 ing like chance leaves that have fallen from the branches and 
 caught in a stray piece of spider's web. Sometimes these nests 
 are made from single leaves, the edges of which are drawn to- 
 gether by the silken threads spun by the caterpillar that takes 
 refuge within, and sometimes they are made from several leaves, 
 which are fastened to' each other by similar threads. Some of 
 these pensile nests are inhabited by a number of caterpillars, 
 which live together in perfect harmony. Some nests are not un- 
 common in tropical countries, and one or two of them will be 
 described in the chapter on Social Insects. One traveler de- 
 scribes some of these nests by comparing them to the white paper 
 bags in which grapes are tied, when ripe, in order to preserve 
 them from wasps and other marauders. 
 
 He also mentions that the interior contained a quantity of 
 
 green leaves, which afforded food to the inhabitants, but does not 
 
 ■ tell us whether the leaves were actually growing on the tree and 
 
311 
 
 surrounded by the nest, or whether they had been cut from the 
 boughs outside, and carried into the interior by the inhabitants. 
 The latter supposition is implied, but it can hardly be a correct 
 one, as it is directly contrary to our present knowledge of the 
 habits of caterpillars. I believe that no lepidopterous larva is 
 known to fetch food from a distance, and to store it for future 
 consumption. As far as we know at present, the caterpillar has 
 not the least thought for the morrow, but simply devours the 
 leaves where they grow. 
 
 There are many species, such as the larva of the common 
 Brown-tail Moth {Porthesia aurijiua), or of the Small Ebmine 
 Moth ( Yponomeuia padella), which travel by day to considerable 
 distances in their search after food, and return at night to their 
 common habitation, guided by the threads which they continual- 
 ly spin as they crawl along. But no caterpillar is kno'wn which 
 is gifted with the instinct of cutting off leaves and bringing them 
 home for food, and we may therefore infer that the leaves in ques- 
 tion were growing on the branches, and that the nests had beeri 
 purposely spun round them. 
 
 There are, however, one or two species of British insects, be- 
 longing to the lepidoptera, which do cut qff leaves and use them 
 for the construction of the cocoon, though they do not employ 
 them for food. These insects are moths, belonging to the genus 
 Acronycta, and popularly called Spurge Moths, on account of 
 the plant on which they reside. One of these species makes a re- 
 ally curious pensile cocoon from the leaves of the cypress spurge 
 {Euphorbia cyparissias), rather a scarce perennial plant about a 
 foot in height, growing about woods and the borders of the fields. 
 The leaves of the stem are lance-shaped, and those of the branch- 
 es almost linear, like grass blades, and it is of these latter that the 
 insect makes its habitation. 
 
 About October, the caterpillar begins to make its house, arid 
 does so in a very curious manner. Detaching a leaf from a 
 branch, it fastens one end to the stem, and then bends the leaf so 
 as to form a loop, and fastens the other end in a similar manner. 
 A number of the leaves are placed nearly parallel to each other, 
 so that when they are firmly woven together they form a bag-like 
 cocoon, fixed to the stem of the plant by one side, and being up- 
 right like that of the burnet moth. Its texture is, however, very 
 unlike that of the burnet, being loose, almost wholly composed of 
 vegetable matter, and comparatively flimsy. 
 
312 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 It has well been remarked that the strength, or, at all events, 
 the weather-resisting power of a cocoon, depends upon the length 
 of time which is occupied by the insect in undergoing its trans- 
 formation, those creatures which only spend a few weeks in the 
 pupal state being content with a mere web or hammock of silk, 
 while those which pass the winter in the pupal condition make 
 habitations which are comparatively substantial. 
 , This rule, however, is not without its exceptions, as we find the 
 pupse of several butterflies, the common cabbage butterfly, for ex- 
 ample, merely hung against walls, etc., without any protection 
 around them. Instinct leads them to choose such spots as can 
 best afford them shelter, as every one knows who has a tool-house 
 or a summer-house in the garden, but there are many cases in 
 which no such protection can be found, and the insects are forced 
 to content themselves with the southern side of a tree-trunk, or 
 the least windy side of a paling. 
 
 The caterpillar of the Spurge Moth is rather prettily marked, 
 being striped longitudinally with white, red, and brown, relieved 
 with black, and furnished with some scanty tufts of hair on each 
 segment. 
 
 One species of insect suspends the cocoon by a thread at each 
 end, so that the resemblance to a hammock is exact. This is the 
 Argyromiges autumnella, one of the minute moths called Micro- 
 Lepidoptera. The larva of this species is naked. It is a native 
 of England. 
 
 We now pass to the enormous variety of caterpillars which are 
 popularly called Leaf-rollers, because they make their homes in 
 leaves which they curl up in various methods. 
 
 Some use a single leaf, and others employ two or more in the 
 construction of their nests. Even the single-leaf insects display 
 a wonderful variety in their modes of performing an apparently 
 simple task. Some bend the leaf longitudinally, and merely fast- 
 en the two edges together, while others bend it transversely, fix- 
 ing the point to the middle nervure. Some roll it longitudinal- 
 ly, so as to make a hollow cylinder corresponding with the entire 
 length of the leaf, while others roll it transversely, so that the cyl- 
 inder is only as long as the leaf is wide, and a few species cut a 
 slit in the leaf and roll up only a small portion of it. 
 
 The leaf-roller caterpillars bglong to numerous species, and are 
 plentiful enough — too plentiful, indeed, to please the gardener, 
 
THE OAK MOTH. 813 
 
 •who finds the leaves of his favorite trees curled up and perma- 
 nently disfigured by these little marauders. All of them are of 
 small size, and some so minute that the mere fact of their ability 
 to roll up a leaf is something wonderful. 
 
 They flourish best during mild and rather rainy, seasons, be- 
 cause the leaves are charged with moisture, and are so soft that 
 they can easily be rolled, and, moreover, contain a plentifnl sup- 
 ply of food. During the present year the Leaf-rollers have suffer- 
 ed greatly, the continual drought having dried up the leaves, ren- 
 dering them both stiff and innutritious. The lilacs in my garden, 
 which are usually, covered with these cylindrical nests of Leaf: 
 roller caterpillars, are comparatively free from them, and the few 
 which exist are very poor specimens) several having been aban- 
 doned in a half-made state. In the lilacs of a friend, however, 
 where the soil is about one hundred and twenty feet lower than 
 my own garden, there are plenty of Leaf-roller nests, the ground 
 being much moister than in more elevated situations, and being, 
 moreover, on a different soil. 
 
 The mechanics of the Leaf-roller nest are very curious, and 
 will be presently mentioned. 
 
 One of the most common among the Leaf-rollers is the pretty 
 Oak Moth {Tortrix viridana), which must not be confounded 
 with the oak-egger moth already mentioned. It is a little crea- 
 ture with four rather wide delicate wings, the upper pair of a soft 
 leaf-green, and the under pair of a grayish hue. In some seasons, 
 the moths, or rather their larvse, are so plentiful that great dam- 
 age is done to the oak forests, tree after tree being so covered 
 with them that scarcely a leaf escapes destruction, and the growth 
 of the tree is consequently checked. 
 
 Like all Leaf-rollers, they feed on the green substance, or joa- 
 renchyma of the leaf, and, being ensconced within their tubular 
 home, can eat without fear of molestation. They are not very 
 much afraid even of the small birds, for as soon as a bill is push- 
 ed into one end of the leafy cylinder, the caterpillar hastily " bun- 
 dles" out of the other — there is no other word which so fully ex- 
 presses the peculiar action of the larva— and lowers itself toward 
 the ground by a silken thread which proceeds from its moUth. 
 In fact, it acts like a spider in similar circumstances. 
 
 Where these insects are plentiful, an absurd effect can be pro- 
 duced by tapping the branches of oak trees with, a stick. As the 
 
314 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Stroke reverberates through the branch, the leaves, which appear 
 to the casual passenger to be ia their ordinary condition, give 
 forth their inhabitants, and hundreds of tiny caterpillars descend 
 in hot haste, each lowering itself by a thread and dropping in lit- 
 tle jerks of an inch or two each. Some of them are more timid 
 than the others, and descend nearly to the ground; but the gen- 
 eral mass of them remains at about the same height. Another 
 tap will cause them all to drop a foot or two lower, the stroke be- 
 ing felt even at the end of the suspending thread ; and by admin- 
 istering a succession of such taps they will all be induced to come 
 to the ground. There they will wait a considerable time; but 
 presently one of them will begin to reascend, working its -way up- 
 ward along the slender and scarcely visible line as easily as if it 
 were crawling upon level ground. The least alarm will cause 
 them to drop again, for they are then very timid ; but, if allowed 
 to remain in peace, they speedily reach their cells, and enter them 
 with a haste that very much resembles the quick jerk with which 
 a soldier-crab enters the shell from which he has been ejected. 
 
 If a tolerably smart breeze be blowing, the sight is still more 
 curious, for the caterpillars are swung about through very large 
 arcs, and, if the wind be steady, are all blown in one direction, so 
 that their line forms quite a large angle with the level of the leaf 
 to which the upper end is attached. The caterpillars, however, 
 seem to he, quite indifferent in the matter, and ascend steadily, 
 whether the line be simply perpendicular, or whether it be vio- 
 lently blown about by the wind. 
 
 At the proper season of year, the moths are as plentiful as the 
 larvae, and a shake with the hand will cause a whole cloud of the 
 green creatures to issue forth, producing a strangely confused ef- 
 fect to the eye as they flutter about with an uncertain and devi- 
 ous flight. A sweep with an ordinary entomological net will cap- 
 ture plenty of them, but in a few minutes they all disappear, 
 some of them returning to the branches whence they had come, 
 and others dropping to the ground. During the summer of 1864 
 they were very plentiful in Daren th Wood, the heavy growth of 
 oaks giving them every encouragement. 
 
 The insect which commits such devastation on the lilacs is gen- 
 erally the little chocolate-colored moth called the Lilac Moth 
 {Lazotcenia ribeana), though there are other allied species which 
 infest the same plant. Any one may see the damaged leaves for 
 
THE LILAO MOTH. 315 
 
 himself, and therefore I shall not particularly describe them, but 
 pass at once to the mechanical powers which are involved in the 
 task of curling the elastic leaf into cylindrical form. 
 
 Compare the size of the lilac leaf and of the newly -hatched cat- 
 erpillar, the latter being about as large as the capital. letter I. 
 That so minute a creature should roll up the leaf by main strength 
 is of course an impossibility, and the method by which that con- 
 summation is attained is so. remarkable an instance of practical 
 mechanics that I must describe the operation at length. 
 
 If the reader will procure one of the rolled leaves, he will see 
 that the . cylindrical portion is retained in its place by a row of 
 silken threads, which are individually weak, but collectively 
 strong, holding the elastic leaf as firmly as Gulliver was held by 
 the multitudinous cords with which he was fastened to the 
 ground. That they should hold the cylinder in shape is to be 
 expected, but the manner in which the cylinder is made is not so 
 clear. The following is the process : 
 
 First, the caterpillar attaches a number of threads to the point 
 and upper edges of the leaf, and fastens the other ends to the 
 middle of the leaf itself. It now proceeds to perforna an opera- 
 tion which is precisely similar to the nautical method of " bows- 
 ing" up a rope. In order to " bowse" a rope taut, two men are 
 employed, one of them pulling the nearly tightened rope at right 
 angles so as to bend it, while the other continually belays it to 
 the cleats. Now the caterpillar performs precisely this operation, 
 but without requiring the aid of an assistant, the " bowsing" be- 
 ing performed by its feet, and the belaying by its spinneret. By 
 thus hauling at and tightening each line in succession, the cater- 
 pillar bends the leaf over slightly, and then attaches a fresh series 
 of threads to keep it in its place. By repeating this process, and 
 by continually adding fresh lines, the creature fairly bends the 
 leaf into a hollow cylinder, and then crawls inside to enjoy its 
 well-earned home. 
 
 I may here point out that the whole process of rolling the leaf 
 affords an admirable example of mechanics as exhibited in na- 
 ture, and that it is achieved by the well-known principle of ex- 
 changing space and time for power. Although the caterpillar 
 can not by any exertion of strength roll up the leaf in one min- 
 ute, it is enabled to do so by dividing the work into a multitude 
 of parts, and taking much longer tinie about it, just as a man who 
 can not lift a single weight of a thousand pounds may do so by 
 
316 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 dividing it into ten parts, and, in consequence, by taking up a 
 considerable time in lifting the separate parts. 
 
 Again, in tbe silken bands which hold the rolled and elastic 
 leaf in its place, we have an excellent example of accumulated • 
 power ; neither of the threads being alone capable of enduring 
 the tension, but their united strength being more than sufficient 
 for the task. 
 
 As soon as the caterpillar has entered its new home, it begins 
 to feed, eating the green substance of the leaf, and generally leav- 
 ing the nervures untouched. Sometimes the caterpillar lives for 
 so short a time that a single leaf is sufficient for its subsistence ; 
 but there are some species which are obliged to repeat the task 
 more than once. 
 
 There are other insects which also make their habitations in 
 leaves ; but, instead of rolling up the leaf and living inside the 
 cylinder, they make their way between the two membranes, and 
 there remain until they have undergone their transformation. 
 
 The reader must often have seen the leaves of garden plants 
 and trees, especially those of the rose, traversed by pale winding 
 marks, that look something like the rivers upon a map, and hav- 
 ing mostly a narrow dark line running exactly along the middle. 
 These curious marks are the tracks which are made by the various 
 leaf-mining insects, while eating their way through the leaf in 
 which they pass their larval state. In most cases, when tbe in- 
 sect has completed its term of larval existence, one end of the 
 track is found to be greatly widened, and to contain either the 
 pupa itself or its empty case. 
 
 The track differs considerably in shape, according to the insect 
 which makes it. Sometimes it winds about in the middle of the 
 leaf, crossing itself more than once in its progress. Sometimes it 
 proceeds in a nearly straight line across the leaf, and very fre- 
 quently, especially in deeply-cut leaves, it follows the outline, 
 keeping to the edge, and not trenching at all on the, central por- 
 tions. 
 
 Insects belonging to three orders are known to make these cu- 
 rious habitations, namely, the Lepidoptera, the Coleoptera, and the 
 Diptera. Of these, the Lepidoptera are by far the most numer- 
 ous and belong to that group which is called, on account of their 
 very minute dimensions, the Micro-Lepidoptera. These are all 
 little moths, so small that on the wing they can scarcely be rec- 
 
THE DAGGER MOTH — THE CELERY FLY. 317 
 
 ognized as moths, and look more like little flies. They are all 
 very beautiful, and many of the species are truly magnificent 
 when seen through a microscope, their plumage glittering as if 
 made of burnished gold and silver. Indeed, one genus in which 
 these leaf-miners are comprised is named Argyromiges, a title 
 based on a Greek word signifying silver. 
 
 The species which is most common in the leaves of the rose- 
 tree is the Eed-headed Pigmy {Microsetia ruficapitella). The 
 larva of this insect seems not to possess even the rudiments of 
 legs, and forces itself through the leaves by means of certain pro- 
 jections of the skin, which are sharp and angular, and serve as 
 instruments of progression, like the abdominal scales of the ser- 
 pent and the bristles of the earth-worm. A species which is 
 found, in the leaf of the oak is known to collectors by the name 
 of Cramer's Pigmy {Argyromiges Cramerella). The caterpillars 
 of the Dagger Moth {Diumea) also live between the membranes 
 of leaves, and are remarkable for the last pair of feet, which are 
 shaped like a couple of very minute battledores. These feet are 
 spread out greatly in the act of walking, and the creature is far- 
 ther aided in its progress by the haij-covered warts upon the body. 
 
 As for the beetle leaf-miners, they are to be found among the 
 weevils ; and it is a remarkable fact that one of these insects be- 
 longs to the genus Clonus, which has already been mentioned on 
 page 297 as the weaver of certain beautiful pensile cocoons. 
 
 Of the Diptera, the Celery Fly {Tephritis onopordinis) is a 
 good example. The larva of this really pretty fly, with its green 
 eyes and black and white spotted wings, feeds not only on the 
 celery, but on the parsnip, and does great harm to both plants. 
 Gardeners often employ little boys to examine the celery plants, 
 and whenever they find a "blister," as they technically call it, to 
 crush the inclosed maggot' between the fingers. The color of 
 this larva is pale green, so that it is not readily seen even when 
 the blister is opened. If allowed to have its own way, the larva 
 remains in the bag until it has finished its eating, and then de- 
 scends into the ground, where it changes into the pupal state, and 
 remains until the following spring. In such a case the leaves 
 are often much damaged, the blisters being yellowish-white, and 
 the leaf itself drooping and half withered. 
 
 Our last examples of pensile nests are taken from the Arach- 
 nidse, being formed by several species of spiders. 
 
318 HOMES "WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 It may perhaps be necessary to remark that the threads with 
 which the spiders make their webs are in some respects similar to 
 those which are produced by various caterpillars, and in other 
 respects are exceedingly dissimilar. In both cases the threads 
 are formed from a semi-liquid secretion, which is produced in the 
 internal organs, is forced through minute apertures at the will of 
 the animal, and hardens into a thread as soon as it comes in con- 
 tact with the air. 
 
 Here, however, the resemblance ceases. The threads of the 
 caterpillar are double, or rather are composed of two lines fused 
 together throughout their length, the two half lines proceeding 
 from a large silk-secreting tube at either side of the body, and 
 uniting at the mouth, where they become fused together by pass- 
 ing through a short tube common to both. The threads of the 
 spider are much more complex, each being formed of a vast 
 number of smaller lines, which are produced from a peculiar or- 
 gan termed the " spinneret," which is placed at the extremity of 
 the body. In consequence of its position, the spider always 
 hangs with its head downward while lowering itself by means of 
 its line. 
 
 The spinnerets are externally like little rounded projections, 
 arranged in pairs, and four, six, or eight in number. They are 
 variable in shape, mostly being rounded, but sometimes being so 
 long that they have been mistaken for feelers. The spinnerets 
 are covered with a multitude of very minute hair-like append- 
 ages, which are, in fact, the tubes through which the liquid secre- 
 tion is forced into the air. All the threads which proceed from 
 these tubes are joined into a single line ; and it will be at once 
 seen that very great strength is obtained by making the line com- 
 pound instead of single. 
 
 The best known of these creatures is the common Gaeden 
 Spider {Epeira diadema), sometimes called the Geometric Spi- 
 der, whose beautifully radiated net is so familiar that its general 
 shape requires no description. Suffice it to say that the spider 
 exhibits wonderful skill in placing its web, making a frame-work 
 of very strong threads or ropes, and then spinning the net itself 
 between them. Very great elasticity is thus obtained, for the 
 threads are exceedingly elastic ; so that, although stretched toler- 
 ably tightly, they will yield to pressure, and immediately recover 
 themselves. This property is very needful, in order to enable 
 them to resist the wind, to which they are so fully exposed. 
 
THE GARDEN SPIDEK. 319 
 
 These spiders have, moreover, a most singular plan of strength- 
 ening their web when the wind is more than ordinarily violent. 
 If they find that the wind stretches their nets to a dangerous ex- 
 tent, they hang pieces of wood, or stone, or other substances to 
 the web, so as to obtain the needful steadiness. I have seen a 
 piece of wood which had been thus used by a Garden Spider, and 
 which was some two inches in length, and thicker than an ordi- 
 nary drawing-pencil. The spider hauled it to a height of nearly 
 five feet ; and when by some accident the suspending thread was 
 broken, the little creature immediately lowered itself to the 
 ground, attached a fresh thread, ascended again to the web, and 
 hauled the piece of wood after it. 
 
 It found this balance-weight at some distance from the web, 
 and certainly must have dragged it for a distance of five feet 
 along the ground before reaching the spot below the web. There 
 were eight or ten similar webs in the same veranda, but only in 
 the single instance was the net steadied by a weight. 
 
 The structure of the beautiful web is very remarkable. 
 
 It is nearly circular, and is composed of a number of straight 
 lines, radiating from a common centre, and having a spiral line 
 wound regularly upon them. Kow the structure of the radiating 
 and the spiral lines is quite distinct, as may be seen by applying 
 a microscope of moderate power. The radiating lines are smooth 
 and not very elastic, whereas the spiral line is thickly studded 
 with minute knobs, and is elastic to a wonderful degree, remind- 
 ing the observer of a thread of India-rubber. So elastic, indeed, 
 is this line, that many observers have thought that the spider has 
 the power of retracting them within the spinnerets, inasmuch as 
 she often will draw a thread out to a considerable length, and 
 then, when she approaches the point to which it will be attached, 
 it seems to re-enter the spinneret until it is shortened to the re- 
 quired length. This, however, is only an optical delusion, and 
 caused by the great elasticity of the thread, which can accommo- 
 date itself to the space which it is required to cross. 
 
 It is to the little projections that the efficacy of the net is due, 
 for they are composed of a thick, adhesive, and viscid substance, 
 and serve to arrest the wings and legs of the insects that happen 
 to touch the net. In his splendid work on the British Spiders, 
 Mr. Blackwell has the following remarks upon the structure of 
 the threads : " As the radii are unadhesive, and possess only a 
 moderate share of elasticity, they must consist of a different mate- 
 
320 HOMES "WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 rial from that of the viscid spiral line, which is elastic in an ex- 
 traordinary degree. Now the viscidity of this line may be shown 
 to depend entirely upon the globules with which it is studded; 
 for if they be removed by careful application of the finger, a fine 
 glossy filament remains, which is highly elastic, but perfectly un- 
 adhesive. As the globules, therefore, and the line on which they 
 are disposed, differ so essentially from each other and from the 
 radii, it is reasonable to infer that the physical constitution of 
 these several portions of the net must be dissimilar. 
 
 "An estimate t)f the number of viscid globules distributed on 
 the elastic spiral line in a net of Epdra apoclisa of a medium size 
 will convey some idea of the elaborate operations performed by 
 the Epeira in the construction of their snares. The mean dis- 
 tance between two adjacent radii in a net of this species is about 
 seven tenths of an inch ; if, therefore, the number seven be multi- 
 plied by twenty, the mean number of viscid globules which occur 
 on one tenth of an inch of the elastic spiral line at the ordinary 
 degree of tension, the product will be 140, the mean number of 
 globules deposited on seven tenths of an inch of the elastic spiral 
 line. This product multiplied by twenty-four, the mean number 
 of circumvolutions described by the elastic spiral line, gives 3360, 
 the mean number of globules contained between two radii ; which, 
 multiplied by twenty-six, the mean number of radii, produces 
 87,360, the total number of viscid globules in a finished net of av- 
 erage dimensions. 
 
 "A large net, fourteen or sixteen inches in diameter, will be 
 found by a similar calculation to contain upward of 120,000 vis- 
 cid globules, and yet Epeira apoclisa will complete its snare in 
 about forty minutes if it meet with no interruption." 
 
 These calculations will serve to show the elaborate nature of 
 the webs which we see constantly in our gardens, as well as their 
 value to the architect. The secretion of the liquid from which 
 the lines proceed is a work of time, so that if a spider is forced to 
 spin several nets in rapid succession, it loses all its silk and can 
 not make a web. To wait until a fresh supply should be secreted 
 would be a terrible privation, and, moreover, the want of food 
 would stop the secretion, so that the spider has no other resource 
 than to make war on a weaker spider, drive him out of his net, 
 and usurp possession thereof. Such being the case, the spiders 
 are all very chary of using their silk, and never trouble them- 
 selves to make webs when a storm is impending. They are 
 
SENSE OP TOUCH — AGELENA BEUNNEA. 321 
 
 therefore very excellent barometers, and if the spiders all take to 
 mending their nets or spinning new webs, fine weather is always 
 at hand. 
 
 One very remarkable point in the construction of these webs, 
 so exactly true in all their proportions, is that they are executed 
 entirely by the sense of touch. The eyes are situated on the front 
 of the body and on the upper surface, whereas the spinnerets are 
 placed at the very extremity of the body and on the under sur- 
 face, the threads being always guided by one of the hind legs, as 
 may be seen by watching a garden spider in the act of building 
 or repairing her web. In order that the fact should be placed be- 
 yond a doubt, spiders have been confined in total darkness, and 
 yet have spun webs which were as true and as perfect as those 
 which are made in daylight. 
 
 A PEOtJLiAELT beautiful pensile cocoon is constructed by a 
 common British spider, scientifically termed Agelena hrunnea, but 
 which has no popular name. It is really remarkable that,, con- 
 sidering the great number of species which inhabit England, so 
 very few should have been sufficiently distinguished to receive 
 popular names. Owing, in all probability, to the foolish dislike ■ 
 toward spiders entertained by most persons, a dislike which has 
 been instilled into their minds at a very early age, these wonder- 
 ful and interesting creatures are seldom -^ratched, and there are 
 very few persons who really know one spider from another, or 
 who have any idea of their exceeding usefulness when in the 
 places which they were intended to inhabit. Spiders are certain- 
 ly out of their place in a room, and the housemaid is perfectly 
 justified in exterminating them, but in the garden or the field 
 they should never be injured, but rather encouraged as much as 
 possible. 
 
 The species whose beautiful nest will now be described is gen- 
 erally to be found upon commons, especially where gorse is abun- 
 dant, as it generally hangs its nest to the prickly leaves of that 
 shrub. The cocoon is shaped rather like a wine-glass, and is al- 
 ways hung with the mouth downward, being fastened by the stalk 
 to a leaf or twig of the gorse. It is very small, only measuring a 
 quarter of an inch in diameter, and, when it is first made, is of the 
 purest white, so as to be plainly visible among the leaves. 
 
 This purity, however, it retains but a very short time ; for aft- 
 er the spider has deposited her eggs, which are quite spherical, 
 
 X 
 
322 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 and about forty or fifty in number, she closes the mouth of the 
 cocoon and proceeds to daub it all over with mud. The moist- 
 ened earth clings tightly to the silken cocoon, and disguises it so 
 effectually that no one who had not seen it before that operation 
 could conceive how beautiful it had once been. The muddy 
 cover certainly makes the cocoon less visible, and may probably 
 have another effect, that of protecting the inclosed eggs and young 
 from the attacks of insects that feed upon spiders. Several oth- 
 er species have the habit of daubing their beautiful cocoons with 
 mud. 
 
 This species is plentiful in Bostal Common and Bexley Heath 
 in Kent, the profuse growth of gorse being very suitable to its 
 mode of life, and I have several specimens of their nests taken 
 from Shooter's Hill. June is the best month for them, as they 
 may be found both before and after the mud has been applied. 
 
 An aUied species, Agelena labyrinthica, is equally plentiful in 
 similar localities, where its curious webs may be seen stretched in 
 horizontal sheets over the gorse, and having attached to each web 
 a cylindrical tube, at the end of which sits the spider itself. 
 Heath and common grass are also frequented by this spider. 
 
 Besides the net or web in which it lives, and by means of 
 which it catches prey, it makes a beautiful cocoon in which the 
 eggs are placed. Externally the cocoon looks like a simple silk- 
 en bag, perfectly white in color, and, except in size, somewhat re- 
 sembling that of the preceding species. It is only when quite 
 freshly made that the white hue of the cocoon is visible ; for, aft- 
 er its completion, it is covered with scraps of dry leaves, bark, 
 earth, and other substances. If, however, this cocoon be opened, 
 it is found to contain at least another cocoon within, and often 
 comprises two, of a saucer-like shape, and made also of white silk. 
 These inner cocoons are nearly half an inch in diameter, and con- 
 tain a very variable quantity of pale yellow spherical eggs, some- 
 times fifty in number, but often exceeding a hundred. The inner 
 cocoons are firmly tied by strong lines to the interior of the large 
 sac in which they are inclosed. 
 
TflE PENCILED BETTONG. 323 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 BUILDERS. 
 
 Building Mammalia. — Definition of the Title. — Inferiority of the Mammalia as 
 Architects. — The Behsh-tailed Bettong. — Its Structure and Color. — The Nest 
 of the Bettong, and its Adaptation to the Locality. — Singular Method of convey- 
 ing Materials. — Its nocturnal Habits. — The Kabbit-eakbd Bandicoot and its 
 Habitat. — The generic Title. — Carious Form of the Ears and Feet. — Difficulty in 
 discoTering its Nest. — The Musquash, or Ondatra. — Its general Habits. — Its 
 burrowing Powers, and Extent of its Tunnels. — The Musquash as a Builder. — 
 Form and Size of its House. — Mode of Killing the Animal by Spear, Gun, and 
 Trap. — Its Flesh and Fur. 
 
 We now take our leave of the Pensiles, and pass to those ani- 
 mals which build, rather than burrow or weave. The materials 
 used by the Builders are variable. In the most perfect examples, 
 earth is the material that is employed, but in many instances 
 other substances, such as wood, earth, and sticks, are used by the 
 architect. 
 
 As a general rule, the mammalia are by no means notable for 
 their skill in the construction of their homes. In making bur- 
 rows they far excel all the other vertebrates both in the length 
 of the tunnels and in the elaborate arrangements of the subterra- 
 nean domicile. The mole, for example, is pre-eminent as a bur- 
 rower and as a subterranean architect, and there are many of the 
 rodents which drive a whole labyrinth of tunnels through the soil. 
 But they are very indifferent builders, and, with a few exceptions, 
 are unable to raise an edifice of any kind, or to weave a nest that 
 deserves the name. 
 
 Our list of Building Mammalia will therefore be a short one, 
 comprising only three species, two inhabiting Australia and one 
 a native of America. 
 
 The first example of the Building Mammalia is the Penciled 
 Bettong {Beitongiapencillaia), sometimes called the Beush-tailed 
 Bettong, and often known by the name of Jerboa Kangaroo. 
 The word Bettong is a native name for a group of small kanga- 
 roos that are easily recognized by the shape of their heads, which 
 
324 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 are peculiarly short, thick, and round, and very unlike the long, 
 deer-like head of the larger kangaroos. 
 
 The Brush-tailed Bettong is about as large as a hare, and its 
 tail is not quite a foot in length, though it appears longer in con- 
 sequence of a brush-like tuft of long hair which decorates the end. 
 It is a pretty creature, elegant in shape, extremely active, and the 
 white pencilings on the brown back, the gray-white belly, and the 
 jetty tuft on the tail are in beautiful contrast to each other. 
 
 The home of this animal is a kind of compromise between a 
 burrow and a house, being partly sunk below the surface of the 
 ground and partly built above it. The localities wherein the 
 Bettong is found are large grassy hills whereon there is hardly 
 any cover, and where the presence of a nest large enough to con- 
 tain the animal, and yet small enough to escape observation, ap- 
 pears to be almost impossible. The Bettong, however, sets about 
 its task by examining the ground until it finds a moderately deep 
 depression, if possible near a high tuft of grass. 
 
 Using this depression as the foundation of the nest, it builds 
 a roof over it with leaves, grass, and similar materials, not high 
 enough to overtop the neighboring herbage, and being very sim- 
 ilar to it in external appearance. Grass of a suitable length can 
 not always be obtained close to the nest, and the Bettong is there- 
 fore obliged to convey it from a distance. The task it performs 
 in a manner so curious, that, were it not related by so accurate 
 and trustworthy an observer as Mr. Gould, it could hardly be 
 credited. After the animal has procured a moderately large 
 bunch of grass, it rolls its tail round it so as to form it into a 
 sheaf, and then jumps away to its nest, carrying the bunch of 
 grass" in its tail. In Mr. Gould's work on the Macropidse of Aus- 
 tralia, there is an illustration which represents the Bettong leaping 
 over the ground with its grass sheaf behind it. After the nest 
 has been completed, the mother Bettong is always careful to close 
 the entrance whenever she leaves her home, and pulls a loose tuft 
 of grass over the aperture. 
 
 To an ordinary European eye, the homes of the Bettong are 
 quite undistinguishable from the surrounding grass. The natives, 
 however, seldom pass a nest without seeing it, and destroying the 
 inmate. Being a nocturnal animal, the Bettong is sure to be at 
 home and asleep during the daytime, so that when a native passes 
 a nest he always dashes his tomahawk into its midst, thus killing 
 or stunning the sleeping inmates. 
 
THE EABBIT-EARED BANDICOOT — THE MUSK EAT. 825 
 
 The second Building Mammal on our list i^ also a native of 
 Australia, and is known by the name of Eabbit-eared Bandi- 
 coot {Perameles [or Ghceropits] castanotis). Of the two generic 
 names the latter is certainly preferable, as it alludes to the remark- 
 able structure of the limbs. The fore feet are small and delicate, 
 and only two toes are developed. Instead of being furnished with 
 long claws at their extremity, the feet are terminated by two short 
 and pointed claws of equal length, and looking exactly like the 
 hoofs of a pig. It is in allusion to this peculiarity that the generic 
 name " Choeropus," or swine-footed, has been given to the animal. 
 
 It is a rather odd-looking little creature, about as large as an 
 ordinary rabbit, and having ears so long and large that the re- 
 semblance to the rabbit is really striking. Owing to the great 
 length of the hind legs, the gait of the animal is rather peculiar, 
 being a kind of mixture between walking and hopping, and when 
 the creature is alarmed, it jumps away with wonderful speed. 
 Specimens of this Bandicoot have lived in England. 
 
 The nest which it makes is not unlike that of the Bettong, 
 which has been already described. The animal inhabits the 
 same kind of locality, namely, grass-covered hills and "scrubs," 
 and builds its nest of grass and leaves, sheltering it, if possible, 
 .beneath a grass tuft or some thick bush. The Eabbit-eared 
 Bandicoot inhabits New South "Wales, and the nests are chiefly 
 to be found near the banks of the Murray Eiver. They are, 
 however, so cleverly hidden, and the materials of which they are 
 built are so similar to surrounding objects, that an inexperienced 
 person might almost walk over them without discovering their 
 presence. 
 
 We now come to our last example of the Building Mammalia, 
 namely, the Musquash, or Ondatra of Noith America {Fiber 
 ZiheiMeus), sometimes called the Musk Eat. 
 
 This animal might have been placed among the burrowers, for 
 it is quite as good an excavator as many which have been de- 
 scribed under that title, but as it builds as well as burrows, it has 
 been reserved for its present position in the work. 
 
 Essentially a bank-haunting animal, it is never to be seen at 
 any great distance from water, and, like the beaver, to which it is 
 closely allied, it is usually to be found either in the river itself or 
 on its edge, where its brown wet fur harmonizes so well with the 
 brown wet mud that the creature can scarcely be distinguished 
 
326 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 from the surrounding soil. It is seen to th6 best advantage in 
 the water, where it swims and diveS with consummate ease, aided 
 greatly by the webs which connect the hinder toes. 
 
 The Musquash drives a large series of tunnels into the bank, 
 excavated in various directions, and having several entrances, all 
 of which open under the surface of the water. The tunnels are 
 of considerable length, some being as much as fifty or sixty feet 
 in length, and they all slope slightly upward, uniting in a single 
 chamber, in which is the couch of the inhabitants. If the animal 
 happens to live upon a marshy and uniformly wet soil, it becomes 
 a builder, and erects houses so large that they look like small 
 haycocks. Sometimes these houses are from three to four feet in 
 height. 
 
 The natives take advantage of the habits of the animal, and 
 kill it while it lies on its couch, much after the same manner as is 
 used by the natives of Australia when they pass the house of the 
 Bettong. Taking in his hand a large four-barbed spear, shaped 
 something like the well-known "grains" with which sailors kill 
 dolphins -and porpoises, the native steals up to the house, and, 
 driving his formidable weapon through the walls, is sure to trans- 
 fix the inhabitants. Holding the spear firmly with one hand, 
 with the other he takes his tomahawk from his belt, dashes the 
 house to pieces, and secures the unfortunate animals. 
 
 As the fur of the Musquash is valuable, and the flesh is con- 
 sidered as good as that of the duck, it is greatly persecuted by 
 hunters, who generally employ one of four methods, two of which 
 require a knowledge of the home. One plan has already been 
 described, and another consists in finding out the different en- 
 trances, blocking them up, and then intercepting the animals as 
 they try to escape. Sometimes the gun is used, but not very fre- 
 quently, as the Musquash is so wary that it dives at the least 
 alarm, darts into one of its holes, and will not show itself again 
 until assured of safety. The trap, however, is the ordinary means 
 of destruction. This is made of iron, and is set in such a manner 
 that as soon as the animal is caught its struggles cause the trap 
 to fall into the water, dragging after it the Musquash, which is 
 soon drowned. 
 
 In its subterranean home the Musquash lays up large stores 
 of provisions, and in the habitation have been found turnips, 
 parsnips, carrots, and even maize. All the roots had been dug 
 out of the soil, and the maize had been bitten off close to the 
 
THE OVEN BIRD. 327 
 
 ground. The Musquash is not a large animal, the length of its 
 head and body being only fourteen inches. 
 
 I have in my collection a curious bag or pouch made from the 
 skin of the Musquash by a very simple process. The animal has 
 been laid on its back, and the skin divided transversely across the 
 lower part of the abdomen. The body has then been gradually 
 turned out of the skin, all the limbs removed except the paws, 
 and the skull also taken away. The inside of the skin is then 
 dried, and prepared in some ingenious manner so that it serves 
 as a convenient pouch, the slit across the abdomen forming the 
 entrance, the tail acting as a handle for suspension, and the feet 
 dangling as ornaments. For this curious specimen I am indebted 
 to Lieutenant Pusey, E.N. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 BUILDING BIRDS. 
 
 The Oven Bird and its place in Ornithology. — Its general Habits. — Nest of the 
 Oven Bird. — Curious Materials and historical Parallel. — The Specimens in the 
 British Museum. — The internal Architecture of the Nest. — Division into Cham- 
 bers. — The Pied Geallina. — The Specimens at the Zoological Gardens. — Mate- 
 rials and Form of the Nest. — Boldness of the Bird. — The Song Theush and its 
 Nest. — The Blackbird and its clay-lined Nests. — Supposed Reasons for the Lin- 
 ing. — The Fairy Martin. — Locality, Shape, and Materials of the Nest. — Sdcial 
 Habits of the Bird. — How the Nest is built. — The RnFons-NEOKED Swallow. — 
 Locality and abundance of its Nests. — Curious Habit of the Bird. — Audubon's 
 Account. — ^The Rufohs-bellibd Swallow. — Supplementary Nest. — How the 
 Bird builds. — Popular Superstition and its Uses. — The House Martin. — Mate- 
 rial of its Nest. — Favorite Localities. — Ingenuity of the Martin. — Adaptation to 
 Circumstances. — Parasitic Intruders, their Number, Dimensions, and Tenacity of 
 Life. — The Swallow. — Distinction between its Nest and that of the Martin. — 
 Why called the Chimney Swallow. — Tallegalla, or Beush Tueket.— The Il- 
 lustration explained. — Various Names of the Bird. — Its singular and enormous 
 Nest. — How the Eggs are laid and hatched. — Egress of the Young. — Remarkable 
 Instinct. — Australian Jungle Fowl. — Shape, Size, and Position of its Nests. — 
 How the Eggs are discovered. — Leipoa, or Native Pheasant. — Its Mound-nest, 
 and general Habits. 
 
 Among the building birds, there is one species which is pre- 
 eminently superior. Not only is there no equal, but there is no 
 second. This is the Oven Bird {Furnarius fuliginosijLs), which de- 
 rives its popular name from the shape and material of its nest. 
 
 The Oven Bird belongs to the family of the Certhidae, and is 
 therefore allied to the well-known Creeper of our own country. 
 
328 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 It is about as large as a lark, and is a bold-looking bird, rather 
 slenderly built, and standing very upright. Its color is warm 
 brown. It is very active, running and walking very fast, and is 
 much on the wing, though its flights are not of long duration, 
 consisting chiefly of short flittings from bush to bush in search 
 of insects. It generally haunts the banks of South American 
 rivers, and is a fearless little bird, not being alarmed even at the 
 presence of man. The male has a hard, shrill note, and the fe- 
 male has a cry of somewhat similar sound, but much weaker. 
 
 The chief interest of this bird centres in its nest, which is a 
 truly remarkable example of bird architecture. The material of 
 which it is made is principally mud or clay obtained from the 
 river banks, but it is strengthened and stiffened by the admixture 
 of grass, vegetable fibres, and stems of various plants. The heat 
 
 
 Oven Bird. 
 
 of the sun is sufficient to harden it, and when it has been thor- 
 oughly dried, it is so strong that it seems more like the handi- 
 work of some novice at pottery than a veritable nest constructed 
 
THE PIED GEALLINA. 329 
 
 by a bird, tbe fierce heat of the tropical sun baking the clay near- 
 ly as hard as brick. 
 
 The ordinary shape of the nest may be seen by reference to 
 the illustration, which was drawn from a remarkably fine speci- 
 men in the British Museum. It is domed, rounded, and haa the 
 entrance in the side. Its walls are fully an inch in thickness, and 
 it looks strong enough to bear rolling about on the ground. This 
 specimen was placed on a branch, but the bird is not very particu- 
 lar as to the locality of its nest, sometimes building it on a branch 
 of a tree, sometimes on a beam in an outhouse, and now and then 
 on the top of palings ; generally, however, it is built in the bush- 
 es, but without any attempt at concealment. Owing to its dimen- 
 sions and shape, the nest is extremely conspicuous, and the utter 
 indifference of the bird on this subject is not the least curious 
 part of its history. 
 
 Strong as is the nest, it is still farther strengthened by a pecul- 
 iarity in the architecture, which is not visible from the exterior. 
 If one of the nests be carefully divided, the observer will see that 
 the interior is even more singular than the outside. Crossing the 
 nest from side to side is a wall or partition, made of the same ma- 
 terials as the outer shell, and reaching nearly to the -top of the 
 dome, thus dividing the nest into two chambers, and having also 
 the effect of strengthening the whole structure. The inner cham- 
 ber is devoted to the work of incubation, and within it is a soft 
 bed of feathers on which the eggs are placed. The female sits 
 upon them in this dark chamber, and the outer room is probably 
 used by her mate. The reader will remember that several in- 
 stances of such supplementary nests have already been mentioned. 
 The eggs are generally four in number. 
 
 Both sexes work at the construction of the nest, and seem to 
 find the labor rather long and severe, as they are continually em- 
 ployed in fetching clay, grass, and other materials, or in working 
 them together with their bills. While thus employed they are 
 very jealous of the presence of other birds, and drive them away 
 fiercely, screaming shrilly as they attack the intruder. 
 
 Australia produces the two remarkable birds whose nests are 
 given in the accompanying illustration. • 
 
 The first of these feathered builders is the Pied G-rallina 
 {Qrallina Australis), a bird which has become familiar to the pub- 
 lic since its introduction to the Zoological Gardens. A pair of 
 
330 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 these birds have lived for some time in the Aquarium House, and 
 have always attracted much attention as they fly to and fro in the 
 large inclosure which is dedicated to them, to the dabchicks, king- 
 fishers, wagtails, and other water-loving birds. Owing to the bold 
 contrasts of black and white in their coloring they are very con- 
 spicuous, and their restless movements always attract the eye. 
 
 Although in its shape the nest of the Pied Grallina does not re- 
 semble that of the Oven Bird, the materials with which it is con- 
 structed are almost identical, consisting of mud and clay, in which 
 are interwoven certain sticks, grasses, feathers, and stems of plants, 
 which serve to bind the clay together, just as cow's haiir binds to- 
 
 Fairy Martin. 
 
 Pied Grallina. 
 
 gether the plaster on our walls. When looking at these nests, the 
 observer is irresistibly reminded of the old Babylonish bricks, in 
 which the grass and straw still remain, and serve to strengthen the 
 ill-burned clay, which in many cases was only dried in the sun. 
 
THE PIED GRALLINA, SONG THRUSH, AND BLACKBIRD. 331 
 
 Possibly, if the bird were deprived of such materials, and only 
 furnished with mud and clay, it would be as much at a loss as 
 were the captive Israelites when they were compelled to make 
 bricks without being supplied with straw. 
 
 Like the Oven Bird, the Pied Grallina makes no attempt to 
 conceal its nest, but places it quite conspicuously on a branch, as 
 is shown in the illustration. It is almost invariably built on a 
 bough which overhangs the water, and, in spite of its weight and 
 size, is fixed so firmly to the branch that there is no fear lest it 
 should overbalance itself. The walls of the nest are very thick 
 and solid, and the whole edifice looks very like an exceedingly 
 rude and ill-baked earthenware vessel — just such a one, indeed, 
 as Kobinson Crusoe manufactured on his island. The bird is 
 widely spread over Australia, so that its nest may be found in 
 many parts of the country. 
 
 I MAY here mention that two of our best-known song-birds 
 form a basin-like nest of somewhat similar materials. Every one 
 who has taken the nest of a Song Thrush {Turdus musicus) will 
 remember that its interior is lined with a cup of a substance that 
 resembles clay, but which is, in fact, composed chiefly of cowdung 
 and decayed wood. This cup is exceedingly thin, but it is very 
 hard and tough, and is so compact in its structure that it will hold 
 water for some time. Like the mud wall of the Pied Grallina, it is 
 strengthened by sticks and grass, with this difference, that where- 
 as the latter bird incorporates the sticks and straws with the mud, 
 the Thrush works the cup upon the sticks and straws. 
 
 The Blackbird {Tardus merula), too, has a similar habit, only 
 it employs yeritable mud for the purpose, and spreads it in a 
 much thicker layer than the Thrush. The eggs, however, are 
 not placed on the dried mud, but on a layer of very fine grass. 
 The object of this curious lining seems to be still undiscovered. 
 Both the birds build in similar localities, and both make their 
 nests close to the ground. It is possible that the stout walls may 
 prevent the weasel or stoat from tearing the nest away from be- 
 low, and so catching the young birds, but this is mere conjecture. 
 Even the muddy Iming does not repel all such attacks, for I once 
 knew a dog that was in the habit of searching for nests of both 
 these' birds, and of eating the eggs and the young.- He always 
 obtained his prey by getting under the nest, biting out the bot- 
 tom, and receiving the contents in his mouth. 
 
332 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The curious flask-shaped nests which are seen in the illustra- 
 tion are built -wholly of clay and mud, and are made by a beauti- 
 ful little Australian bird named the Faiby Martin ( Hirundo 
 Ariel), closely allied, as its generic name signifies, to the swallows 
 and martins of our own country. The bird is spread over the 
 whole of Southern Australia, where it arrives in August, and 
 whither it departs in September. 
 
 These remarkable nests are generally to be found upon rocks, 
 and are always close to rivers, but have never been seen within 
 many miles of the sea. Now and then, however, the bird chooses 
 another locality, and, instead of fixing its nests to the side of a 
 rock, attaches them to the interior of one of the huge hollow trees 
 which are so common in Australia. Now and then it behaves 
 like the martin of England, and builds its nest under the protec- 
 tion of human habitations. 
 
 The shape of the nests always resembles that of a flask or re- 
 tort, and their size is extremely variable, the length of the spouts 
 or necks being from seven to ten inches, and the diameter of the 
 bulb varying from four to seven inches. Mr. Gould mentions, in 
 his work on the Birds of Australia, that each nest is the joint 
 work of several birds, six or seven being sometimes employed 
 upon one nest, one sitting in the interior, as chief architect, ar- 
 ranging and smoothing the material, while the others go off in 
 search of mud and clay, which they knead well in their mouths 
 before applying it to the nest! 
 
 As is generally the case with clay which is thus kneaded, it be- 
 comes very hard when baked in the sun, but, at the same time, is 
 rather slow in drying. When the weather is dry, the bird can 
 only work in the mornings and evenings, because the heat of the 
 sunbeams soon renders the clay too stiff to' be worked by the del- 
 icate beaks of the birds ; and, therefore, in the middle of the day, 
 the Fairy Martins cease from their architectural labors, and do 
 nothing but chase flies. During wet weather, however, when no 
 flies are abroad, and the air is full of moisture, the birds work con- 
 tinually at their nests, and soon complete their labors. 
 
 The exterior of the nest is quite as rough as that of the com- 
 mon English martin, but in the interior it is beautifully smooth. 
 The birds do not seem to have any particular care about the 
 point of the compass toward which the entrance looks, but ar- 
 range it indifferently in any direction. 
 
 The Eairy Martin is a prolific little bird, laying four or five 
 eggs, and rearing two broods in a year. 
 
THE EUFOUS-NECKED AND EUFOUS-BELLIED SWALLOWS. 333 
 
 There is an American Swallow whicli builds a nest very simi- 
 lar in form to that of the Fairy Martin. This is the EuFOUS- 
 KECKED Swallow {Hirundofuha), whose nests are made of mud, 
 and flask-shaped, but have a wider and shorter neck than is the 
 case with the nest of the Fairy Martin. On account of its grega- 
 rious propensities, it is sometimes called the Republican Swal- 
 low. Wherever a favorable spot is found, such as a perpendic- 
 ular rock with an overhanging shelf, the nests are built in profu- 
 sion, being placed so close to each other that the rock is almost 
 covered with them. 
 
 The birds are also gregarious on the wing as well as in nesting, 
 as will be seen by Audubon's remarks upon their habits : " About 
 sunset they begin to flock together, calling to each other for that 
 purpose, and in a short time presented the appearance of clouds 
 moving toward the lakes on the mouth of the Mississippi, as the 
 weather and wind suited. Their aerial evolutions before they 
 alight are truly beautiful. They appear at first as if reconnoi- 
 tering the place, when, suddenly throwing themselves into a vor- 
 tex of apparent confusion, they descend spirally with astonishing 
 quickness, and very much resemble a trombe or water -spout. 
 When within a few feet of the driers, they disperse in all direc- 
 tions, and settle in a few moments. Their twitterings and the 
 motion of their wings are, however, heard during the whole night. 
 
 " As soon as the day begins to dawn, they rise, flying low over 
 the lakes, almost touching the water for some time, and then, ris- 
 ing gradually, move off in search of food, separating in different 
 directions. The hunters who resort to these places destroy great 
 numbers of them by knocking them down with light paddles, 
 used in propelling their canoes." The drier which is here men- 
 tioned is the French popular name for the Myrica cerifera, a shrub 
 belonging to the same genus as the well-known British shrub 
 called Sweet Gale, or Dutch Myrtle. 
 
 Another American bird, the Rufous-bellied Swallow {Hi- 
 rundo eryihrogaster), is notable for the nest which it makes. This 
 species follows the example of the Oven Bird in its selection of 
 materials, strengthening the mud walls of its nest with fine hay. 
 The nest is furthermore remarkable for having a supplementary 
 perch, or small nest attached to the larger one, serving as a seat 
 for the male while his mate is engaged in the business of incuba- 
 tion. On such occasions he js in the habit of pouring forth a 
 
334 HOMKS WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 lively though not varied song, being, in fact, a sustained twitter. 
 The shell of the nest is about an inch in thickness, and the mixed 
 mud and hay are arranged in regular layers. Owing to the thick- 
 ness, and the complicated structure of the nest, a full week is re- 
 quired for its completion. The form of the nest is nearly that of 
 an inverted cone, being flattened on the side which is set against 
 the wall or rock. The bird is of gregarious habits, and twenty 
 or thirty nests are often seen so close together that a finger could 
 scarcely be placed between them. 
 
 Fortunately for itself, this bird is protected by popular super- 
 stition, which attributes all kinds of ill luck to the person who 
 kills one of them. Wilson remarks that, in consequence of long 
 immunity, they feel so secure among human habitations, that, al- 
 though the woods may be destitute of them, every farm-house is 
 sure to attract them. There is scarcely a barn in which they 
 will not build ; and right glad is the farmer when they take pos- 
 session of a building, for, according to popular belief, such a build- 
 ing will never be injured by lightning. He farther mentions 
 that a farmer said that, if he were to permit his swallows to be 
 shot, all his cows would give bloody milk ; to which remark Wil-' 
 son merely nodded assent, being unwilling to disturb any feeling, 
 however superstitious, which had for its object the protection of 
 useful birds. 
 
 We haye several builders among our British birds, the best 
 known of which is the common House MaiItin {Chelidon urbica), 
 whose nests are so plentiful upon the walls of our houses. 
 
 The material of which the nests are built is a kind of mud, 
 which becomes tolerably hard when dry, and is strong enough 
 to exist for a series of years, and to serve for the bringing up of 
 many successive broods. The bird is exceedingly capricious as 
 to the spot which it selects for its residence, some houses being 
 crowded with the mud-built nests, while others are free from 
 them. The points of the compass are always noted by the Mar- 
 tin, for there are some points which it clearly detests, while it is 
 equally fond of others. A wall with a northeastern aspect is a 
 favorite locality, while a southern wall is seldom chosen, proba- 
 bly because the heat of the meridian sun might dry the mud too 
 quickly, or might cause inconvenience to the young birds. 
 
 My own house, however, forms an exception to the general 
 rule, for the Martins have chosen to build on the south wall only. 
 
THE HOUSE MARTIN. • 335 
 
 probably* because the eaves project so far that after nine A.M. 
 the nests are in shadow. Moreover, there is a narrow ledge, bare- 
 ly an inch in width, which runs under the eaves, and forms a 
 support for the nests. While the Martins were engaged in bring- 
 ing up their young, I ascended to the nests, and inspected them 
 carefully, much to the indignation of the parent birds, who flew 
 about wildly, darting occasionally out of their nests, and then' 
 stopping short and dashing away over the house. The opening 
 of the nest being close against the eaves, the interior could not be 
 inspected ; but the touch of the finger showed that the walls were 
 tolerably smooth, forming a great contrast with the rough exte- 
 rior. The young birds were quite as much alarmed as their par- 
 ents, and shrank to the very bottom of the nest, where they were 
 quite invisible. 
 
 As to the nests themselves, they are exceedingly irregular on 
 the outside, and look as if they had been made of that preternat- 
 urally ugly substance called " rough-cast," with which the walls 
 of houses are sometimes disfigured. The material of which the 
 Martin makes its nest is said to be the earth that is ejected by 
 worms ; but that this substance does not form the whole of the 
 material is evident from the fact that stones, grass, and feathers 
 are mixed with the mud, together with small twigs and a few fine 
 roots of an iiich or two in length. 
 
 The Martin is a rather ingenious bird, and is always ready to 
 take advantage of any circumstance which may aid it jn building 
 its nest. The inch-wide ledge, for example, which I have just 
 mentioned, has been quite appropriated by Martins, and there is 
 scarcely a part of it which does not bear marks of their labors. 
 At least a dozen nests have been begun and abandoned after a 
 few beakfuls of mud have been put together, probably because 
 the position is so exceedingly advantageous that the birds can 
 scarcely begin in one place without regretting that they have not 
 chosen a neighboring spot. 
 
 There is an interesting account in the " Zoologist" of the unex- 
 pected skill displayed by these birds : " Under the eaves of a 
 house, not so high as to be beyond the reach of any urchin who 
 could procure a rod or fling a stone, a Martin had built its nest, 
 which had more than once been destroyed. There is no doubt 
 that, under ordinary circumstances, these birds would have gone 
 on building their habitation in the same place and manner, if left 
 to themselves and their own resources, although even in such 
 
336 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 oases some important variation in the structure has been known 
 16 have occurred. But, in the present instance, the inhabitants 
 of the cottage were not satisfied to see the labors of their favorite 
 perpetually rendered void, and they set their wits to work in what 
 manner to secure them from harm. 
 
 " The method adopted was to place a small round basket un- 
 der the eaves, at the place where the nest had been, as a protec- 
 tion from injury below; but it was attended with the inconven- 
 ience that the handle prevented it from being pressed into contact 
 with the stone, while the breadth of the basket was so great as to 
 cause the wet dripping from the eaves to fell within the cavity. 
 It was to obviate this last annoyance that a ilat piece of board 
 was laid as a cover to the basket, with the precaution of leaving 
 an opening, not in front, but at the side, for the birds to enter, if 
 they should choose to adopt this new contrivance for their ad- 
 vantage ; and they did justice to the kind intentions of their 
 friends by adopting it, and that, too, in a way of their own con- 
 trivance. They began by placing a rim of their usual mortar 
 round the basket, at the border where the covering board rested 
 pn it ; but in thus rendering it safe and close on every side, they 
 observed the precaution of leaving a small hole at the side by 
 which to enter. In this convenient piece of wicker-work they 
 formed a cradle, in which they were able successfully to rear 
 their brood. 
 
 " But this was not all. Another pair of birds had seen the 
 good fortune of their fellows, and they resolved to be sharers in 
 the advantage they were enjoying. The space above the board, 
 and within the arched handle of the basket, was only inferior to 
 the basket itself as a situation for a nest, and there, accordingly, 
 they proceeded to place it. It was formed of clay, in the usual 
 manner, and here, immediately above their neighbors, they suc- 
 cessfully hatched their young. . . . The laying hold of a novel 
 but obvious convenience to secure an important object is not the 
 least of the operations of the reasoning powers." 
 
 The writer of this notice is quite correct in attributing the per- 
 formances of these birds to reason, and not to instinct. Instinct 
 would have taught them to make their nests under ordinary con- 
 ditions, and to raise their clay-built houses against a wall. But 
 the mental process which led them to accommodate themselves to 
 such a change of circumstances as the substitution of a basket for 
 a wall does undoubtedly belong to the province of reason rather 
 than of instinct. 
 
THE HOUSE MARTIN — THE SWALLOW. 337 
 
 To examine minutely the economy of a Martin's nest is a pleas- 
 ant task enough, but has its drawbacks, which are very numer- 
 ous, and may be summed up in one word — vermin. 
 
 AH birds are liable to the attacks of parasitic insects, but the 
 Martins contrive to harbor such quantities of them that the spec- 
 tator can not but wonder how they contrive to live through the 
 constant attacks. The nest itself swarms with them ; and so nu- 
 merous are their hosts, that I have found an isolated lump of clay 
 filled with these repulsive insects, though at the distance of eight- 
 een inches from the nest. They are not visible at first, and but 
 for their cast skins would probably attract no notice. But when 
 one of these innocent-looking pieces of mud is removed, and put 
 under a glass in which a few drops of spirits of turpentine have 
 been placed, the vermin come trooping out of every crevice, many 
 in numbers, large in dimensions, and obese in outline. 
 
 In one lump of clay about as large as a walnut I have seen so 
 many parasites that they seemed capable of devouring all the lit- 
 tle birds ; and when it is remembered that every portion of the 
 nest is equally tenanted, how the inmates can survive for a single 
 night is indeed a matter of surprise. Their si^e is absolutely 
 portentous ; for, when compared with the birds on which they 
 feed, they are as large as full-grown frogs compared with men. 
 I mention this circumstance in order that my readers may be 
 chary of bringing a Martin's nest into a room, for to introduce 
 such pests into the house is far more easy than to extirpate them. 
 Most insects are killed at once by inhaling the vapor of turpen- 
 tine, but I have kept a number of them shut up in a tin box in 
 which some spirits of turpentine had been poured, and after six- 
 and-thirty hours found them still alive. They certainly dislike 
 the vapor, and it has the effect of stupefying them ; but, as soon 
 as they are removed from its influence, the fresh air seems to re- 
 store them, and they begin to crawl about again. 
 
 The common Swallow {Hirundo rustica) also makes a clay- 
 built nest, similar in many respects to that of the martin, but dif- 
 fering in its shape. The nest of the martin is always covered, 
 and entered by an aperture on one side. Mostly it is built im- 
 mediately undet a projecting ledge, which answers the purpose of 
 a roof, but if no such accommodation can be obtained, it covers in 
 the nest with a dome-like roof The nest of the Swallow, on the 
 contrary, is open at the top, probably because the long forked 
 
 Y 
 
338 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 tail would be crushed if pressed into so small a compass, -while 
 the shorter and simpler tail of the martin does not require so 
 much space. « 
 
 Wherever it can find an old chimney, the Swallow will always 
 build its nest therein, a habit which has gained for the bird the 
 popular title of Chimney Swallow. It will, however, build in 
 many other situations, such as precipitous rocks and quarries, 
 barns, outhouses, and steeples. There are usually five eggs, and 
 the nest is lined with a soft bed of feathers, like that of the mar- 
 tin. 
 
 I MUST now refer the reader to the large illustration, wherein 
 is depicted a group of natives engaged in digging eggs out of an 
 earth-heap. This engraving represents a scene of very common 
 occurrence in Australia, and serves to illustrate the habits of the 
 natives as well as of the bird, which will presently be described. 
 
 In the foreground is a group of natives resting themselves after 
 a successful hunt, the evidences of which are scattered around 
 them. There is the emu with its head in the woman's lap, the 
 kangaroo, the echidna, and the duckbill. The weapons by which 
 they were killed are thrown carelessly on the ground, and com- 
 prise the waddy or club, the boomerang, the spear, and the wum- 
 merah, or throwing stick, by which it is hurled with terrific force. 
 The large wooden shield indicates also that the natives in ques- 
 tion consider themselves in danger of hostile tribes. On the up- 
 per branches of a tree are seen a pair of those wonderful king- 
 fishers, popularly termed, from their cry. Laughing Jackasses, and 
 in the centre of the illustration is seen an old man crouched upon 
 his knees, busily engaged in digging from a large mound some 
 eggs which aTe arranged nearly in a circle, and are set perpendic- 
 ularly, with their larger end upward, as if they had been placed 
 there by the Opposition party in Lilliput. 
 
 This mound is the work of an Australian bird popularly called 
 the Brush Turkey, or Tallegalla {Tallegalla Lailiami), one 
 of a small series of birds which scrape together great heaps of 
 vegetable substances, and lay their eggs in them so as to be 
 hatched by the heat given out during the process of fermentation. 
 A very brief account of these birds will be given, but we will at 
 present confine ourselves to the Tallegalla. 
 
 This bird belongs to the order Gallinse and the family Mega- 
 podidse, or large-footed birds, the name being given to them on 
 
^^^^q; 
 
 KE8T OP TALLEQALLA. 
 
THlf BRUSH TURKEY. S41 
 
 account of the very great comparative size of the feet. It is a 
 native of New South Wales, and is generally found in the densest 
 bushes, through which it can make its way with such rapidity 
 that it can scarcely be captured. As the bird is called by many 
 names, I will mention one or two of them, so that the reader may 
 be better able to identify it while reading the accounts of observ- 
 ant but unscientific travelers. The natives sometimes call it Tal- 
 legalla, and sometimes Weelah ; and it is occasionally named the 
 New Holland Vulture, because the bare head and neck give it a 
 somewhat vulturine aspect. 
 
 We will now proceed to the nest itself. 
 
 This curious edifice is often of very great size, several cart- 
 loads of materials being used, and its dimensions enlarged from 
 year to 'year. In order to show the general appearance of the 
 nest, an example is shown in the background, with the bird run- 
 ning over it. The mound is conical in shape, and, as may be im- 
 agined from its enormous size, is the result of joint labor, several 
 hens uniting in its formation. The method by which it is made 
 is very curious, and Mr. Gould's account of the bird has been 
 fully corroborated by the habits of the birds in the Zoological 
 Gardens. 
 
 Tracing a circle of considerable radius, the birds begin to travel 
 round it, continually grasping with their large feet the leaves, and 
 grasses, and dead twigs which are lying about, and flinging them 
 inward toward the centre. Bach time that they complete their 
 rounds they narrow their circle, so that in a short time they clear 
 away a large circular belt, having in its centre a low, irregular 
 heap. By repeating the same process, however, they decrease 
 the diameter of the mound as they increase its height, and at last 
 a large and rudely conical mound is formed. 
 
 The next process is to scraps away the middle of the heap un- 
 til a cavity of nearly two feet is formed, in which the eggs are 
 carefully placed, being set in the peculiar manner which has also 
 been mentioned. They are then covered up, and are hatched by 
 the joint effects of fermentation and hot sunbeams. By adopting 
 this process the bird does not escape any of the cares of materni- 
 ty, for the male is very watchful over the eggs, being gifted with 
 a wonderful instinct, which tells him of the temperature which is 
 proper for them. Sometimes he covers them with a thick layer 
 of leaves, and sometimes he lays them nearly bare, these opera- 
 tions being repeated several times in a single day. 
 
342 HOMES WITHOUT i^ANDS. 
 
 At last the eggs are Latched ; but whea the young bird escapes 
 from the shell, it does not emerge from the mound, remaining 
 therein for at least twelve hours. Even after it has enjoyed the 
 open air it retires to the mound toward evening, and is covered 
 up like the eggs, only not to so great a depth. It is a remarkable 
 fact that in all cases a nearly cylindrical hole is preserved in the 
 middle of the mound, being evidently intended as a chimney by 
 which the heat may be moderated, and through which gases pro- 
 duced by fermentation may escape. The reader will probably 
 call to mind that in a well-made haystack a central aperture is 
 preserved for exactly the same purpose, the modern farmer hav- 
 ing therefore been anticipated by a bird. 
 
 A very great number of eggs are placed in the nest, a bushel 
 of eggs being sometimes taken out of a single mound.' These 
 eggs are peculiarly well flavored, and are equally sought by na- 
 tives and colonists. The Tallegalla has a habit of scratching 
 large holes in the ground while dusting itself after the manner of 
 gallinaceous birds, and these holes often serve to direct the expe- 
 rienced hunter toward the nest itself. 
 
 Another species of mound-making bird is tolerably common 
 about Port Essington. This is the Australian Jungle Fowl 
 (Megapodius tumulus), which makes earth-mounds of prodigious 
 size, one of them which was measured being no less than fifteen 
 feet in perpendicular height, and twenty feet in diameter. If the 
 reader will measure off twenty feet along the floor of a room, and 
 fifteen feet upon the walls, he will form a conception of the enor- 
 mous size of these tumuli. These heaps are always placed under 
 shelter, and are sometimes so enveloped in foliage that, in spite 
 of their great size, they can scarcely be discovered. The materi- 
 als of which they are composed are rather variable, according to 
 the locality, but the general mass consists of leaves, grass, and oth- 
 er vegetable matter. 
 
 Vast numbers of eggs are laid in these nests, and are placed at 
 a considerable depth, some of them being as much as six or seven 
 feet from the>top of the heap. They are deposited in a curious 
 manner, the bird scratching its way into the heap, laying an egg, 
 and then filling up the hole as she makes her way out again. 
 The natives always use their hands in digging out these eggs, be- 
 cause their fingers can follow the trj^ck of the bird, the softer and 
 looser material acting as a guide. A twig is generally used as a 
 
THE LEIPOA. 343 
 
 probe by whicli the presence of a hole is detected, but the hands 
 are the only tools which are used in following up the tortuous 
 track, which sometimes proceeds in a straight line, and then turns 
 suddenly at an angle, the bird having conie on a stone or some 
 such obstacle, which prevents her from continuing in the same 
 line. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that these mounds are always found 
 near the sea, and in one instance a heap was seen on the very 
 shore, only just above high- water mark. 
 
 The curious bird called by the natives Leipoa, and by colonists 
 the Native Pheasant {Leipoa oceUata), is another of the mound- 
 makers. In order to avoid confusing the mind of the reader, I 
 may here mention that there are three 'Australian birds which 
 are popularly called pheasants, the one being the Leipoa, and the 
 others the two species of lyre-bird {Menura). The Leipoa cer- 
 tainly has a very pheasant-like appearance, both in the general 
 outline of the head and body, together with the penciled plumage, 
 the long tail being only wanted in order to complete the resem- 
 blance. It is usually found toward the northwest portions of 
 Australia, preferring sandy plains to any other localities. 
 
 The mound which is made by the Leipoa is comparatively 
 small, being seldom more than eight or nine feet in diameter, and 
 a yard or so in height. It is made up of mixed sand, soil, leaves, 
 and grass, and is sometimes so hard at its lowest portions that the 
 hands become useless in digging out the eggs, and strong tools 
 are required. In each nest there are usually about a dozen eggs, 
 which are deposited singly in the mound. One nest, however, 
 will afford a large supply of eggs, just as is the case with our do- 
 mestic hens ; for, if her nest be repeatedly robbed, the bird con- 
 tinues to lay for a very long time. The eggs are whitish, slight- 
 ly speckled with dull red. It is a curious fact that a number of 
 ants are always to be found about the nest of the Leipoa, and 
 their presence, together with the hard, strong substance of the 
 lower part of the nest, would lead many persons to suppose that 
 the mound was nothing but a large ant-hill. 
 
34i HOMES ■WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 CHAPTER XYII. 
 
 BUILDING BIRDS— {Continmd). 
 
 Nesting of the Hornbills. — Dr. Livingstone's Account of the Kobwe, or Eed- 
 EEEASTED HoRNBiLL. — The LoNG-TAiLED TiiMocsE. — Its general Habits. — Its 
 Use to the Gardener. — Number of the Young. — Form and Materials of the Nest. — 
 Localities chosen by the Bird. — How to prepare the fragile Eggs. — ^The Magpie. 
 — Its domed and fortified Nest. — The common Wken and its Nest. — Pseudo-nests 
 and their probable Origin. — The House Wken of America. — Its Habits and 
 Mode of Nesting. — Wilson's Account of the Bird. — Its Usefulness and quarrel- 
 some Nature. — The Ltke Bikd. — Origin of its Name. — Its domed Nest. — The 
 Albeet's Ltke Bikd and its Habits. — The Bower Bikd. — Why so called. — 
 Civilization and social Amusement. — The remarkable Bower. — Its Materials and 
 Mode of Construction. — Use to which it is put. — 'The Bower Birds in the Zoolog- 
 ical Gardens, and their Habits. — Love of Ornament. — Meaning of the scientific 
 Name. — The Spotted Bower Bikd of New South Wales. — Its Botjteb. — De- 
 scription of the Birds, and their place in the present System. 
 
 The reader may remember that in the account of the toucan 
 and its semi-burrowing mode of nesting, it was mentioned that 
 the bird was sometimes in the habit of closing the aperture of its ' 
 nest with mud. It is a very remarkable fact that both groups 
 of large-billed birds should possess the same habit, and that the 
 HOENBILL of Africa should close its nest with mud like the tou- 
 can of tropical America. These groups of birds are somewhat 
 similar in external appearance, the huge beak giving them a kind 
 of family likeness. They are, however, widely distinct in zoolog- 
 ical systems, the toucans belonging to the scansorial, or climbing 
 birds, and the hornbills ranking with the touracos, plantain-eaters, 
 and colies. 
 
 Like the toucan, the Hornbill makes its nest in the hole of 
 some decaying tree, and one of the species, at all events, seems in- 
 variably to reduce the size of the entrance by plastering it up 
 with mud, and leaving only a very little aperture. The follow- 
 ing interesting account of the Hornbill and its nest is quoted from 
 Dr. Livingstone's well-known work. 
 
 " We passed through large tracts of Mopane country, and my 
 men caught a great many of the birds called Korw:e {Tockus ery- 
 ihorhynchus) in their hiding-places, which were in holes in the 
 
THE KORWii. 345 
 
 raopane-tree. On the 19th (February) we passed the nest of a 
 Korw^, just ready for the female to enter ; the orifice was plas- 
 tered on both sides, but a space was left of a heart shape, and ex- 
 actly the size of the bird's body. The hole in the tree was in 
 every case found to be prolonged some distance upward above 
 the opening, and thither the Korw^ always fled to escape being 
 caught. In another nest we found that one white egg, much like 
 that of the pigeon, was laid, and the bird dropped another when 
 captured. She had four besides in the ovarium. 
 
 " The first time that I saw this bird was at Kolobeng, where I 
 had gope to the forest for some timber. Standing by a tree, a 
 native looked behind me, and exclaimed, ' There is the nest of a 
 Korw^.' I saw a slit, only about half an inch wide and three or 
 four inches long, in a slight hollow of the tree. Thinking the 
 word ' Korw^' denoted some small animal, I waited with interest 
 to see what he would extract ; he broke the clay which sur- 
 rounded the slit, put his arm into the hole, and brought out a 
 Tockus, or Eed-breasted Hornbill, which he killed. 
 
 "He informed me that when the female enters her nest, she 
 submits to a real confinement. The male plasters up the en- 
 trance, leaving only a narrow slit by which to feed his mate, and 
 which exactly suits the form of his beak. The female makes a 
 nest of her own feathers, lays her eggs, hatches them, and remains 
 with the young till they are fully fledged. During all this time, 
 which is stated to be two or three months, the male continues to 
 feed her and the young family. The prisoner generally becomes 
 fat, and is esteemed a very dainty morsel by the natives, while 
 the poor slave of a husband gets so lean that, on the sudden low- 
 ering of the temperature, which sometimes happens after a fall of 
 rain, he is benumbed, falls down, and dies. I never had an op- 
 portunity of ascertaining the exact length of the confinement, but 
 on passing the same tree at Kolobeng about eight days afterward, 
 the hole was plastered up again, as if in the short time that had 
 elapsed the disconsolate husband had secured another wife. "We 
 did not disturb her, and my duties prevented me from returning 
 to the spot. 
 
 " This (February) is the month in which the female ente];s the 
 nest. We had seen one of these, as before mentioned, with the 
 plastering not quite finished ; we saw many completed, and we 
 received here the very same account that we did at Kolobeng, 
 that the bird comes forth when the young is fully fledged, at the ' 
 
346 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 period when the corn is ripe; indeed, her appearance abroad 
 with her young is one of the signs they have for knowing when 
 it ought to be so. As that is about the end of April, the time is 
 between two and three months. She is said sometimes to hatch 
 two eggs, and when the young of these are full fledged, other two 
 are just out of the egg-shells; she then leaves, the nest with the 
 two elder, the orifice is again plastered up, and both male and fe- 
 male attend to the wants of the young which are left." 
 
 In this curious history of bird architecture, two points are pe-' 
 culiarly interesting, one being the reservation of a higher point 
 whereto the bird may fly in case of invasion, and the other the 
 fact that two broods of young can be in the nest at one time. 
 
 Passing from the birds which build with mud, we now come 
 to those which use vegetable substances in their habitations. As 
 examples of such architecture, we shall select the nests of those 
 birds which are able to construct domed habitations, as well as 
 the remarkable structures which are built by the Beaver birds of 
 Australia. 
 
 The Long-tailed Titmouse {Pants caudatus) constructs a nest 
 which is quite as wonderful in its way as the pensile home of the 
 harvest-mouse. 
 
 This pretty little bird is very plentiful in England, and, owing 
 to its habit of associating in little flocks of ten or twelve in num- 
 ber, and the exceeding restlessness of its character, is very familiar 
 to all observers of nature. These flocks generally consist of the 
 parent and their offspring, for the little creature is exceedingly 
 prolific, laying a vast quantity of tiny eggs in its warm nest, and 
 rearing most of the young to maturity. This is a bird which 
 ought to be cherished by all possessors of fields or gardens, for 
 there is scarcely a more determined enemy to the many noxious 
 insects which destroy the fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Fortu- 
 nately for ourselves, the Long-tailed Titmouse is very fond of the 
 various saw-flies that work such mischief among our fruit-trees, 
 and often lay waste whole acres of gooseberries, and it is no ex- 
 aggeration to say that to a possessor of an orchard, or a fruit-gar- 
 den of any kind, every Long-tailed Titmouse is well worth its lit- 
 tle weight in gold. 
 
 Were it only for the beauty and elegance of its form, no one 
 who had an eye for living art could kill the pretty little bird, 
 
THE LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE. 
 
 347 
 
 and reduce the bright, active, happy creature to a mere pinch of 
 ruffled feathers. Were it only for the wonderful structure of its 
 nest, it would be worthy of preservation. But when we come 
 to consider the inestimable and inappreciated services which this 
 tiny bird renders to mankind, we should not only be devoid of 
 all gratitude, but likewise of all common sense — which, however, 
 comes to much the same point — were we willingly to destroy our 
 feathered benefactor. 
 
 
 ■i '^ 
 
 ^■'■^k 
 
 Although almost every one who lives in the country, or who 
 possesses a tolerably large garden in a town, is perfectly familiar 
 with this bird, comparatively few are in a position to narrate 
 from personal observation the benefits which it confers upon us. 
 The reason is simple ; they do not rise early enough. A Long- 
 tailed Titmouse in early morning, and the identical bird at noon, 
 scarcely seem to be the same creature, so different are its ways. 
 It is a specially early bird, earlier than the sparrow, which is apt 
 to be rather a sluggard as regards leaving its nest, though it sets 
 
348 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 up its garrulous chirp soon after daybreak. At that hour of the 
 morning the Long-tailed Titmouse seems to cast off fear and dif- 
 fidence, and allows itself to be watched without displaying much 
 alarm. Indeed, with the aid of a good opera-glass, it may be ob- 
 served almost as well as if it were in a cage. 
 
 As the sun ascends above the horizon, and men and boys begin 
 to go about to their daily work, the Titmouse loses its easy confi- 
 dence, and will not suffer itself to be approached so calmly as in 
 the early morning. Generally, somewhere about five or six 
 A.M., it leaves the garden and flies afield, and must then be 
 sought far from human habitation. If, however, the garden 
 should happen to be surrounded by walls, and the owner should 
 happen to understand humanity as well as self-interest, the little 
 bird will know that it will not be disturbed, and will remain in 
 its sanctuary throughout the greater part of the day. 
 
 The quick, lively movements of the little creature are quite 
 indescribable, so incessant and so varied are its changes of atti- 
 tude. As it runs about the branches, it seems almost independ- 
 ent of gravity, and is equally at its ease whether its head, back, 
 or breast be upward. It ever and anon utters an odd chirping 
 note, which seems to issue from the bird as if it proceeded from 
 some internal machinery, and were independent of the will of the 
 creature which utters it The observer should be careful to no- 
 tice its quick, frequent pecks, and may be sure that every such 
 movement denotes the slaughter of some insect, whether in the 
 stage of egg, larva, pupa, or imago. The little beak is by no 
 means so feeble as it seems, and is able to pick up an insect so 
 small as would escape the observation of human eyes, or to 
 pounce upon and destroy one which many a human being would 
 not care to handle. 
 
 All the little flock, which are seen flitting about the trees, dart- 
 ing from branch to branch and tree to tree as if they were little 
 arrows projected from bows, have at one time been inmates of the 
 same nest, the beautiful domed structure which is shown in the 
 illustration. How they are accommodated in so small a space 
 seems quite a mystery, for not only is the hollow of the nest of 
 UQ great size, but the interior is so filled with feathers and down 
 that the space is still farther limited. 
 
 The nest of the Long-tailed Titmouse is rather variable in 
 shape, but its usual form is shown in the illustration. Generally 
 it is rather oval, and has an aperture at one side and near the top. 
 
THE LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE. 849 
 
 through which the bird can pass. I believe that all domed nests, 
 whether of bird or beast, are constructed by at least two archi- 
 tects, one of which remains within, while the other works from 
 without. This is certainly the case with many creatures, and is 
 probably so with all. The materials of which the nest is made 
 are mosses of various kinds, wool, hair, and similar substances, 
 woven by them with great firmness. It is remarkable that in 
 the construction of this nest, which requires peculiar solidity, the 
 Long-tailed Titmouse uses materials like those which are em- 
 ployed by the humming-birds, and binds its nest together with 
 the webs of spiders, and the silken hammocks of various cater- 
 pillars. The exterior of the nest is covered with lichens, so that 
 the whole edifice looks very much like a natural excrescence 
 upon the tree or bush in which it is placed, as is the case with 
 the ■^ell-known nest of the chafSnch. 
 
 Sometimes the form of the nest is rather different from that 
 which has been mentioned, and the structure is flask-shaped, the 
 entrance corresponding to the neck of the flask. Now and then 
 a nest is found in which there are two openings, one near the top 
 in the usual position, and the other on the opposite side and near 
 the bottom. The presence of one or two apertures is probably 
 influenced by the position of the nest and the climate of the lo- 
 cality. If the finger be introduced into the aperture, a charm- 
 ingly soft and warm bed of downy feathers is felt, in which, 
 rather than on which, the numerous eggs repose. 
 
 The bird will build its nest in various trees, but always chooses 
 a spot where the branches are very close and the foliage dense. 
 The gorse bush is a favorite residence of the Long-tailed Tit- 
 mouse, and so deeply is the nest buried in the prickly branches 
 that it can not be removed without the aid of thick leather gloves, 
 and a sharp, strong knife. Some skill and artistic taste are re- 
 quired in order to secure a good specimen, and it is difficult "to 
 hit the happy medium between cutting away too many branches, 
 and retaining so many that the shape of the nest can not be seen 
 for their luxuriance. I may mention here that such nests are 
 fertile homes of insects and various vermin, and that they ought 
 to be placed in a box with spirits of turpentine for some weeks, 
 and then exposed to strong heat, before the possessor can be sure 
 that all existing insects are dead, and their eggs addled. 
 
 The number of eggs is rather variable, but is always great, and, 
 on an average, some ten or twelve eggs can be found in a nest. 
 
350 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 They are so small and so fragile that the novice finds great diffi- 
 culty in emptying them without breaking their delicate shells. 
 This task may, however, be accomplished with perfect ease and 
 safety if managed in the right way. Each egg should be envel- 
 oped in repeated wrappers of silver paper, soaked in a solution 
 of gum-arabic, one layer being allowed to dry before the next is 
 added. When they are dry, a little hole is easily drilled on one 
 side by means of a needle, the contents of the egg are then broken 
 up with the same needle, and are then washed out by injecting 
 water through- a very delicate glass tube. Any one can make 
 these slender tubes -by merely taking a piece of ordinary glass 
 tubing, heating it in a spirit lamp, and drawing the ends apart. It 
 may then be broken off to form a tube of any degree of fineness, 
 and by alternate injection of water and sucking the diluted con- 
 tents into the tube, the egg will soon be emptied. 
 
 "We have another well-known bird which makes a nest as well 
 domed as that of the long-tailed titmouse, though not nearly so 
 pretty nor so elegant. This is the common Magpie (Pica cauda- 
 ta), which is one of the very handsomest birds that are indigenous 
 to England. Popularly the Magpie is thought to be> only black 
 and white ; in reality there is scarcely a black feather about the 
 bird, its plumage being adorned with steel-blue, green, and pur- 
 ple of such intensity that in certain lights they appear to be jetty 
 black. I may here mention that the wings and tail of the Mag- 
 pie can be qjade into beautiful fire-screens, which are light and 
 elegant as well as brilliantly colored. 
 
 The nest of the Magpie is of very large size when compared 
 , with the dimensions of the architect, probably on account of the 
 long tail of the mother bird, which can not be protruded over the 
 edge of the nest, as is the case with many long-tailed birds. It 
 is not merely made of moss and similar soft substances, but the 
 frame-work is very strongly constructed of sticks, among which 
 are generally interwoven a number of sharp thorns, so that the 
 nest is nearly as unpleasant to the bare hand as a, thistle. More- 
 over, the bird has a way of gathering the thorns round the en- 
 trance, so that the hand can not be inserted into the nest without 
 danger of many wounds. Indeed, the nest is so large, and the 
 eggs lie so far from the entrance, that to extract them is generally 
 a task that can not be accomplished without the aid of a knife. 
 
 Besides the thorny defense, the nest is mostly strengthened by 
 
THE WEEN. 851 
 
 its very position, being generally fixed in tlie furcation of several 
 stout boughs, so that it can only be approached in certain parts. 
 Moreover, the great height at -which the Magpie loves to build the 
 nest renders the operation of robbing it so dangerous, that many a 
 nest escapes because no one has nerve enough to risk the ascent. 
 The position of the nest, too, conceals its true form so well, 
 that a very practiced eye is needed to distinguish it from an or- 
 dinary swelling of the bough, or from the heaps of dislodged 
 twigs which are so often found in the forked branches of trees. 
 Deserted nests are very common, and during my bird's-nesting 
 days I have frequently been disappointed to find that after all 
 the trouble of ascending a lofty tree, the nest was empty, and had 
 clearly been deserted for a year or two. Sometimes the nest is 
 occupied by other creatures, and in some parts of the country 
 the pine marten has been known to take possession of a deserted 
 Magpie's nest, and to lie therein quite unsuspected until driven 
 out by some accident. Although a lofty tree is mostly chosen by 
 the Magpie, such is not invariably the case, for now and then a 
 low tree, or even a bush, is selected. In any case, however, the 
 branches are sure to be thickly set, so that the nest may be firm- 
 ly held among the boughs. 
 
 Another of our feathered dome-builders is the common "Ween 
 {Troglodytes vulgaris). The form and coloring of this bird are too 
 well known to need description, and we shall therefore pass at 
 once to its mode of nesting. 
 
 The "Wren is rather peculiar in its method of constructing the 
 nest, for, though it can build a dome when there is need for it, 
 and generally does so, it does not always choose to take so much 
 trouble, but contents itself with an open nest arched over by a 
 natural dome. "Wherever it can find a convenient cavity, it will 
 make its nest therein, building either no dome at all, or one of 
 very flimsy construction, and such nests can generally be found in 
 the holes of ivy-covered walls, under eaves, or among the thickly- 
 growing branches of fir-trees. 
 
 During the time when the Wren is building its nest, its loud, 
 cheerful voice is heard in full perfection, and so full and power- 
 ful are its tones that the tjny bird seems hardly able to produce 
 them. It is but. a short song, and is little varied, the bird repeat- 
 ing nearly the same melody time after time within a few minutes. 
 The long-drawn song of the nightingale, or the mellow notes of 
 
S52 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 » 
 
 the thrush, are beyond the power of the Wren, but there are few 
 birds whose song is more enlivening, or which add so much to 
 the pleasure of a country walk. Besides the more formal song, 
 the Wren has a pretty little monosyllabic chirp, which it utters 
 as it pops about the hedges with its'peculiar movements, dropping 
 and ascending again with restless activity. The bird is so bold, 
 too, that it will perch on a branch or a paling within a yard or 
 two of the observer, and pour forth its bright song without dis- 
 playing the least alarm. 
 
 As to the materials of the nest, the bird is in no way fastidious, 
 and generally seems to regard quantity rather than quality. 
 Grasses of various kinds usually form the bulk of the nest, to- 
 gether with mosses, lichens, and similar substances. Withered 
 leaves are generally worked into the nest, and I have more than 
 once found specimens which were almost wholly composed of 
 leaves. The size of the nest is wonderfully large when the di- 
 mensions of the tiny architect are taken into consideration, and, 
 however large may be the hole in which the Wren makes its nest, 
 it is nearly filled with the mass of grass, leaves, and wool which 
 the Wren has conveyed into it. The interior of the nest is al- 
 ways warmly lined, sometimes with feathers and sometimes with 
 hair, and in the lining are generally some six or eight little eggs, 
 nearly white, and covered with very minute red specks. 
 
 Probably the very large mass of material is employed in order 
 to defend so small a bird from the inclemency of the season, for 
 the Wren stays with us throughout the year, and in the winter 
 time resides in the same nest which was used as a breeding-place 
 during the summer. If an old ivy-covered wall, or a haystack, 
 or an old house, be examined at night, there will often be found 
 certain pseudo-nests in which the Wren hides itself. These curi- 
 ous edifices are raised by the Wren, though they are never used 
 for the legitimate object of a nest, and the reason of their con- 
 struction is not very evident. In all probability they are the 
 work of young and inexperienced nest-builders, who begin to 
 make their home, and when they have proceeded with their work, 
 find that the locality is unsuitable, and that they must find anoth- 
 er spot. The juvenile bird-nester is often woefully disappointed 
 by finding these nests, especially if he finds three or four in a sin- 
 gle wall or stack, as is not unfrequently the case. 
 
 As is the case with the redbreast and one or two of our more 
 familiar birds, the Wren will sometimes enter houses and build 
 
THE WREN. 353 
 
 its nest in curtains, on shelves, and similar localities, while the in- 
 terior of a disused greien-house or stable-loft is nearly sure to be 
 tenanted by a Wren and its little brood. 
 
 An allied bird, the House Ween of Northern America {Trog- 
 lodytes cedon), has very much the same habits, and will generally 
 take possession of any box that is nailed on a wall or a post 
 where a cat can not reach it. On account of, probably, the bird- 
 eating snakes, which are plentiful in that country, the materials 
 of the nest are much stronger than in England, and consist gen- 
 erally of twigs and sticks on the exterior and feathers within. 
 Wilson mentions that on a hot June day, a mower happ'ened to 
 hang up his coat in a shed, and left it there for two or three days. 
 When he removed it from the nail on which it had hung, and 
 was putting it on, he found one of the sleeves quite choked up 
 with sticks, grass, and feathers, being the completed nest of a 
 House Wren. The unfortunate little architects were very angry 
 with the man for disturbing their home, and followed him out of 
 the shed, scolding him for the damage which he had unwittingly 
 done to their newly-finished home. 
 
 Happily fbr the little bird, the popular feeling is in favor of its 
 preservation, and in many a garden there is a box for the House 
 Wren carefully mounted on a pole like one of our barrel pigeon- 
 cotes, and each box having only a little hole by way of entrance, 
 so that no larger and more powerful bird should be able to usurp 
 the comfortable little house. In default of a box, however, the 
 House Wren will put up with very poor accommodation, and 
 make its nest in an old hat nailed under the eaves of a house, or 
 in a flower-pot, or in a hollow cocoa-nut or gourd. There is wis- 
 dom as well as kindness in providing a home for the House Wren, 
 for it is one of the insect-eating birds, and when it is thus suited 
 with a house, it remains near the spot, to the manifest advantage 
 of the herbs and fruit. 
 
 Of this littles bird Wilson gives an interesting anecdote. "A 
 box fixed up in the window of the room where I slept was taken 
 possession of by a pair of Wrens. Already the nest was built 
 and two eggs laid, when one day, the window being open, as well 
 as the room door, the female Wren, venturing too far into the 
 room to reconnoitre, was sprung upon by grimalkin, who had 
 planted herself there for the purpose, and before relief could be 
 given, was destroyed. Curious to see how the survivor would 
 demean himself, I watched him carefully for several days. 
 
 Z 
 
354 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 "At first he sang with great vivacity for an hour or so, but be- 
 coming weary, went off for half an hour ; on his return he chant- 
 ed again as before, went to the top of the house, stable, and weep- 
 ing-willow, that she might hear him ; but, seeing no appearance 
 of her, he returned once more, visited the nest, ventured cautious- 
 ly into the window, and gazed about with suspicious looks, his 
 voice sinking to a low, me^p,ncholy note as he stretched his little 
 neck about in every direction. Eeturning to the box, he seemed 
 for some minutes at a loss what to do, and soon after went off as 
 I thought altogether, for I saw him no more that day. 
 
 " T6ward the afternoon of the second day he again made his 
 appearance, accompanied by a new female, who seemed exceed- 
 ingly timorous and shy, and who, after great hesitation, entered 
 the box ; at this moment the little widower or bridegroom seem- 
 ed as if he would warble out his very life with ecstasy of joy. 
 After remaining about half a minute in, they both flew off, but 
 returned in a few minutes, and instantly began to carry out the 
 eggs, feathers, and some of the sticks, supplying the place of the 
 latter with materials of the same sort; and ultimately they suc- 
 ceeded in raising a brood of seven young, all of which escaped in 
 safety." 
 
 In this little narrative there afe two curious points to be no- 
 ticed, the one that the eggs already laid were turned out, and the 
 other that the new mistress of the house, with a natural jealousy 
 of her predecessor, rearranged the interior so as to suit her own 
 ideas of good taste. 
 
 As the bird is so useful, the proprietors of gardens would be 
 glad to have a number of families in their domains. This. plan, 
 however admirable in theory, is found to be impracticable in fact, 
 the quarrelsome nature of the bird enduring no rival. During 
 the building season, the House "Wren sings, fights, and builds with 
 equal energy, and drives away birds of three times his size. The 
 woodpecker is obliged to quit so disturbed a spot ; thp fussy and 
 active titmice yield to the Wren, and even the bluebird itself, 
 which is also a favored inmate of the garden, and is furnished 
 with breeding-boxes, is obliged to retire from the field, and to al- 
 low its tiny antagonist the choice of houses. 
 
 Australia is proverbially a strange land, and it is only in 
 Australia, or perhaps in Madagascar, that we should look for a 
 wren measuring some seventeen inches in height. Such a bird 
 
THE LYRE BIRD — THE ALBERT LYRE BIRD. 355 
 
 is, however, to be found in Australia, and is known to the natives 
 by the name ,of Bullen-bullen, and to the Europeans as the 
 Lyre Bird {Menura sujperba). It is/remarkable, by the way, that 
 the genius of the Austi-alian language causes .many words to be 
 doubled, so that the natives speak of a well-known Australian 
 marsupial as the devil-devil, and of a domestic servant as Jacky- 
 Jacky. 
 
 New South Wales is the chosen country of the Lyre Bird, 
 which is rather local, and affects certain defined boundaries. Its 
 native name is derived from its peculiar cry, and the popular 
 European name is given to the bird on accdlint of the shape of 
 its tail feath'ers. The two exterior feathers are curved in such a 
 manner that when the whole tail is spread they exactly resemble 
 the horns of an ancient lyre, the place of the strings being taken 
 by a number of slender decomposed feathers which rise from the 
 centre of the tail. "When the bird is quietly at rest, the tail-feath- 
 ers cross each other at the curves, and present a very elegant ap- 
 pearance, though not in the least resembling a lyre. In general 
 shape the bird bears some resemblance to a small turkey, except 
 that the legs are longer and more slender, and that the feet do not 
 resemble those of a gallinaceous bird. It is rather remarkable 
 that the egg presents as curious a mixture of the insessorial and 
 gallinaceous aspects as the bird itself. 
 
 The nest of this bird is not at all unlike that of the wren, being 
 very much of the same shape, and domed after a similar fashion. 
 The nest is, however, a very rough piece of architecture, composed 
 almost wholly of twigs, roots, and various sticks, which are inter- 
 woven in a very loose, but very ingenious manner, so as to form a 
 structure of tolerable firmness,' which can be lifted and even sub- 
 jected to rough treatment without being broken. At first sight 
 it looks like those heaps of dead twigs which are so common in 
 the birch-tree, but a closer inspection shows that there is a certain 
 regularity in the disposition of the sticl^^nd that the bird is not 
 without method, though that method bef^^t at first apparent. 
 
 So rude a structure as this nest would be unsuitable for the 
 tender young, and therefore the whole of th^ interior is stuffed 
 full of soft feathers. The nest of an allied species, Albert Lyre 
 Bird {Menura Alherti), is made in a, similar manner, except that 
 the materials are almost wholly small and rather long sticks. 
 Specimens of these nests may be seen in the British Museum. 
 Both the birds are very shy, and can not be approached without 
 
356 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 tlve greatest^caution. Like the gallinaceous birds, to whicli they 
 bear a strong resemblance, they are fond of scratching large holes 
 in sandy soil, sometimes making them nearly a yard in width and 
 eighteen or twenty inches in depth. 
 
 In the " corroboring" places, as the natives call them, the Lyre 
 Bird is mostly to be found, and the experienced hunter always 
 watches for the disappearance of the bird into the hole to make 
 his advance. Every now and then it jumps out of the hole, and 
 struts about, mocking with wonderful facility the notes of various 
 other birds, and even imitating precisely those of the laughing 
 jackass, tt has, however, a very sweet and powerful note of its 
 own.. Each bird makes three or four of these corroboring places, 
 sometimes at a distance of three or four hundred yards from each 
 other. 
 
 Dr. Stephenson thinks that the corroboring places are not mere- 
 ly made for amusement, but that they are used as traps, in which 
 are caught sundry beetles and other insects, which fall into the 
 pits and can not get out again. In fact, should this theory be 
 true, the Lyre Bird and the ant-lion have a similar method of 
 trapping their prey in sandy pitfalls, though the former is a bird 
 and the latter an immature insect. 
 
 Our last example of the Building Birds will be the well-known 
 Bower Bird of Australia {Ptiloirwrhyndius hohsericeus). 
 
 Perhaps the whole range of ornithology does not produce a 
 more singular phenomenon than the fact of a bird building a house 
 merely for amusement, and decorating it with brilliant objects as 
 if to mark its destination. Such a proceeding marks a great prog- 
 ress in civilization, even among Human races. The savage, pure 
 and simple, has -no notion of undergoing more labor than can be 
 avoided, and thinks that setting his wives to build a hut is quite 
 as much labor as he chooses to endure. 
 
 The native Australmis have no places of amusement. They 
 will certainly dance tlRr corrobory in one part of the forest in 
 preference to another, but merely because the spot happens to be 
 suitable without t^e expenditure of manual labor. The Bushman 
 has no place of resort, neither has the much farther advanced Zulu 
 Kafir. Even the New Zealander, who is the most favorable ex- 
 ample of a savage, does not erect a building merely for the pur- 
 pose of amusement, and would perhaps fail to comprehend that 
 such an edifice could be needed. Such a task is left to the civil- 
 
THE BOWEB BIRD. 
 
 357 
 
 ized races, and it is somewhat startling to find that in erecting a 
 ballroom, or aa assembly-room, or any similar building, we have 
 been long anticipated by a bird which was unknown until within 
 the last few years. Truly nothing is new under the sun. 
 
 The ballroom, or " bower," which this bird builds is a very re- 
 markable erection. Its general form can be seen by reference to 
 the illustration, but the method by which it is constructed can 
 only be learned by watching the feathered architect at work. 
 Fortunately there are several specimens of this bird at the Zoo- 
 logical Gardens, and I have often been much interested in seeing 
 the bird engaged in its labors. 
 
 
 The Bower Bird. 
 
 Whether it works smartly or not in its native land I can not 
 say, but it certainly does not hurry itself in this country. It be- 
 gins by weaving a tolerably firm platform of small twigs, which 
 looks as if the bird had been trying to make a door-mat and had 
 
358 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 nearly succeeded. It then looks for some long and rather slen- 
 der twigs, and pushes their bases into the platform, working them 
 tightly into its substance, and giving them such an inward incli- 
 nation that, when they are fixed at opposite sides of the platform, 
 their tips cross each other and form a simple arch. As these 
 twigs are set along the platform on both sides, the bird gradually 
 makes an arched alley, extending variably both in length and 
 height. 
 
 When the bower is completed, the reader may well ask the use 
 to which it can be put. It is not a nest, and I believe that the 
 real nest of this bird has not yet been discovered. It serves as an 
 assembly-room, in which a number of birds take their amusement. 
 Not only do the architects use it, but maijy birds of both sexes 
 resort to it, and continually run through and round it, chasing 
 one another in a very sportive fashion. 
 
 While they are thus amusing themselves, they utter a curious, 
 deep, and rather resonant note. Indeed, my attention was first 
 attracted to the living Bower Bird by this note. One day, as I 
 was passing the great aviary in the Zoological Gardens, I was 
 startled by a note with which I was quite unacquainted, and 
 which I thought must have issued from the mouth of a parrot. 
 Presently, however, I saw a very glossy bird, of a deep purple 
 hue, running about, and occasionally uttering the sound which 
 had attracted me. Soon it was evident that this was a Bower 
 Bird engaged in building an assembly-room, and a^fter a little 
 while he became reconciled to my presence, and went on with his 
 work. He went about it in a leisurely and reflective manner, tak- 
 ing plenty of time over his work, and disdaining to hurry himself 
 
 First he would go off to the farther end of the compartment, 
 and there inspect a quantity of twigs which had been put there 
 for his use. After contemplating them for some time, he would 
 take up a twig and then drop it as if it were too hot to hold. Per- 
 haps he would repeat this process six or seven times with the 
 same twig, and then suddenly pounce on another, weigh it once 
 or twice in his beak, and carry it off. When he reached the bow- 
 er he still kept up his leisurely character, for he would perambu- 
 late the floor for some minutes, with the twig still in his beak, 
 and then perhaps would lay it down, turn in another direction, 
 and look as if he had forgotten about it. Sooner or later, howev- 
 er, the twig was fixed, and then he would run through the bower 
 several times, utter his loud cry, and start off for another twig. 
 
THE SPOTTED BOWER BIED. 359 
 
 Why these birds should trouble themselves to make this bower 
 is a problem as yet unsolved. Had the structure served in any 
 way as a protection from the weather, there would have been a 
 self-evident reason for its existence ; but the arching twigs are put 
 together so loosely that they can not protect the birds from wind 
 or rain. Whatever may be the object of the bower, the birds are 
 so fond of it that they resort to it during many hours of the day, 
 and a good bower is seldom left without a temporary occupant. 
 
 Ornament is also employed by the Bower Bird, both entrances ' 
 of the bower being decorated with bright and shining objects. 
 The bird is not in the least fastidious about the articles with which 
 it decorates its bower, provided only that they shine and are con- 
 spicuous. Scraps of colored ribbon, shells, bits of paper, teeth, 
 bones, broken glass and china, feathers, and similar articles, are 
 in great request, and such objects as a lady's thimble, a tobacco- 
 pipe, and a tomahawk have been found near one of their bowers. 
 Indeed, whenever the natives lose any small and tolerably porta- 
 ble object, they always search the bowers of the neighborhood, 
 and frequently find that the missing article is doing duty as deco- 
 ration to the edifice. 
 
 This species is more plentiful than another Bower Bird which 
 will presently be described. As is the case with many birds, the 
 adult male is very different from the young male and the female 
 in his coloring. His plumage is a rich, deep purple, so deep in- 
 deed as to appear black when the bird is standing in the shade. 
 It is of a close texture, and glossy as if made of satin, presenting 
 a lovely appearance when the bird runs about in the sunbeams. 
 The specific name, Hohsericeus, is composed of two Greek words 
 signifying all silken, and is very appropriate to the species. The 
 female is not in the least like the male, her plumage being almost 
 uniform olive-green, and the young male is colored in a similar 
 manner. 
 
 Another species of Bower Bird inhabits New South "Wales, 
 and, on account of its variegated plumage, is called the Spotted 
 Bower Bird {Chlamydera maculatd). 
 
 The bower which is built by this bird is of very great compar- 
 ative size, being sometimes a full yard in length, and the arches 
 higher than those of the previous species. Long grass is plenti- 
 fully interwoven among the twigs, and the decorations of stones, 
 shells, and feathers extend to a considerable distance from either 
 
360 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 end of the bower. Mr. Gould mentions that the bird places the 
 heaviest stones so as to keep the twigs in their places, and that it 
 will even bring the skulls and bones of the small mammalia to 
 aid in the decoration of its bower. 
 
 These birds are allied to the common starling, and belong to 
 a small group of that family which have gained the name of 
 Glossy Starlings on account of their satin-like plumage. 
 
 The color of the Spotted Bower Bird is warm brown, profusely 
 spotted with buff, and upon the back of the neck there is a kind 
 of falling ruff or collar of long feathers which shine like spun 
 glass, /md are of a lovely rose-pink color. The generic name 
 " Chlamydera" literally signifies " cloak-necked," and is given to 
 the bird on account of this peculiarity. The classical reader will 
 remember that the chlamys was a short cloak or scarf, that could 
 be thrown round the neck or over the shoulder at the conven- 
 ience of the wearer. 
 
 CHAPTBE XVIII. 
 BUILDING INSECTS.. 
 
 The Tekmite, or White Ant. — General Habits of the Insett. — African Termites 
 and their Homes. — Termites as Articles of Food. — Indian Termites. — Account ' 
 of their Proceedings. — American Termites. — Mr. Bates's Account of their Hab- 
 its. — European Tei-mites. — Their Eavages in France and Spain. — M. de Quatre- 
 fages and his History of the Termites of Rochefort and La Eochelle. — The Ec- 
 MENES and its mud-built Nest. — The Trtpoxtlon of South America. — The Pe- 
 J.0PXX1S and its curious Nest. — The Mnn-DAUBEE Wasp. — Mr. Goss's Account 
 of its Habits. — The Melipona of America. — Mr. Stone's Wasp Nests and theii- 
 History. — Difference of Material. — The Fobaging Ants of South America and 
 their various Species. — Nests and Habits of the Foraging Ants. — The Agkicul- 
 TUEAL Ani of Texas. — Dr. Lincecum's Accounts of its Habits. 
 
 "We now pass to the many insects which may be classed among 
 the Builders. The reader will probably notice that several of the 
 true builders are omitted in this department, but will find them 
 under the head of Social Insects. 
 
 Of the Building insects, the Termite, or White Ant, as it is 
 popularly and wrongly called, is the acknowledged head 'and chief. 
 There are certain other insects which erect habitations which are 
 truly wonderful, but there is not one that approaches the Ter- 
 mite in the size of its building or the stone-like solidity of the 
 structure. 
 
JSEbTB OF TI:KM1TE. 
 
363 
 
 If the reader will refer to the large illustration, he will see that 
 the Termite of Southern Africa can erect nests of very great size. 
 Three of these structures are shown, and a human being has been 
 introduced by one of them in order to show their average height. 
 
 The history of the Termites is so complicated, and so full of in- 
 cident, that I might occupy several hundred pages of this work in 
 describing them and their nests, and yet not have exhausted the 
 subject. I shall therefore give a general sketch of the Termites 
 and their habits, and then relate a few details concerning the spe- 
 cies which are found in Africa, Asia, America, and Europe. 
 
 In the first place, the reader must understand tiiat the Termite 
 is not an ant at all, but belongs to a totally different order of in- 
 sect, and is allied to the dragon-flies, the ant-lions, the May-flies, 
 and the beautiful Lace-wing flies. 
 
 The Termites are social, and, like other social insects, are di- 
 vided into several grades, such as workers, males, and females, the 
 two latter of which are winged when they reach maturity. The 
 body is oblong and flat, the antennae short, and the mandibles flat- 
 tened and toothed, and in most cases extremely long and formida- 
 ble. Each colony is founded by a single pair, popularly called 
 the king and queen, and the rest of the population consists of de- 
 veloped males and females, which are intended to perpetuate the 
 species and found fresh* colonies, and of undeveloped individuals, 
 or neuters, of both sexes. The neuter males are termed soldiers, 
 and are armed with powerful jaws proceeding from enormous 
 heads, and the neuter females are termed workers, and are very 
 small. 
 
 There are now before me some specimens of African Termites, 
 the soldiers of which are five or six times as large as the workers. 
 ' They are formidable creatures, but they can do little harm beyond 
 inflicting a severe bite, as they are not furnished with stings nor 
 even with poison glands. They can bite through the clothes of 
 a European, and when they swarm upon the bare limbs of the 
 Fegro they inflict almost unbearable tortures. The chief duty 
 of the soldier seems to be the defense of the nest ; for, whenever 
 the walls are broken down, the soldiers come trooping out to at- 
 tack the invader, and, being quite unconscious of fear, they will 
 seize on the first strange object that happens to come in their 
 way. There are comparatively few soldiers, their proportion to 
 the workers being only one per cent. 
 
 When a pair of developed Termites have settled themselves to 
 
36-i HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 form a colony, they share the fate of certain Oriental potentates, 
 and never move out of their royal cell. When the queen is fair- 
 ly settled, she increases in size so rapidly, that, even if she were 
 set at liberty, she could not crawl an inch. While the head, tho- 
 rax, and legs retain their original dimensions, the abdomen swells 
 until it is more than two inches long and about three quarters of 
 an inch in width. Thus developed, she produces eggs by the 
 thousand, which are immediately carried off by the workers, who 
 have reserved certain apertures in the royal apartment through 
 which they can easily pass. When the eggs are hatched, the 
 young are careffflly watched and tended until they are at last de- 
 veloped into males, females, or neuters, and themselves are able 
 to take part in the manual. work. 
 
 A full-sized nest of the African Termite is a wonderful struc- 
 ture. Although made merely of clay, the walls are nearly as hard 
 as stone, and quite as hard as the brick of which villa residences 
 are usually "built. The form of the nest is essentially conical, a 
 large cone occup3nng the centre, and smaller cones being grouped 
 round it, like pinnacles round a Gothic spire. 
 
 In Andersson's valuable work, " Lake ISTgami," there are many 
 detached accounts of the African Termite. He states that he has 
 seen nests which were full twenty feet in height, and had a cir- 
 cumference of a hundred teet,- and that when the insects were de- 
 veloped and obtained their wings, they issued forth in such hosts 
 that the air seemed as if it were filled with dense and white snow- 
 flakes. So strong is the instinct for rushing into the air, that they 
 can scarcely be retained within the nest, and will even pass 
 through fire in order to gain their end. 
 
 The nests are always interesting objects, even from the exterior. 
 The walls are so hard that hunters are accustomed to mount upon 
 them for the purpose of looking out for game, and the wild buffalo 
 has a similar habit, the structure being strong enough even to 
 support the weight of so large an animal. The daily labors of 
 the architects can easily be traced, on account of the dampness of 
 the recent clay, so that an approximation can be formed as to the 
 length of time which is occupied in erecting one of the nests. The 
 traveler is 'always, glad to see a large Termite nest, because he is 
 nearly sure to find the surface studded with mushrooms, which 
 are larger and better flavored than those which our fields pro- 
 duce. 
 
 The natives have another motive for looking after the Termite 
 
THE TERMITE, OR WHITE ANT. 865 
 
 nests, because they eat tlie inmatfes, considering them to be a pe- 
 culiar luxury. The same author whom I have already mentioned 
 describes a curious interview that he had with Palani, a Bayeiye 
 chief. "Wishing to show the chief the superiority of European 
 cookery, Mr. Andersson spread some a,pricot jam on bread, and 
 offered it to him. The chief took it,, and expressed himself much 
 pleased with it, but asserted that Termites were much superior in 
 flavor. In order to catch the Termites in sufficient numbers, the 
 native makes a hole in the nest, and when the workers are con- 
 gregated for the purpose of repairing the breach, he sweeps them 
 into a vessel, and repeats the operation until he has obtained as 
 many as he wants. 
 
 As is the case with the true ants, the Termites only retain their 
 wings for a limited period, using them for the purpose of escap- 
 ing from the nest, and snapping them off as soon as they have 
 met with a partner. The manner in which the wings are fixed 
 to the body is the same in both groups of insects, and these sin- 
 gular organs are shed by being bent sharply forward. If a living 
 Termite be caught, and its wings pressed forward with a pin, they 
 will instantly snap off; but if bent backward, a piece of the body 
 will be torn away before the wings can be removed. 
 
 A correspondent of the Field newspaper gives a very interest- 
 ing account of the proceedings of the Termites living in India. 
 After mentioning the peculiar shedding of the wings, he writes as 
 follows : 
 
 " The career of the winged white ant, as far as I have had an 
 opportunity of judging, is as follows: Soon after the commence- 
 ment of the first shower which ushers, in the rainy season in India, 
 swarms of winged white ants are to be seen issuing from small 
 holes in the earth, in old mud or sunburnt brick walls, and from 
 places of a similar character, in which the original nests may have 
 been located whence these swarms are thrown off. These legions 
 at once attract the attention of all the insectivorous and omnivor- 
 ous birds in the neighborhood, and the minahs, crows, and spar- 
 rows are on the alert to feast to satiety on the defenseless ants. 
 
 " Judging from the appearance of the wings of these ants as 
 they emerge from their earth-home, I should '^ disposed to think 
 that they do not develop their wings until the dampness of the 
 atmosphere warns them to prepare for action. There is a new, 
 smooth, and glossy appearance about them, not linlike the wings 
 of a young wasp, or the shine of a new hat. The ants vary much 
 
366 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 in size at this period of their existence ; in good damp seasons, 
 and perhaps in favorable localities, they have a well-fed, plump 
 appearance, whereas under unfavorable circumstances they pre- 
 sent a slender and measly complexion. They crawl to the mouth 
 of the hole in the first in^anpe, and at once take wing. The males 
 and females take no particular notice of each other until they have 
 made their preliminary flight, which is but short ; they soon alight 
 on the ground, or oh the dinner-table, as the case may be, making 
 direct for a light if their flight is after dark. 
 
 " As soon as they obtain a footing after their descent from their 
 aerial expedition, both males and females commence to run a most 
 headlong and reckless career. Nothing appears to arrest their 
 progress. The female, who is larger and more full in figure than 
 the male, is also slower in her movements. ' She stops from time 
 to time, and performs slow and singular contortions with the hind- 
 er portion of her body. I can't help thinking that she gives out 
 some peculiar odor at these times — at all events, the males are 
 sensible of the scent of the females, and if they, in their more rapid 
 quartering of the ground, pass over the track of a female, their 
 excitement and activity is redoubled, and they take Up the run- 
 ning with singular pertinacity. 
 
 " Up to this point both male and female ant retain their wings, 
 and it is as difficult to deprive them of these members as it is to 
 pull the wings from a house-fly. No sooner, however, does the 
 male ant overtake the female, than he makes a dash at the but- 
 too-willing flirt, and seizes (gently, I presume) the extreme end 
 of her plump figure with his jaws. This is the signal to the fe- 
 male that she no longer requires her wings, and at once, with a 
 jerk, both male and female throw from them these now useless en- 
 cumbrances. Away they go, madam towing my lord, who never 
 quits his hold, but clings to the skirts of his lady-love in a most 
 gallant manner. They race over stock and stone, over garden 
 walk, veranda, or dinner-table, as the case may be, until they joint- 
 ly fall victims to the ever- watchful birds, beasts, or fishes, who are 
 all on the qui vive for the dainty morsel. 
 
 " Should they escape all their numerous enemies, and not suc- 
 ceed in being sw«)t from the table by the ever-watchful kitmut- 
 gar, the female soon selects for her home, in which to spend the 
 honeymoon of her existence, some spot which seems adapted for 
 the end which she has in view. If she is a prudent, cautious 
 dame, she picks out some soft nodule of earth moistened by the 
 
THE TEEMITE, OE WHITE ANT. 367 
 
 recent rain, and h^ing done so, she communicates to her lord and 
 follower by some means, which to me are inscrutable, that she 
 thinks the lodgings will do. 
 
 " The worthy gentleman at once casts off the tow-line, and he 
 and the lady 6f his affections buckle to without loss of time, 
 and excavate a home for the comfortable reception of the lady. 
 White ants are put to sad shifts at these times. Any dark nook 
 brings them to a halt, and the lee-side of a plate, tray, or the shady 
 side of a candlestick is ofteif selected by the confiding female. In 
 all her arrangements the male appears to acquiesce without de- 
 mur. 
 
 "Vanity and vexation are the natural results of such ill-con- 
 sidered domestic arrangements, and the expiring couple, exhaust- 
 ed with their endeavors to make an earthen nest out of a bamboo 
 tray and a cotton table-cloth,- are scattered to the winds by the 
 first servant who may be pleased to screw up energy sufficient to 
 remove the debris of the evening meal, to make way for master's 
 breakfast next day. Of the subsequent career of the happy couple 
 it is out of my power to speak, never having had an opp|»rtunity 
 of carefully watching their movements." 
 
 As to the Termites of Southern America, much information 
 may be obtained from Mr. Bates's valuable work on the natural 
 history of the Amazons. As many of his remarks simply prove 
 the identity of habits between the Termites of the Old World and 
 those of the New, I shall say nothing about them, but merely 
 give a brief extract of his observations. 
 
 As with the species which have already been described, the 
 soldiers are the only individuals that fight, When, therefore, the 
 ant-bear tears down the walls of the nest and begins to lick up 
 the inmates, none but the soldiers are killed, they having come 
 out to fight the enemy, while the workers have all run away and 
 hidden themselves underground. In consequence of this fact, the 
 economy of the nest is but slightly disturbed, and after the ant- 
 bear has gone away, the workers begin to raise their walls afresh. 
 
 It must be remembered that the nests of the Termite are not 
 confined to the surface, but extend to a considerable distance in 
 the earth, the subterranean galleries being proportionately large 
 to the superimposed nest. Indeed, the greater part of the mate- 
 rial with which the walls and galleries are built' is brought from 
 below and carried upward through the nest itself. There is no 
 
368 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. . 
 
 visible outlet to a Termite's nest, because tte insects construct 
 long galleries through which they can pass without suffering in- 
 convenience from the light of day. Both the workers and sol- 
 diers are blind ; but, in spite of the absence of external visual or- 
 gans, they are very sensitive to light, and avoid It in every possi- 
 ble way. ^ 
 
 The food of the Termite is of a vegetable character, and consists 
 mostly of wooden fibres. They will, however, eat through almost 
 any thing, and the traveler in hot climates finds them among his 
 worst troubles. They will cut to pieces the mat on which a man 
 is lying. They will eat nearly all the wood of his strong-box, 
 leaving a mere shell no thicker than the paper on which this 
 account is printed. They will devour all his collection of plants, 
 beasts, birds, and insects; and a table or any other article of fur- 
 niture, if left too long in one position, will be utterly ruined by 
 the Termites, which have a fashion of eating away all the interior, 
 but leaving just a thin shell, which looks as if nothing were the 
 matter. 
 
 Ex1%pating them is a difficult task. It is true that, if the mats, 
 clothes, and other household goods are washed with a solution of 
 corrosive sublimate, the Termites will not touch them ; but as the 
 articles which can be thus protected are necessarily few in num- 
 ber, the best method is to extirpate them. This can only be done 
 by going to the fountain-head and cutting off the supply. It is 
 useless to destroy the workers or soldiers, for they are replaced as 
 fast as killed ; but, if the queen be destroyed, the supply of eggs is 
 at once stopped, the subjects lose heart, and the colony dies off 
 
 When the adult Termites leave their homes, they often fly in 
 such clouds that they fill the rooms, and even put out the lamps 
 by their numbers. As soon as they touch ground they shed their 
 wings, and then they begin to find how many enemies they have. 
 Of the myriad hosts that pour into the evening air, not one in 
 twenty thousand survives to found a new colony. They have 
 foes above, below, and on every side. The bats and goatsuckers 
 hold high festival on these evenings when the Termites are abroad, 
 and after the insects have cast their wings they are pursued by 
 ants, toads, spiders, and a host of other enemies. 
 
 We will now pass to the European Termites, whose history is 
 elaborately given by M. de Quatrefages. Rochefort, Saintes, and 
 Tournay-Charente have for some years suffered from the ravages 
 
369 
 
 of the Termites, and now La Epchelle is invaded by these terrible 
 destroyers. In all probability they were imported by some ship, 
 taken ashore in the boxes into which they had penetrated, and 
 thence spread into the country around. Efforts are being made 
 toward the extirpation of these terrible insects, but nothing seems 
 as yet to have had any great effect. How serious are the damages 
 which they work may be seen from the following account by M. 
 de Quatrefages, in his " Eambles of a Naturalist," vol. ii., p. 346 : 
 
 "The Prefecture and a few neighboring houses are the principal 
 scene of the destructive ravages of the Termites, but here they 
 have taken complete possession of the premises. In the garden, 
 not a stake can be put into the ground, and not a plank can be 
 left on the beds, without being attacked within twenty -four hours. 
 The fences put round the young trees are gnawed from the bot- 
 tom, while the trees themselves are gutted to the very branches. 
 
 "Within the building itself, the apartments and offices are alike 
 invaded. I saw upon the roof of a bedroom that had been re- 
 cently repaired, galleries made by the Termites which looked like 
 stalactites, and which had begun to show themselves the very day 
 after the workmen had left the place. In the cellars I discovered 
 similar galleries, which were within half-way between the ceiling 
 and the floor, or running along the walls and extending no doubt 
 up to the very garrets; for on the principal staircase other gal- 
 leries were observed between the ground floor and the second 
 floor, passing under the plaster wherever it was sufficiently thick 
 for the purpose, and only coming to view at different points where 
 the stones were on the surface ; for, like other species, the Termites 
 of La Eochelle always work under cover, wherever it is possible 
 for them to do so. 
 
 "MM. Milne-Edwards and Blanchard haVe seen galleries which 
 descended without any extraneous support from the ceiling to the 
 floor of a cellar. M. Bobe-Moreau cites several curious instances 
 of this mode of construction. Thus, for instance, he saw isolated 
 galleries or arcades, which were thrown horizontally forward like 
 a tubular bridge, in order to reach a piece of paper that was wrap- 
 ped round a bottle, the contents of a pot of honey, etc. 
 
 "It is 'generally only by incessant vigilance that we can trace 
 the course of their devastations and prevent their ravages. At 
 the time of M. Audoin's visit a curious proof was accidentally 
 obtained of the mischief which this insect silently accomplishes. 
 One day it was discovered that the archives of the Department 
 
 Aa 
 
370 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 were almost totally destroyed, and that without the slightest ex- 
 ternal trace of any damage. The Termites had reached the boxes 
 in which these documents were preserved by mining the wain- 
 scoting, and they had then leisurely set to work to devour these 
 administrative records, carefully respecting the upper sheets and 
 the margin of each leaf, so that a box which was only a mass of 
 rubbish seemed to contain a pile of papers in perfect order." 
 
 In the British Museum are several examples of the ravages 
 worked by Termites, one of which is an ordinary beam .that has 
 been so completely hollowed and eaten away that nothing remains 
 but a mere shell no thicker than the wood of a bandbox. 
 
 Besides the species which were investigated by M. de Quatre- 
 fages, there are others in the south of France, and in Sardinia and 
 Spain. One species, Termes fxivicollisyQh.\eQ.j attacks and destroys 
 the olives, while in the Landes and Gironde the oaks and firs are 
 kUled by another species, Termes lucifugus. 
 
 As the limits of this work preclude a very lengthened account 
 of any one creature, our history of the Termites must here be con- 
 cluded, although much interesting matter remains unwritten. 
 
 In the accompanying illustration are shown two nests, the two 
 upper specimens on the right hand having been already described. 
 They are made by the little spider called Agekna brunnea, and 
 their history will be found on page 321. 
 
 The two lower nests are made by a species of solitary wasp, 
 which has no popular name, but is known to entomologists as 
 EuTnenes coarciata. It is not a large insect, the females being 
 only half an inch in length, and the male rather smaller. The 
 general color is black, with a fine velvet-like pile on the abdo- 
 men, and relieved by lines and spots of yellow. The abdomen 
 is small, and set on a rather short and pear-shaped footstalk, as 
 may be seen by the illustration, which represents the insect of its 
 natural size. 
 
 This is one of the species which are tolerably common in cer- 
 tain localities, but, as they are very local, may be reckoned among 
 the varieties. Mr. F. Smith, in his " Catalogue of the British Ves- 
 pidse," mentions that it has been taken in several parts" of Hamp- 
 shire, Berkshire, near "Weybridge, and has been found plentifully 
 at Sunninghill. Probably the rarity or frequency of this species, 
 as is the case with many others, depends greatly on the eyes 
 which look after it. 
 
AGELENA BRUNNEA — EUMENES OOAEOTATA. 
 
 371 
 
 Kumenea and Agelena. 
 
 This little wasp constructs small globular cells of mud, and 
 fastens them to the stems of various plants, the common heath 
 being the greatest favorite, so that heath-covered commons are 
 likely to afford specimens of the nest and its architect. Each 
 nest contains only a single cell, and is only intended to rear a 
 single occupant. The wasp is a very useful insect, as it provisions 
 its nest with the larvas of small lepidoptera, each Eumenes grub 
 requiring a tolerably large supply of caterpillars. 
 
 As is the case with so many insects, the Eumenes is greatly 
 subject to the attacks of parasites, which contrive to deposit their 
 eggs in the larvae in spite of the hard mud walls of the cell. Mr. 
 Smith mentions that he has had from the nest of the Eumenes 
 an ichneumon fly belonging to the genus Gryptus. 
 
 In the following illustration are figured the nests of two in- 
 sects, both of them natives of tropical America, and both be- 
 longing to the hymendpterous order. The upper insect is known 
 to entomologists by the name of Trypoxylon aurifrons, but hn.s at 
 present no popular name. 
 
 This insect makes a great number of earthen cells, shaped 
 something like those of the last-mentioned species, the cells being 
 remarkable for the form of the entrance, which is narrowed and 
 rounded as shown in^the figure. In some cases the neck is so 
 very narrow in proportion to the size of the cell, and the rim is so 
 
372 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Trypoxylon and Pelopffloa. 
 
 neatly turned over, that the observer is irresistibly reminded of 
 the neck of a glass bottle. The insect makes quite a number of 
 these nests, sometimes fastening them to branches, as shown in 
 the illustration, but as frequently fixing them to beams of houses. 
 It has a great fancy for the corners of verandas, and builds there- 
 in whole rows of cells, buzzing loudly the while, and attracting 
 attention by the noise which it makes. 
 
 The lower insect is the pretty Pelopceus fistularis, with its yel- 
 low and black banded body. Both the insects, as well as their 
 houses, are represented of the natural size. 
 
 The cell of the Pelopaeus is larger than that of the preceding in- 
 sect, and occupies much more time in the construction, a week at 
 least being devoted to the task. She sets to work very methodi- 
 cally, taking a Jong time in kneading the clay, which she rolls 
 into little spherical pellets, and kneads for a minute or two before 
 she leaves the ground. She then flies away with her load, and 
 adds it to the nest, spreading the clay in a series of rings, like the 
 courses of bricks in a circular chimney, so that the edifice soon 
 assumes a rudely cylindrical form. 
 
 When she has nearly completed her task, she goes off in search 
 of creatures wherewith to stock the nest, and to serve as food for 
 the young, and selects about the most unpromising specimens that 
 
THE PELOP^US EISTULARIS. 373 
 
 can be conceived. Like many other solitary hymenoptera, this 
 Pelopseus stores her nest with spiders, and any one would sup- 
 pose that she would choose the softest and the plumpest kinds for 
 her young. It is found, however, that she acts precisely in the 
 opposite manner. 
 
 In tropical America there is a large group of spiders allied to 
 the common garden spider, but of the most extraordinary shapes 
 and colors. They all possess a hard, shelly covering, polished and 
 shining like that of many beetles, and glittering with bright and 
 radiant hues — blue, crimson, green, and purple being the colors 
 with which they are ordinarily decorated. Their forms are, how- 
 ever, even more remarkable than their colors. Their hard and 
 shelly covering is not uniform and smooth, but shoots out into 
 the most extraordinary projections, giving to the creatures a wild 
 and fantastic grotesqueness of aspect that surpasses even the 
 weird imaginings of Breughel, Cranagh, Callot, and other masters 
 of diablerie in art. 
 
 One genus has the abdomen formed in a drum shape, the sides 
 and extremity being covered with short, sharp, and stout spines. 
 Another has the abdomen modified into a ball-like shape, from 
 which radiate sharp spikes, like those of the well-known "cal- 
 throp ;" while in another genus certain enormous projections issue 
 from the abdomen, two being so large that in volume they exceed 
 the whole of the abdomen and body. In one species they are 
 thick, solid, and palmated, like the horns of the elk ; in another 
 they are slender, and curved like the horns of a bull ; and there 
 are other species quite as bizarre in form. It is from these crea- 
 tures, more especially from the firi^t-mentioned, that the Pelopaeus 
 selects her victims, and it is evident that the jaws of the young 
 Pelopeeus must be exceedingly strong to be enabled to pierce 
 their hard and well-armed bodies. Like the previously-mention- 
 ed insect, the Pelopseus makes a loud and cheerful buzzing while 
 engaged in her work of building. 
 
 Me. Bates, who has described these two insects, has likewise 
 mentioned a builder insect of the same order, called Meliponafas- 
 ciculata. The genus to which this insect belongs is a very large 
 one, containing some forty -five species, some of which are very 
 common in woods, and being extremely small, measuring only 
 the twelfth of an inch in length, they are very annoying to the 
 traveler, getting into his nostrils, and worrying him in various 
 
374 HOMES WITHOtTT HANDS. 
 
 ways. Fortunately, they do not sting, but their bite is very sharp, 
 and if made on a sensitive surface like the lining membrane of 
 the nostril, can inflict very severe pain. 
 
 The form of habitation is various, according to the species, but 
 they all use clay for that purpose, kneading it with their mandi- 
 bles, and then passing it to the hind legs, and pressing it into 
 the hair-fringed depression which is popularly called the basket. 
 Some species are accustomed to employ any casual crevice as a 
 nest, stufl&ng it up with clay, and leaving only a little orifice 
 through which they can pass. Others, again, make long tubes of. 
 clay, with trumpet-shaped mouths; and it is a remarkable fact, 
 that a number of the bees are always at the entrance as sentinels, 
 just as is the case with the hive-bee when wasps are abroad. 
 
 In the " Zoologist" for 1864, p. 582, is a very interesting de- 
 scription, by Mr. P. H. Gosse, of the proceedings of insects which 
 he appropriately calls the Dauber Wasps, and which belong to 
 the same genus as the Pelopseus mentioned above. One insect he 
 identifies as Pelopseus flavipes, and the other is probably Pelopce- 
 us spirifer. One of these insects is now before me, and a very 
 pretty creature it is. In shape it exactly resembles that which is 
 figured on page 372, but the colors are different. The general 
 hue is deep brown-black, very shining in the abdomen, and soft- 
 ened by thick down upon the thorax. It is, however, not a som- 
 bre insect, as the long footstalk of the abdomen is bright yellow, 
 and the limbs are banded with the same lively hue. I strongly 
 advise my readers to peruse this account, because it is fall of de- 
 tail, and contains much useful information about the method of 
 working adopted by the insect, thus giving a clew to the proceed- 
 ings of other insects which build habitations of similar materi- 
 als. The length of the account is the reason why it can not be 
 transferred to these pages, and I must therefore give a short ab- 
 stract. 
 
 Having seen many patches of a yellow mud on the walls and 
 rafters, some as large as the closed fist and others of comparative- 
 ly small dimensions, he asked some boys what they were, and 
 was told that they were the nests of the Dirt-daubers. Finding 
 that, as the weather became warm, the insects began to build, he 
 set to work and watched them carefully. First he tried their sa- 
 gacity by boring holes in their cells, in order to see whether the 
 insects would fill them up, and afterward by inserting foreign 
 
DAUBER WASPS. 375 
 
 substances, such as a tin-tack and a piece of worsted, into the cell. 
 The insect proved herself equal to the occasion, filled up the holes, 
 and pulled out both the tack and the worsted. The next point 
 was to watch a nest from its foundation, and to see how it was 
 built. The insect always went off, was absent for about a minute, 
 and then returned, bearing in her jaws a lump of clay larger than 
 her own head. The clay was perfectly plastic, and could be 
 spread at once. The method by which the cell is formed must 
 be given in the author's own words : 
 
 "About this time (August 18) the other species of Pelopseus be- 
 gan to be busy fabricating their artful thimble-shaped nests. 
 
 " It is difficult to convey by words an idea of their mode of 
 working. The commencement of a cell, was by laying down the 
 load and working it into an oval ridge, one extremity of which 
 was to be the apex of the thimble cell. The next load was laid 
 on the ridge, but so as to be higher at the apex than at any other 
 part, and made slightly concave. When the top was made, the 
 work proceeded regularly by additions to the edges, which were 
 smoothly laid on, and always in the same slanting direction that 
 had been given at first, by raising one end of the incipient oval, 
 so that an unfinished cell in any state of progress appears to be a 
 -cylinder cut off by a diagonal section. 
 
 "This is not casual, but invariable, as the ridges remaining 
 plainly mark the precise limits of every load. 
 
 " When a little more in length is finished than suffices for a 
 single cell, the work ceases for a while, an, egg is laid in the bot- 
 tom, though this end is generally uppermost, and spiders are 
 brought in. This species usually, not always, selects a very beau- 
 tiful species of Tetragnatha, bright green with white spots ; and 
 it is worth remarking that spiders are carried both with the jaws 
 and feet, one of the fore legs of the spider being grasped in the 
 mouth, while the body is held under that of the fly, and sustained 
 by the anterior and middle legs and feet, the posterior pair being 
 extended behind, as usual during flight. 
 
 " When the first cell is stocked, it is closed up by a transverse 
 partition of mud, and the thimble goes on increasing as before. 
 When finished, one will contain three or even four cells, and then 
 a new one is commenced, adjoining and parallel with it. In both 
 this and the other species, I believe that the inclosed grub eats 
 only the abdomen of the spiders (which are so stung as to be help- 
 less, but not dead), as the. cephalothorax and legs of each may 
 generally be found afterward in the cell." 
 
376 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The same writer noticed a remarkable instance of ingenuity in 
 these insects. An empty ink-bottle, about an inch and a half in 
 length, lay on the table. The neck of this bottle was one day 
 seen to be stopped up with a substance like white pipe-clay, and 
 when this was broken, the bottle was found to be stored with spi- 
 ders. The fact was, that a Pelopseus had spied out the bottle, and 
 thought that she had a fine opportunity of providing a home for 
 her young without troubling herself to build a regular nest. A 
 day or two afterward, the Dauber returned to see after the nest, 
 and finding that it had been disturbed, she entered the bottle, 
 took out all the spiders, replaced them with fresh specimens, and 
 then reclosed the mouth. It is evident from this fact that the in- 
 sect does not entirely abandon her young when she has completed 
 and closed the nest. 
 
 Another curious discovery was also made while watching the 
 Pelopaeus. If the reader will refer to the illustration, he will see 
 that the abdomen of the insect is supported on a very long and 
 slender peduncle, or footstalk. Mr. Gosse was naturally anxious 
 to discover how the insect could draw the abdomen out of the 
 pupal skin when it came to change into its perfect condition. On 
 examining some specimens, he discovered the curious fact that 
 the pupal envelope did not sit closely to the body, but that it was 
 as wide in the middle as at either end, so that when the insect 
 came to assume its perfect form, the peduncle was quite loose in 
 the centre of the envelope, and the abdomen could be drawn out 
 without any difficulty. 
 
 These observations are peculiarly valuable, because they set at 
 rest a question which was raised by several entomologists, who 
 thought that the nests were made by some species of Eumenes, 
 and that the Pelopseus was a mere parasite upon them, like the 
 Cryptus, and many other of the Ichneumonidae. 
 
 If the reader will refer to the large engraving, entitled " Mr. 
 Stone's Wasp Nests," he will see a representation of four square 
 boxes, each containing an object which would hardly be taken 
 for a wasp's nest at a little distance. Such, however, is the case ; 
 and these boxes are four selected examples out of a series of six 
 which were built in Mr. Stone's house, and presented by him to 
 the British Museum. The story of these nests is very remarka- 
 ble, and shows how much we have to learn concerning the habits 
 and instincts of insects. 
 
WASP NESTS. 379 
 
 In the month of August, 1862, a nest of the common wasp 
 {Vespa germanica) was taken near Brighthampton, and handed 
 over to Mr. Stone, who has long been in the habit of experiment- 
 ing upon these insects. One extraordinary nest which was built 
 by wasps under his auspices has already been mentioned on page 
 276. 
 
 The nest was very much damaged by carriage, and Mr. Stone 
 took it entirely to pieces, placing one or two small combs inside a 
 square wooden box with a glass front, and supporting them by a 
 wire which passed through the combs to the roof of the box. He 
 then fixed the box in a window, so as to allow the insects free in- 
 gress and egress through a hole in the back. 
 
 About three hundred of the workers were then collected, 
 placed in the box, and well supplied with sugar and beer. They 
 immediately began to work, and their first object was to cover 
 the combs with paper. They worked with great rapidity, and 
 in two days had formed a flask-shaped nest, having covered both 
 the combs and the wire, besides plastering large sheets of paper 
 over the sides of the box. They did not attempt to build upon 
 the glass front, because it was frequently moved in order to in- 
 troduce a supply of sugar. This nest is represented at Fig. 4 in 
 the illustration, and one of the wasps is introduced, in order to 
 show the comparative dimensions of the nest and its architects. 
 
 As the wasps were building at such a rate, it was evident that 
 they \70uld shortly fill the whole box with a shapeless mass of 
 paper. Another similar box was therefore prepared, and the 
 wasps ejected by tapping the box which was already completed. 
 As soon as they were all out, the second box was substituted for 
 the first, and the wasps crowded eagerly into it, and again began 
 their labors. In this box they were allowed to remain for a week, 
 and the result was as seen in Fig. 3. The wasps were now trans- 
 ferred to a third box, in which they labored for four days, and 
 produced a nest somewhat similar to the others, but not quite so 
 symmetrical. 
 
 At this time Mr. Stone fitted up another box with two rows 
 of wire pillars, efght in number, placed with tolerable, regularity 
 about two inches apart, and having a piece of comb at the base 
 and summit of each. In this box the wasps remained for fifteen 
 days, and in that time had covered all the wires and most of the 
 combs, and had nearly filled the box with paper. 
 
 In order that a more symmetrical structure might be produced, 
 
380 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 a fifth box was fitted up with wires arranged in a different man- 
 ner. Four wires were placed across the box, rather in advance 
 of the middle, and two others in front of them. To all these 
 wires a piece' of comb was fixed at the base and summit, but be- 
 tween the two central pillars a short wire was placed, having a 
 piece of comb at its summit only. The wasps were transferred 
 to this box, and in the short space of five days they covered all 
 the combs and wires, and produced the extraordinary structure 
 which is shown in Fig. 1, and which looks like a paper imitation 
 of a stalactitic cavern. The insects were ejected from this nest 
 before they had finished their work, and, in consequence, a por- 
 tion of the comb on the small central pillar is still left uncov- 
 ered. 
 
 As this box had been so successful, another was prepared on 
 the same principle, and the wasps were permitted to reside in it 
 for the same number of days, in which time they produced an 
 equally beautiful but rather more massive nest. This specimen 
 is shown at Fig. 2 of the illustration. In hopes that the wasps 
 might make a still more splendid nest, a much larger box was 
 fitted up, and the insects transferred to it. As by this time the 
 autumn was closing in, and the weather became cold, the wasps 
 could do but little work, and in a short time they died. 
 
 Thus, in the wonderfully short space of thirty-eight days, six 
 elaborate and beautiful nests had been made by a single brood of 
 wasps, and it is probable that if the original nest had been, taken 
 at an earlier period of the year, they would have made a still 
 larger number. However, such a feat as they did perform ought 
 to make us look upon the wasp with a more indulgent eye ; and, 
 although it can not supply us with honey, as does the bee, it can 
 certainly rival that useful insect in industry. 
 
 On looking at this beautiful series of nests, the observer can 
 not but admire the manner in which the instinct of these crea- 
 tures is made subservient to human reason. This instinct teaches 
 them to cover all their combs with a thick mass of paper, the 
 reason being, although they may not know it, that a certain uni- 
 formity of temperature is needed for the well-Tieing of the eggs 
 and young. If, therefore, combs are placed conveniently for the 
 insects, they will assuredly cover them according to their instincts, 
 and will as surely takei advantage of wires or any other supports 
 to which they can attach the' fragile substance of which the nest 
 is made. 
 
WASP NESTS. 381 
 
 Mr. Stone has made other experiments upon wasps, and has 
 kindly sent me the following account of his proceedings : 
 
 " I haye a beautiful series of their nests of this season's produc- 
 tion (1864), from specimens which are the work Of two or three 
 hours, to those which have occupied as many months. 
 
 "But my working communities in a semi-domesticated state 
 within the house have for the last few weeks been going the 
 wrong way. Earlier in the season I had as many as ten colonies 
 of various species at work in the different windows of the house 
 which I have for some years used for the purpose^ all of which 
 went on satisfactorily for some time, but the sugar with which 
 they were fed at length attracted a vast number of strangers, 
 which crowded into the various boxes, and at first impeded, and 
 ultimately put an end to the work. Before this event happened, 
 one extraordinary nest had become advanced as far as I wished ; 
 and a second, which was still more extraordinary, almost as far 
 as I desired. The facts connected with these nests are as follows : 
 
 " I had a working community of Tespa germanica in the left- 
 hand comer of a window on the ground floor, and another in the 
 right-hand corner. When these nests had increased in size to 
 four or five inches in diameter, I chloroformed the insects, re- 
 moved the shell or covering of each nest from the combs, putting 
 aside the coverings for specimens. In order to remove the combs, 
 I had to cut out a piece from the outside, and when this was neat- 
 ly united again, the empty shells had all the appearance of perfect 
 : nests, with this advantage, that they contained nothing which re- 
 quired drying in an oven in order to prevent decomposition, which 
 must have been done had the combs, with their complement of 
 grubs, etc., been allowed to remain in the nests. This plan I al- 
 ways adopt when it is practicable. I then returned the combs to 
 the boxes from which they were respectively taken, and intro- 
 duced the workers, still in a comatose state from the effects of the 
 chloroform. As soon as they recovered from their stupor, they 
 set to work at constructing fresh coverings. 
 
 "I now brought home a nest of Vespa vulgaris, with its inmates. 
 This was placed for work in a box in the left-hand corner of a 
 room immediately over the one just mentioned. Soon after this, 
 I perceived that the newly-formed covering to the nest of the V. 
 germanica in the left-hand corner of the window below was begin- 
 ning to assume a variety of curious coloring. On clipping away 
 the covering when it became sufficiently advanced for another 
 
382 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 specimen, I found that numbers of workers from the nest of V. 
 vulgaris, situated in the window above, had actually joined them- 
 selves to this nest, and had been working with its original inmates. 
 
 " Not only had they been working in concert with them, but 
 they had been depositing eggs in the cells, as is proved by the 
 fact that numbers of young specimens of V. vulgaris were after- 
 ward bred from the combs contained in the nest of V. germanica. 
 I do not know whether you are aware that worker wasps have 
 the power of producing fertile eggs without contact with the 
 other sex, yet such I have proved over and over again to be the 
 case. 
 
 "Well, having again, as above stated, removed the covering 
 from this nest, I took away the lower comb and reduced the nest 
 somewhat in size, placing them in a box thirteen inches in length, 
 and arranged in such a way that the workers should necessarily 
 produce a vase, or rather a goblet-shaped nest. This they did, 
 and a splendid object it is", being, as before, the joint work of two 
 species of wasps, the one, F. vulgaris, using, as it invariably does, 
 decayed wood (such as is commonly called touchwood), and the 
 other, V. germanica, using sound wood, or sound vegetable fibre of 
 some kind, in the fabrication of its paper. Thus they gave to the 
 coverings of both these nests an extraordinary beauty, from the 
 variety and charming distribution of the colors with which they 
 were enriched. 
 
 "As none of the workers from the nest of V. vulgaris were ever 
 found to attach themselves to the nest of Y. germanica, which was 
 situated in a similar corner of the window below, I conclude that 
 they made no mistake as to the corner of the window in which 
 their nest was situated, but miscalculated the height of the win- 
 dow. As they entered the strange nest with food and building 
 material, they were not molested, but allowed to join peaceably in 
 the work of the nest. 
 
 "Widely different would have been the case had they entered 
 it for the purpose of pillage ; for, though wasps will not interfere 
 with strange individuals of the same species, even when they 
 come with thievish intentions, they instantly seize all individuals 
 of a different species if their intentions appear suspicious. 
 
 "I have since met with another instance of the kind. 
 
 "Two nests were situated almost close together, in a drain at 
 Colethorpe Park, one belonging to Y. vulgaris, and the other hav- 
 ing been originally the property of Y. germanica. It would, bow- 
 
"WASP NESTS — FORAGING ANTS. 883 
 
 ever, appear that, at an early period in the season, workers from 
 the former nest had attached themselves to the latter, their num- 
 bers increasing as the season advanced. Judging from the ap- 
 pearance of the nest, and from the amount of work done by each 
 species, it was easy to see that, at the end of August, when I dug 
 it out, the number of individuals of each species was almost equal. 
 There is no possibility of mistaking the work of one species for 
 that of the other, and the distinction is apparent at a glance. 
 
 "Apart from the interest attached to nests of this description, 
 no examples of which had been, as far as I am aware, obtained by 
 any naturalist, their beauty of coloring is so remarkable as to ren- 
 der them objects of general admiration. If, too, as I apprehend 
 must have been the case, the workers belonging to the colony of 
 V. vulgaris mistook their neighbors' house for their own, the en- 
 trances being so near together, it is rather extraordinary that 
 those belonging to the other species should not have made a sim- 
 ilar mistake. They appeared, however, not to have done so, or 
 . if they did, the mistake must have been rectified as often as it 
 occurred, for no work of theirs was to be found in the nest of V. 
 vulgaris." 
 
 Before closing the history of the wasps, I ftiay mention that the 
 two species, Vespa germanica and Vespa vulgaris, are so similar to 
 each other in shape and color that an unpracticed eye can not 
 readily discern the distinction between them. Specimens of both 
 these wasps are now before me, and when placed side by side the 
 difference is clearly evident. The yellow color predominates in 
 the former insect, and the dark bands of the abdomen are much 
 narrower. In the female Vespa germanica there are three black 
 spots on the basal margin of the first segment of the abdomen. 
 
 In Mr. Bates's valuable work on the natural history of the 
 Amazons, there is an interesting account of the proceedings of 
 certain ants belonging to the genus Eciton, and which are popu- 
 larly massed together under the name of Foraging Ants. These 
 insects have often been confounded with the Saiiba or parasol ant, 
 which has already been described, although they belong to differ- 
 ent groups and have different habits. The native name for them 
 is Tauoca., There are many species belonging to this genus, and 
 I. shall therefore restrict myself to those which seem to have the 
 most interesting habits, giving at the same time a general sketch 
 of their character. I regret that, as in so many other cases, the 
 
384 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 lack of popular names forces me to employ the scientific titles by 
 which the insects are known to naturalists. 
 
 Although in the Bcitons there are the three classes of males, 
 females, and neuters, these neuters are not divided into two dis- 
 tinct sets as in the termites, but are found in regular gradations 
 of size. The real Foraging Ant is JEdton drepanojohora, and it is 
 this insect which is so annoying and so useful to house-builders. 
 The ants sally forth in vast columns, at least a hundred yards in 
 length, though not of very great width. On the outside of the 
 column are the officers, which are continually running backward 
 and forward, as if to see that their own portions of the column 
 are proceeding rightly. The proportion of officers to workers is 
 about five per cent, or one officer to twenty workers, and they 
 are extremely conspicuous on the march, their great white heads 
 nodding up and down as they run along. 
 
 Eciion, 
 
 One of the large workers is now before me, and a most formi- 
 dable insect it looks. Its head is round, smooth, and very large, 
 and is armed with a pair of enormous forceps, curved almost as 
 sharply , as the horns of the chamois, and very sharp at the points. 
 Their length is so great that, if straightened and placed end to 
 end, they would be longer than the head and body together. 
 They are beset with minute hairs, which, when viewed under the 
 
FORAGING ANTS. 385 
 
 microscope, are seen to be stiff bristles, arranged in regular lings 
 round the mandibles. The thorax and abdomen are but slender ; 
 the limbs are long, giving" evidence of great activity. In the 
 dried specimen, the color of the insect is yellowish-brown, becom- 
 ing paler on the head ; but when the creature is alive, the head is 
 nearly white. The eyes are very minute, looking like little round 
 dots on the side of the head, and being so extremely small that 
 they can scarcely be perceived without the aid of a magnifying- 
 glass. The half-inch power of the microscope shows that they 
 are oval and convex, but as they are set in little pits or depres- 
 sions, they do not project beyond the head. The hexagonal com- 
 pound lenses, which are generally found in insects, are not visible, 
 and the eye bears a great resemblance to that of thff spider. 
 
 The difference in dimensions of the workers is very remarka- 
 ble. The specimen which I have just described measures a little 
 under half an inch in length, exclusive of the limbs, while another 
 specimen is barely half that length, and in general appearance 
 much resembles the farniliar ant, or emmet of our gardens. 
 
 The presence of these insects may be always known by the 
 numbers of pittas, or ant-thrushes, which feed much upon them, 
 and which are sure to accompany a column of Foraging Ants on 
 the march. The ant-thrushes are odd, short-tailed birds, with 
 stout bodies, and a remarkably long hind claw.' Some of this 
 species are decorated with colors of wonderful brilliancy, glitter- 
 ing with blue, green, copper-red, and purple, and having a pecul- 
 iar silken gloss. Others are soberly clad in simple brown and 
 white, and such s^re the birds which usually accompany the For- 
 aging Ants on their march. ' 
 
 As soon as the experienced inhabitants of tropical America see 
 the ant-thrushes, they rejoice in the coming deliverance, and wel- 
 come the approaching army. The fact is, that in those countries 
 insect life swarms as luxuriously as the vegetation, and there are 
 many insects which, however useful in their own place, are apt 
 to get into houses, and there multiply to such an extent that they 
 become a real plague, and nearly drive the inhabitants out of ' 
 their own homes. They are bad enough by day, but at night 
 they issue from the nooks and crevices where they lay concealed, 
 and make their presence too painfully known. 
 
 There are insects that bite, and insects that suck, and insects 
 that scratch, and insects that sting, and many are remarkable for 
 giving out a most horrible odor. Some of them are cased in ar- 
 
 Bb 
 
386 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 mor as hard as orab-shells, and will endure almost any amount 
 of violence, while some are as round, as plump, as thin-skinned, 
 and as juicy as over-ripe gooseberries, and collapse almost with a 
 touch. There are great flying insects which always make for the 
 light, and, unless it is defended by glass, will either put it out, or 
 will singe their wings and spin about on the table in a manner 
 that is by no means agreeable. The smaller insects get into the 
 inkstand and fill it with their tiny carcasses, while others run 
 over the paper and smear every letter as it is made. There are 
 great centipedes, which are legitimate cause of dread, being armed 
 with poison-fangs scarcely less venomous than those of the viper. 
 There are always plenty of scorpions ; while the chief army is 
 composed of cockroaches, of dimensions, appetite, and odor such 
 as we can hardly conceive in this favored land. As to the liz- 
 ards, snakes, and other reptiles, they are so common as almost to 
 escape attention. ^ 
 
 For a time these usurpers reign supreme. Now and then a 
 few dozen are destroyed in a raid, or a person of sanguine tem- 
 perament amuses his leisure hours and improves his marksman- 
 ship by picking off the more prominent intruders with a saloon 
 pistol; but the vacancies are soon filled up, and no permanent 
 benefit is obtained. But when the Foraging Ants make their 
 appearance, the case is altered, for there is nothing that with- 
 stands their assault. As soon as the pittas are seen approaching, 
 the inhabitants throw open every box and dra'wer in the house, 
 so as to allow the ants access into every crevice, and then retire 
 from the premises. 
 
 Presently the vanguard of the column approaches, a few scouts 
 precede the general body, and seem to inspect the premises, and 
 ascertain whether they are worth a search. The long column 
 then pours in, and is soon dispersed over the house. The scene 
 that then ensues is described as most singular. The ants pene- 
 trate into the comers, peer into each crevice, and speedily haul 
 out any unfortunate creature that is lurking therein. Great 
 cockroaches are dragged unwillingly away, being pulled in front 
 by four or five ants, and pushed from behind by as many more. 
 The rats and mice speedUy succumb to the onslaught of their 
 myriad foes, the snakes and lizards fare no better, and even the 
 formidable weapons of the scorpion and centipede are overcome 
 by their pertinacious foes. 
 
 In a wonderfully short time the Foraging Ants have completed 
 
FORAGING ANTS. 387 
 
 their work, the scene of turmoil gradually ceases, the scattered, 
 parties again form into line, and the procession moves out of the 
 house, carrying its spoils in triumph. The raid is most complete; 
 and when the inhabitants return to the house, they find every in- 
 truder gone, and, to their great comfort, are enabled to move 
 about without treading on some unpleasant creature, and to put 
 on their shoes without previously knocking them against the 
 fk)or for the purpose of shaking out 'the scorpions and similar 
 visitors. 
 
 In the illustration a column of Foraging Ants is seen winding 
 its way through a wood. Every one who is accustomed to the 
 country takes particular care not to cross one of these columns. 
 The Foraging Ants are tetchy creatures, and, not having the least 
 notion of fear, are terrible enemies even to human beings. If a 
 man should happen to cross a column, the ants immediately dash 
 at him, running up his legs, biting fiercely with their powerful 
 jaws, and injecting poison into the wound. The only plan of 
 action in such a case is to run away at top speed until the main 
 body are too far off to renew the attack, and then to destroy the 
 ants that are already in action. This is no easy task, for the 
 fierce little insects drive their hooked mandibles so deeply into 
 the flesh that they are generally removed piecemeal, the head re- 
 taining its hold after the body has been pulled away, and the 
 mandibles clasped so tightly that they must be pinched from the 
 head and detached separately. 
 
 There seems to be scarcely a creature that these insects will 
 not attack, and they will even go out of their way to fall upon 
 the nests of the large and formidable wasps of that country. For 
 the thousand stings the ants care not a jot, but tear away the sub- 
 stance of their nest with their powerful jaws, penetrate into the 
 interior, break down the cells, and drag out the helpless young. 
 Should they meet an adult wasp, they fall upon it, and cut it to 
 pieces in a moment. 
 
 Another species, Eciton prcedator, does not form long and nar- 
 row columns, but marches in a broad and solid phalanx. It is 
 but a little creature, no bigger than the common red ant of En- 
 gland. It is, however, of a brighter red color, and when a phal- 
 anx of these ants ascends a tree, the vast multitudes spread over 
 all the trunk and branches in such numbers that the tree looks 
 as if a blood-red liquid was being poured over it. 
 
 There is another Foraging Ant which forms in broad columns 
 
388 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 when on the march; This is Eciton legionis, a species which is 
 not so common as either of the preceding, and appears only to be 
 seen on the wide sand-plains of Santareiji. 
 
 These insects sometimes attack the nest of one of the large bur- 
 rowing ants. Mr. Bates mentions that on one occasion he watched 
 a large army of Foragers begin their attack upon the nest of an 
 ant, some specimens of which he desired to procure. The Fora- 
 gers set to work with wonderful skill, arranging themselves into 
 two distinct sets of laborers, one set digging into the ground and 
 taking out large pellets of earth, and the other set receiving them 
 from their comrades and carrying them away. 
 
 While watching the proceedings of the soldiers when repairing 
 the Thames river-wall after the terrible explosion near Belvedere, 
 I was strongly reminded of the Foraging Ants and their method 
 ■of working. The parallel was exact in every, respect. The ofii- 
 cers stood here and there and directed the efforts of their men, 
 while the workers were arranged in regular lines, one set of men 
 digging out the clods of earth, and a second set receiving them 
 and handing them to the spot where they were wanted. I could 
 but fancy that if an observer had been poised at some height 
 above the beach in a balloon, ancf watched the soldiers at work, 
 and had previously seen an army of Ecitons engaged in sinking 
 a shaft, he would have seen the insects and their labors precisely 
 reproduced in the human beings, art having at last discovered a 
 process which was in full operation before man knew how to 
 handle a weapon or a tool. 
 
 After Mr. Bates had watched the proceedings of the ants for 
 some time, he took a trowel and opened the ground with it. The 
 clever insects at once took advantage of this aid, and dashed into 
 the breach by thousands, pouncing on the luckless inhabitants 
 and carrying them off in their jaws. So bold and so quick were 
 they, that Mr. Bates could scarcely manage to secure a single 
 specimen ; and even when he had caught an ant, the Foragers 
 would pull it out of his fingers. 
 
 The same observer has known them to sink their shafts to a 
 depth of ten inches, invariably succeeding in their r^jd upon the 
 nest. The materials of which the nest is made they pull to 
 pieces, and carry the fragments home, together with the inmates. 
 When the nest is completely sacked, the invaders move out in 
 small lines, which march to jpin the main body, and soon unite 
 with it. The discipline of the community is really wonderful. 
 
FORAGING ANTS. ' 389 
 
 Each insect knows its own place and its own work, and so per- 
 fect is the organization, that during the busy season the long 
 train resolves itself into two distinct colunans, one going out to 
 search for food, and the other returning home laden with spoil. 
 
 Another species, Baton rapax, is algo in the habit of attacking 
 the nest of various ants,. In habits it is very similar to the pre- 
 ceding insect, and is chiefly remarkable !br being the largest of 
 all the Ecitons, the average length being half an inch. 
 
 The last species of Eciton which I shall mention is -that won- 
 derful species which is called the Blind Ant {Eciton erratica). 
 
 I have already mentioned that in Eciton drepariophora the eyes 
 are very small, but in the Blind Ant they are absolutely wanting, 
 the horny covering of the head being quite uniform, without the 
 least trace of external eyes. Some naturalists have thought that 
 the Blind Ant may possess organs of vision, and that the horny 
 covering of the head is sufficiently transparent to admit the light. 
 That the insects can distinguish light from darkness is perfectly 
 true, for they display the greatest uneasiness when brought into 
 the light, and therefore it is possible that the optic nerves may be 
 in some degree affected, though there are no external organs of 
 vision. But the covering of the head is certainly too thick and 
 too opaque to permit distinct vision, and that the insect can see 
 an object clearly is manifestly impossible. 
 
 These insects are wonderful builders, and bear a great resem- 
 blance to the termites in many of their proceedings. The reader 
 will remember that the termites always choose to work under cov- 
 er, and proceed from one place to another by means of galleries, 
 which they construct with great rapidity. The Blind Ant acts in 
 a precisely, similar manner, constructing long galleries through 
 which it travels, ' These galleries are of small dimensions, though 
 their length is almost unlimited, and they are made in a very 
 flimsy manner, without, the use of any cement. If the observer 
 wishes to capture any of the large-headed officers, he can easily 
 do so by breaking down any part of the gallery. As soon as the 
 unwelcome light streams in, the soldiers are seen to come slowly 
 out, moving their great heads from side to side, and opening their 
 powerful jaws with silent menace. If they are not farther dis- 
 turbed, they will retire into the gallery, and the breach is soon 
 mended by the workers. 
 
 These galleries can not be called tunnels, because they are b^ilt 
 upon the surface of the earth, and do not penetrate below it, and 
 
390 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 ought, perhaps, to be called " covered ways" rather than galler- 
 ies. 
 
 I HAVE intentionally reserved the last place among the builders 
 for an insect which is certainly the most wonderful of them all ; 
 not only raising an edifice, but clearing a space around, and pre- 
 paring it for a garden.' This insect is called by Dr. Lincecum, 
 the discoverer of its habits, the Agricultural Ant, and its sci- 
 entific name is Aiia malefaciens. As the reader will perceive, it is 
 allied to the parasol ant, which has been already described. 
 
 This remarkable insect is a native of Texas, and, until a few 
 years ago, its singular habits were unknown. Dr. Lincecum, how- 
 ever, wrote a long and detailed account to Mr. Darwin, who made 
 an abstract of it, and read the paper before the Linnsean Society, 
 April 18th, 1861. This abstract may be found in the Journal of 
 that Society, and is as follows : 
 
 " The species which I have named ' Agricultural' is a large 
 brownish ant. It dwells in what may be termed paved cities, 
 and, like a thrifty, diligent, provident farmer, makes suitable and 
 timely arrangements for the changing seasons. It is, in short, 
 endowed with skill, ingenuity, and'untiring patience, sufficient to 
 enable it successfully to contend with the varying exigencies 
 which it may have to encounter in the life-conflict. 
 
 "When it has selected a situation for its habitation, if on ordi- 
 nary dry ground, it bores a hole, around which it raises the sur- 
 face three and sometimes six inches, forming a low circular mound, 
 having a very gentle inclination from the centre to the outer bor- 
 der, which on an average is three or four feet from the entrance. 
 But if the location is chosen on low, flat, wet land, liable to inun- 
 dation, though the ground may be perfectly dry at the time the 
 ant sets to work, it nevertheless elevates the mound, in the form 
 of a pretty sharp cone, to the height of fifteen to twenty inches 
 or more, and makes the entrance near the summit. Around the 
 mound, in either case, the ant clears the ground of all obstructions, 
 and levels and smooths the surface to the distance of three or four 
 feet from the gate of the city, giving the space the appearance of 
 a handsome pavement, as it really is. 
 
 " Within this paved area not a blade of any green thing is 
 allowed to grow, except a single species of grain-bearing grass. 
 Having planted this crop in a circle around, and two or three feet 
 from the centre of the mound, the insect tends and cultivates it 
 
AGBICULTUEAL ANTS. 391 
 
 with constant care, cutting away all other grasses and weeds, that 
 may spring up among it, and all around outside the farm-circle to 
 the extent of one or two feet more. The cultivated grass grows 
 luxuriantly, and produces a heavy crop of small, white, flinty 
 seeds, which, under the micro^ope, very closely resemble ordina- 
 ry rice. When ripe it is carefully harvested, and carried by the 
 workers, chaff and all, into the granary cells, where it is divested 
 of the chaff and packed away. The chaff is taken out and thrown 
 beyond the limits of the paved area. 
 
 " During protracted wet weather, it sometimes happens that the 
 provision-stores become damp, and are liable to sprout and spoil 
 In this case, on the first fine day, the ants bring out the damp and 
 damaged grain, and expose it to the sun till it is dry, when they 
 carry it back and pack away all the sound seeds, leaving those 
 that had sprouted to waste. 
 
 "In a peach orchard not far from my house is a considerable 
 elevation, on which is an extensive bed of rock. In the sand- 
 beds overlying portions of this rock are fine cities of the Agricul- 
 tural Ants, evidently very ancient My observations on their 
 manners and customs have been limited to the last twelve years, 
 during which time the inclosure surrounding the orchard, has pre- 
 vented the approach of cattle to the ant-farms. The cities which 
 are outside the inclosure, as well as those protected in it, are at 
 the proper season invariably planted with the ant-rice. The crop 
 may accordingly always be seen springing up within the circle 
 about the 1st of November every year. Of late years, however, 
 since the number of farms and cattle has greatly increased, and 
 the latter are eating off the grass much closer than formerly, thus 
 preventing the ripening of the seeds, I notice that the Agricultur- 
 al Ant is placing its cities along the turn-rows in the fields, walks 
 in gardens, inside about the gates, etc., where they can cultivate 
 their farms without molestation from the cattle. 
 
 "There can be no doubt that the particular species of grain- 
 bearing grass mentioned above is intentionally planted. In farm- 
 er-like manner, the ground upon which it stands is carefully di-, 
 vested of all other grasses and weeds during the time it is grow- 
 ing. When it is ripe the grain is taken care of, the dry stubble 
 cut away and carried off, the paved area being left unencumbered 
 until the ensuing autumn, when the same ' ant - rice' reappears 
 within the same circle, and receives the same agricultural atten- 
 tion as was bestowed upon the previous crop ; and so on, year 
 
392 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 after year, as I know to be the case, in all situations where the 
 Ants' settlements are protected from graminivorous animals." 
 
 After receiving this account, Mr. Darwin wrote to Dr. Lince- 
 cum, asking him whether he thought that the Ants planted seed 
 for the next year's crop, and recefved the following answer: "I 
 have not the slightest doubt of it ; and my conclusions have not 
 been arrived at from hasty or careless observation, nor from see- 
 ing the Ants do something that looked a little like it, and then 
 guessing the results. I have at all times watched the same ant- 
 cities during the last twelve years, and I know that what I stated 
 in my former letter is true. I visited the same cities yesterday, 
 and found the crop of ant-rice growing finely, and exhibiting also 
 the signs of high cultivation, and not a blade of any other kind 
 of grass or seed was to be seen within twelve inches of the circu- 
 lar row of ant-rice." 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SUB-AQUATIC NESTS. VEETEBEATES. 
 
 Fishes as Architects. — The Sticklebacks and their general Habits. — The Fresh- 
 WATEB Sticklebacks. — A jealous Proprietor. — Punishment of Trespassers. — 
 Form and Materials of the Nest. — Use of the Nest. — Cannibalistic Propensities. 
 — The FiFTEEN-SFiNED STICKLEBACK and its Form. — Its curious Nest. — Mr. 
 Couch's description, of a Nest in a Eope's End. — Fishes of Guiana. — The Hassab 
 or Hardback, and its place in Zoology.— Nest of the Hassar. — Parental Watch- 
 fulness. — Singular Position of the Nest.— ;Habits of the Hassar. 
 
 As a rule. Fishes display but little architectural genius, their 
 anatomical construction debarring them from raising any but the 
 simplest edifice. A fish has but one tool, its mouth, and even 
 this instrument is of very limited capacity. Still, although the 
 nest which a fish can make is necessarily of a slight and rude 
 character, there are some members of that class which construct 
 homes which deserve the name. 
 
 The best instances of architecture among the Fishes are those 
 which are produced by the Sticklebacks {Gasterostem), those 
 well-known little beings whose spiny bodies, brilliant colors, and 
 dashing courage make them such favorites with all who study 
 nature. There are several species of British Sticklebacks, but as 
 the fresh-water species all make their nests in a very similar man- 
 ner, there will be no need of describing each species separately. 
 
THE STICKLEBACKS. 393 
 
 These fishes make their nests of the delicate vegetation that is 
 found in fresh water, and will carry, materials from some little 
 distance in order to complete the home. They do not, however, 
 range to any great extent, because they would intrude upon the 
 preserve of some other fish, and be ruthlessly driven away. 
 
 When the male Stickleback has fixed upon a spot for his nest, 
 he seems to consider a certain area around as his own especial 
 property, and will not suffer any other fish to intrude within its 
 limits. His boldness is astonishing, for he will dash at a fish of 
 ten times his size, and, by dint of his fierce onset and his bristling 
 spears, drive the enemy aWay. Even if a stick be placed within 
 the sacred circle, he will dart at it, repeating the assault as often 
 as the stick may trespass upon his domains. Within this limit, 
 therefore, he must seek materials for his nest, as he can hardly 
 move for six inches beyond it without intruding upon the 
 grounds of another fish. This right of property only seems to 
 extend along the banks and a few inches outward, the centre of 
 the stream or ditch being common property. Along the bank, 
 however, where vegetation is most luxuriant, there is scarcely a 
 foot of space that is not occupied by some Stickleback, and jeal- 
 ously guarded by him. 
 
 Although the nests of the Sticjkleback are plentiful enough, 
 they are not so familiar to the public as might be expected, prin- 
 cipally because they are very conspicuous, and few of the unini- 
 tiated would know what they were, even if they Were pointed 
 out. Being of such very delicate materials, and but loosely hung 
 together, they will not retain their form when they are removed 
 from the water, but fall together in an undistinguishable mass, 
 like a coil of tangled thread that had been soaked in water for a 
 few weeks. 
 
 The materials of which the nest is made are extremely varia- 
 ble, but they are always constructed so as to harmonize with the 
 surrounding objects, and thus to escape ordinary observation. 
 Sometimes it is made of bits of grass which have been blown into 
 the river, sometimes of straws, and sometimes of growing pTlants. 
 The object of the nest is evident enough when the habits of the 
 Stickleback' are corfeidered. As is the case with many other fish, 
 there are no more determined destroyers of Stickleback eggs than 
 the Sticklebacks themselves, and the nests are evidently construct- 
 ed for the purpose of affording a resting-place for the eggs until 
 they are hatched. If a few of these nests be removed from the 
 
394 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 water in a net, and the eggs thrown into the stream, the Stickl^ 
 backs rush at them from all sides, and fight for them like boys 
 scrambling for halfpence. The eggs are very small, barely the 
 size of dust-shot, and are yellow when first placed in the nest, but 
 deepen in color as they approach maturity. 
 
 There is a well-known marine species of this group, called the 
 Fifteen -SPiNED Stickleback {Gasterosteus spinachia), a long- 
 bodied, long-snouted fish, with a slightly projecting lower jaw, 
 and a row of fifteen short and sharp spines along the back. This 
 creature m*akes its nest of the smaller algae, such as the corallines, 
 and the delicate green and purple sea-weeds which fringe our 
 coasts. 
 
 Sometimes, indeed, it becomes rather eccentric in its architect- 
 ure, and builds in very curious situations. Mr. Couch, the well- 
 known ichthyologist, mentions a case where a pair of Sticklebacks 
 had made their nest " in the loose end of a rope, from which the 
 separated strands hung out about a yard from the surface, over a 
 depth of four or five fathom^i and to which the materials could , 
 only have been brought, of coursej in the mouth of the fish, from 
 the distance of about thirty feet. They were formed of the usual 
 aggregation of the finer sorts of green and red sea- weed, but they 
 were so matted together in the hollow formed by the untwisted 
 strands of the rope that the mass constituted an oblong ball of 
 nearly the size of the fist, in which had been deposited the scat- 
 tered assemblage of spawn, and which was bound into shape with 
 a thread of animal substance, which was passed through and 
 through in various directions, while the rope itself formed an out- 
 side covering to the whole." 
 
 This is not the only fish that is known to construct a nest. 
 
 In the fresh waters of tropical America there is a genus of fish 
 belonging to the Siluridse, and named Callichthys, from the beauty 
 of the species. The fishes of this genus have four very long bar- 
 bules hanging from the upper lip and pointing backward, and are 
 all mailed except pari of the belly. Their general color is green- 
 brown, and they do not reach to any. great Size, eight inches be- 
 ing their usual length. They are generally very fat, and are much 
 valued by the natives of Guiana, who live so much upon fish. 
 The native name for this fish is Hassar, and the European resi- 
 dents call it the Hardback, in allusion to its coat of shining mail. 
 
FIFTEEN-BFINED BTIOKLEBAOKS AND NEBT. 
 
THE HASSAR, OR HARDBACK. 397 
 
 To the naturalist, however, the chief point of interest in these 
 fish is the fact that they are in the habit of constructing nests 
 which are quite as well formed as those of the stickleback, and 
 are niade of grass-blades, straws, and leaves. These nests are very 
 plentiful in the little muddy streamlets that intersect the sugar 
 marshes, so that the habits of the fish can be easily watched. 
 The parent fish is very jealous of the eggs, and waits near them 
 until they are hatched, and the young family committed to the 
 water. The natives are well aware of this habit, and catch the 
 fish readily by insinuating a net or even a basket under the wa- 
 ter near a nest, and then raising it quickly, when the parent fish 
 is mostly found in the net. 
 
 Perhaps the most curious part of the economy of this fish is the 
 fact that the nest is not placed in the water, but in a muddy hole 
 just above the surface. This habit, however, accords with the 
 qualities of the fish, which is remarkably independent of water^ 
 and can travel over land from one pond to another, led by some 
 mysterious instinct, which we of higher powers can not compre- 
 hend. During the dry season .the Hassar is in the habit of bur- 
 rowing into the mud, and there residing until the welcome rain 
 sets it free: Those who Enow the customs of the fish are there- 
 fore able to procure it at almost any period of the year, digging 
 for it in the dry season, and fishing for it in the wet months. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 SUB-AQUATIC NESTS. INVERTEBRATES. 
 
 A Pool and its Wonders.— The Watee Spider.— Its sub-aquatic Nest.— Convey- 
 ance of Air to the Nest.— -The Diving-bell anticipated. — Character of the Air in 
 the Nest. — Mr. Bell's Experimentsupon the Spider.— Life of the Water Spider. — 
 The Htdeachna.^ — The Caddis Flies and their Characteristics. — Sub-aquatic 
 Homes of the Larva.— Singular Varieties of Form and Material.— Life of a Cad- 
 dis. — Description of Nests in my own Collection. — Fixed Cases, and Modification 
 of Larva.— Singular Materials for Nest-building.— Cobals and their general His- 
 tory. — ^The Coral of Commerce. — ^Development and Extension of the Coral. — 
 How fresh Colonies are founded. — Various Corals and their Growth. — Submarine 
 Tube-makers. — The SeepuL/E and tbeir general Habits. — ^The Operculum of the 
 Serpula. — The TBREBELLiE and their submarine Houses. — The Caddis Sheimp. 
 — Remarkable Analogy. 
 
 When I was a very little boy, I was accustomed to spend much 
 time on the banks of the Cherwell, and used to amuse myself by 
 watching the various inhabitants of the water. Animal life is 
 
398 HOMES "WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 very abundant in that pleasant little river, and there was one fa- 
 vorite nook where a branch of a weeping-willow projected hori- 
 zontally, and afforded a seat over the dark deep pool, one side of 
 which was abrupt and the cither sloping. 
 
 Here the merry gyrini ran their ceaseless rounds, and the^wa- 
 ter-boatmen rowed themselves in fitful jerks, or lay resting in a 
 contemplative manner on their oars. Now and then an unlucky 
 insect would fall from the tree into the water, and then uprose 
 from the dark depth a pair of dull eyes and a gaping mouth, and 
 then, with a glitter as of polished silver,, the dace would disap- 
 pear with its prey. In the shelving part of the pool the caddis 
 worms moved slowly along, while the great dyticus beetle would 
 rise at intervals to the surface, jerk the end of his tail into the 
 air, and then dive below to the muddy bottom. This spot was 
 much favored by the nursemaid, for she had no trouble in watch- 
 ing me as long as I could sit on the branch and look into the 
 water. True, I might have fallen into the river, but I never did ; 
 and, even had that accident occurred, it would have wrought no 
 harm except wet clothes, for I could swim nearly as well as the 
 water insects themselves. 
 
 Close under the bank lived some creatures which always inter- 
 ested me greatly. Spiders they certainly were, but they appeared 
 to have the habits of the water beetle — coming slowly to the sur- 
 face of the water, giving a kind of flirt in the air, and then disap- 
 pearing into the depths, looking like balls of shining sUver as 
 they sank down. I had been familiar with these creatures for 
 years before I met with them in some book, and learned that they 
 were known under the name of Watee Spider {Argyronetra 
 aquatica). 
 
 This spider is a most curious and interesting creature, because 
 it affords an example of an animal which breathes atmospheric 
 air constructing a home beneath the water, and filling it with the 
 air needful for respiration. 
 
 . The sub-aquatio cell of the Water Spider may be found in 
 many rivers and ditches where the -water does not run very 
 swiftly. It is made of silk, as is the case with all spiders' nests, 
 and is generally egg-shaped, having an opening below. This cell 
 is filled with air ; and if the Spider be kept in a glass vessel, it 
 may be seen reposing in the cell, with its head downward, after 
 the manner of its tribe. The precise analogy between this nest 
 and the diving-bell of the present day is too obvious to need a 
 
THE WATER SPIDEE. 
 
 399 
 
 Water Spider, 
 
 detailed account. How the air is introduced into the cell is a 
 problem that was for some time unsolved. The reader is prob- 
 ably aware that the bubbles of air which are to be seen on sub- 
 aquatic plants are almost entirely composed of oxygen gas, which 
 is exuded from the plant, and which is so important an agent in 
 purifying the water. Some zoologists thought that the air which 
 is found in the cell of the Water Spider was nothing but oxygen 
 that had been exuded from the plant upon which the nest was 
 fixed, and that it had been intercepted in its passage to the sur- 
 face. In order to set the question at rest, Mr. Bell, the well- 
 known naturalist, instituted a series of experiments upon the 
 Spider, and communicated the results to the Linnsean Society. 
 The experiments were made in 1856, and Mr. Bell's remarks are 
 as follows : 
 
 " No. 1. Placed in an upright cylindrical vessel of water, in 
 
400 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS, 
 
 which was a rootless plant of Stratiotes, on the afternoon of No- 
 vember 14. By the morning it had constructed a very perfect 
 oval cell, filled with air, about the size of an acorn. In this it 
 has remained stationary up to the present time. 
 
 "No. 2. Nov. 15. In another vessel, also furnished with Stra- 
 tiotes, I placed six Argyronetrse. The one now referred to began 
 to weave its beautiful web abbut'five o'clock in the afternoon. 
 After much preliminary preparation, it ascended to the surface, 
 and obtained a bubble of air, with which it immediately and quick- 
 ly descended, and the bubble was disengaged from the body, and 
 left in connection with the web. As the nest was, on one side, in 
 contact with the glass, inclosed in an angle formed by two leaves 
 of the Stratiotes, I could easily observe all its movements. Pres- 
 ently it ascended again and brought down another bubble, which 
 was similarly deposited. 
 
 "In this way no less than fourteen journeys were performed, 
 sometimes two or three very quickly one after another ; at other 
 times with a considerable interval between them, during which 
 time the little animal was employed in extending and giving 
 shape to the beautiful transparent bell, getting into it, pushing it 
 out at one place and amending it at another, and strengthening its 
 attachments to the supports. At length it seemed to be satisfied 
 with its dimensions, when ft crept into it and settled itself to rest 
 with the head downward. The cell was now the size and nearly 
 the form of half an acorn cut transversely, the smaller and round- 
 ed part being uppermost. 
 
 " No. 3. The only difference between the movements of this 
 and the former was, that it was rather quicker in forming its cell. 
 In neither vessel was there a single bubble of oxygen evolved by 
 the plant. 
 
 "The manner in which the animal possesses itself of the bub- 
 ble of air is very curious, and, as far as I know, has never been 
 exactly described. It ascends to the surface slowly, assisted by 
 a thread attached to the leaf or other support below and to the 
 surface of the water. As soon as it comes near the surface, it 
 turns with the extremity of the abdonien upward, and exposes a 
 portion of the body to the air for an instant, then with a jerk it 
 snatches, as it were, a bubble of air, which is not only attached to 
 the hairs which cover the abdomen, but is held on by the two 
 hinder legs, which are crossed at an acute angle near their ex- 
 tremity, this crossing of the legs taking place at the instant the 
 
THE WATER SPIDER — CADDIS FLIES. 401 
 
 bubble is seized. The little creature then descends more rapidly 
 and regains its cell, always by the same route, turns the abdomen 
 within it, and disengages the bubble. 
 
 " No. 4. Several of them, when I received them, had the hair 
 on the abdomen wetted, and I placed them on some blotting- 
 paper until they were dry. On returning them to the water, two 
 remained underneath a floating piece^ of cork, and the hair, being 
 now dry, retained the pellicle of air which is ordinarily observed. 
 One of the two came out of the water, attached the cork to the 
 glass, and wove a web against the latter, against which it rested 
 about a quarter of an inch above the surface of the water. After 
 remaining there about two days it resumed its aquatic habits, 
 and, like all others, formed its winter habitation." 
 
 "Water Spiders are now familiar to us on account of the wide- 
 spread fashion for aquaria, but so thoroughly have the ditches and 
 streams been ransacked by professional dealers that the creature 
 has become quite rare in spots where it was once plentiful. 
 
 The Water Spider places her eggs in this cell, spinning a saucer- 
 shaped cocoon, and fixing it against the inner side of the cell and 
 near the top. In this cocoon are about a hundred eggs, of a 
 spherical shape, and very small. The cell is a true home for the 
 spider, which passes its earliest days under the water, and, when it 
 is strong enough to construct a sub-aquatic home for itself, brings 
 its prey to the cell before eating it. 
 
 The color of the Water Spider is brown, with a grayish surface 
 caused by the thick growth of hair which covers the body, and 
 with a very slight tinge of red on the cephalothorax. The reader 
 must not confound this creature with another Arachnid that is 
 sometimes called the Water Spider {Hydrachna eruenta), and is of 
 a bright scarlet color, with a peculiar velvety surface. 
 
 There is an order of insects which is especially dear to anglers; 
 not so much to fly-fishers, as to those who like to sit and look at 
 a float for several consecutive hours. This order is scientifically 
 termed Trichoptera, or Hair-winged insects, and the various 
 species of which it is composed are classed together under the 
 familiar title of Caddis Flies. 
 
 These insects may always be known by the peculiar leathery 
 aspect of the body, and by the coating of hair with which the 
 wings are covered, the long hairs being spread over the whole 
 surface, and standing boldly out like a fringe round the edge. 
 
 Cc 
 
402 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 They all have long and slender antennae, and in some genera, 
 such as Mystacida, these organs are nearly three times as long as 
 the head and body, reminding the observer of the lovely Japan 
 moths (Adelse), whose delicate antennae wave and glitter in the 
 sunbeams like stray threads of spider's web. For the perfect 
 insect the angler cares comparatively little. Imitations in hair, 
 feather, and silk are useful to the fly-fisher, and are known to 
 anglers by the eccentric nomenclature by which such imitations 
 are called. It is the larva in which the angler delights, and it is 
 chiefly of the larva that our present description will treat. 
 
 We will now trace the life of the Caddis Fly from the egg to 
 the perfect insect 
 
 In the breeding season, the female may be observed to carry 
 about with her a double bundle of little greenish eggs, probably 
 in order to expose them for a certain time to the warm sunbeams 
 before they are immersed in the water. This curious bundle is 
 a long oval in shape, and is bent sharply in the middle, its ex- 
 tremities being attached to the abdomen of the insect. When her 
 instinct tells her of the proper time, she proceeds to the water, 
 and attaches the eggs to the leaf of some aquatic plant, often 
 crawling down the stem for several inches. The Caddis Fly is 
 quite at home on the water, and, unlike the dragon flies, which 
 are quite helpless wten immersed, can run on the surface with 
 considerable speed, and on occasion can swim below the surface 
 with scarcely less rapidity. 
 
 They may often be observed in the act of running on the 
 water, and while they are thus employed, they often fall victims 
 to some hungry fish, which is attracted by the circling ripples 
 occasioned by the movement of the limbs. Fly-fishers, who are 
 acquainted with the habits of fishes and insects, take advantage 
 of their knowledge, and by causing tlaeir imitation Caddis Fly to 
 ripple over the surface, or even to sink beneath it, like the verita- 
 ble insect, delude the unsuspecting fish into swallowing a hook 
 instead of a fly. 
 
 In process of time the eggs are hatched, and the young larvae 
 then proceed to construct houses in which they can dwell. These 
 houses are formed of various materials and are of various shapes; 
 and, indeed, not only does each species have its own particular 
 form of house, but there is considerable variety even in the houses 
 of a single species. In the accompanying illustration are shown 
 a number of the nests formed by the Caddis Fly in its larval 
 
CADDIS FLIES. 
 
 403 
 
 State, together with the perfect insects. All the figures have been 
 drawn from actual specimens, some of which are in the British 
 Museum, and others in my own collection. The materials of 
 which the nest is made depend greatly on the locality in which 
 the insect is hatched, and in a rather large series of Caddis nests 
 now before me tkere are some very remarkable instances of the 
 manner in which the insect has been obliged to adapt itself to 
 circumstances. The most common style of case is that which is 
 composed of a number of sticks and grass stems laid longitudin- 
 ally upon each other like the fasces of the Eoman consuls. Of 
 
 Gaddia. 
 
 these I have specimens of various sizes and shapes, some being 
 barely half an inch long, while others measure four times that 
 ■ length, the sticks being sometimes placed so irregularly that the 
 home of the architect is not easily seen. The creatures are not 
 at all particular about the straightness of the sticks, but take them 
 
404 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 of any degree of curvature, as in one of the examples represented 
 in the illustration, where the stick is not only curved, but has a 
 large bud at the end. 
 
 Another case is made of the hollow stem of some plant, appar- 
 ently that of a hemlock, to which are attached a few slips of bark 
 from the plants. Next comes a series of cases in which the Cad- 
 dis larva has contrived to secure a great number of cylindrical 
 grass stems and arranged them transversely in several sets, mak- 
 ing one set cross the other so as to leave a central space, in which 
 the little architect can live. One or two cases are made wholly 
 of bark, apparently the cuticle of the common reed, a plant which 
 is very common in the Cherwell, whence the cases were taken. 
 In all probability, these strips of cuticle have been dropped into 
 the river by the water rats while feeding on the reeds. 
 
 Several cases are made entirely of leaves, mostly taken from 
 the white thorn, which grows io great quantities along the banks 
 of the above-mentioned river. Then there are cases which are 
 equally composed of sticks and leaves, these materials generally 
 occupying opposite ends of the case. There is another series of 
 cases made up of fine grass, apparently the debris of hay which 
 had been blown into the water during the summer, and having 
 the materials laid across each other like the needles of a stocking- 
 knitter. Most of these cases are balanced by a stone. 
 
 Next come a number of cases which are composed of small 
 shells, those of the Planorbis being the most common, and having 
 among them a few specimens of the Limnaea, or pond snail, and 
 many separate valves and perfect shells of the fresh-water mussel. 
 The Caddis larva is an incorrigible kidnapper, seizing on any 
 shell that may suit its purpose, without troubling itself about the 
 inhabitant. -It is quite a common occurrence to find four or five 
 living -specimens of the Planorbis and Limnsea affixed to the case 
 of a Caddis larva, and to see the inhabitants adhering to the plants 
 and endeavoring to proceed in one direction while the Caddis is 
 trying to walk in another, thus recalling the well-known episode 
 of the Tartar and his captor. In these cases the cylindrical body 
 is made of sand and small fragments of shells bound together 
 with a water-proof cement, and the shells are attached by their 
 flat sides to the exterion 
 
 There are also several cases which are made entirely of sand 
 cemented together, some being cylindrical, and others tapering to 
 a point like an elephant's tusk. There are also examples of 
 
CADDIS FLIES. 405 
 
 mixed structures, where the Caddis has combined shells with the 
 leaf and twig cases, and in one of these instances the little archi- 
 tect has bent back the valves of a small mussel, and fastened them 
 back to back on its house. Besides these there are one or two 
 very eccentric forms, where the Caddis has chosen some objects 
 which are not often seen in such a position. The seed-vessels of 
 the elm are tolerably common, but I have several specimens 
 where the Caddis has taken the operculum of a dead Pond-snail 
 and fastened it to the case ; and there is an example where the 
 chrysalis of some moth, apparently belonging to the genus Por- 
 thesia, has been blown into the water from a tree overhangiftg 
 the stream, and seized upon by a Caddis as a unique ornament 
 for its house. These latter examples were found in a stream in 
 Wiltshire, and the tusk-like sand-cases were found in a disused 
 stone quary in the same county. 
 
 Yarious experiments have been tried upon the larva of the 
 Caddis, in order to see its mode of building. A lady. Miss Smee, 
 has been very successful in this pursuit, and has forced the Cad- 
 dis larvae to build their nests of the most extraordinary sub- 
 stances, such as gold-dust, crushed glass, and other substances. 
 They would not, however, use beads, or any thing where the sur- 
 face was smooth and polished. 
 
 In this remarkable sub-aquatic home the Caddis larva lives in 
 tolerable security, for the head and front of the body are clothed 
 in horny mail, and the soft white abdomen is, protected by the 
 case. The food of the Caddis is generally of a vegetable nature, 
 though there are one or two species which live partly, if not en- 
 tirely, on animal food. When the larva has lived for its full pe- 
 riod, and is about to change into the pupal condition, it closes the 
 aperture of its case with a very strong net, having rather large 
 meshes, and lies securely therein until it is about to change into 
 the winged state. It then bites its way through the net with a 
 pair of strong mandibles, comes to the surface of the water, breaks 
 from its pupal envelope, and shortly takes to flight. The larger 
 species crawl up the stems of aquatic plants before leaving the 
 pupal skin, but the smaller merely stand on the cast skin, which 
 floats raft-like on the water. 
 
 There are one or two species whose cases are not movable, but 
 are fixed to the spot whereon they were made. In order, there- 
 fore, to compensate for the immobility of the case, the larva has a 
 much larger range of movement. In the ordinary species, the 
 
406 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 creature holds itself to the extremity of the case by means of 
 hooks at the end of its body, which can grasp with some force, as 
 any one knows who has pulled a Caddis larva out of its house. 
 But when the case is fixed, the abdominal claspers of the larva 
 are attached to a pair of long foot-stalks, so that the creature can 
 extend its body to some distance from the entrance of the tube. 
 
 We now turn to the warmer seas, and shall there find some 
 most magnificent examples of subaquatic homes. 
 
 Our. first examples of these will be the wonderful creatures 
 wtich are classed together under the general term of Cobals, and 
 which are so familiar to us either in a manufactured state or as 
 ornaments for the drawing-room. How vast are their submarine 
 labors is evident from the enormous "Coral-reefs" which they 
 raise, and which form great islands whereon an army can live, 
 and inlets wherein a fleet can ride securely at anchor. 
 
 Before proceeding farther in the history of the Coral and its 
 submarine home, we will see how it extends itself with such won- 
 derful rapidity, and what is the process that enables fresh colo- 
 nies to establish themselves, and existing colonies to spread them- 
 selves, both these operations being conducted on different princi- 
 ples. 
 
 How the Coral grows is a problem which was unsolved until a 
 comparatively late period. Not only were naturalists ignorant of 
 its development, but they did not even know in what kingdom 
 to place it, whether vegetable or mineral. Opinions were long 
 divided on this point, the men of greatest reputation inclining to 
 the belief that it was mineral, while a very few thought that it 
 must be vegetable, and that the flower-like rays of the polype 
 were veritable submarine blossoms. But when a more careful 
 observer announced that the Coral was really the production of 
 an animal, both parties united in ridiculing his theory, and for a 
 while the animal origin of Coral was put aside by the scientific 
 world. Truth, however, prevailed, as it always will do, sooner or 
 later, and every one nowadays knows that Coral is the production 
 of animated beings. 
 
 Still, although the general fact is known, its details are not so 
 familiar. 
 
 In the active season of Coral life, that is, from May to August 
 or September, millions of young Corals are launched into the 
 world. When they first pass into the sea from the mouth of their 
 
COBALS. 407 
 
 parent, they are tiny flask-shaped beings, covered with minute 
 cilia, by means of which they can pass through the water with 
 some rapidity. They have a kind of mouth at the small end, 
 which corresponds to the neck of the flask, and it is a curious fact 
 that they always swim with the large end forward. 
 
 After a time they change their shape, elongating until they 
 look like little white worms, but still moving about after the same 
 fashion. They pass some time in this phase of existence, and 
 then settle down upon some fixed object, such as a rock, and ad- 
 here to it by the enlarged base. Scarcely have they done so 
 than they again alter their shape, and assume a form so different 
 that no one who was not acquainted with the little creatures 
 could recognize them. Instead of being long and worm-like, 
 they now contract themselves in length, while they proportion- 
 ately increase in width, and look something like an echinus, or 
 sea urchin. 
 
 It is a curious fact, that up to this time they "have passed 
 throligh four stages, and in each stage they change in length. 
 Before they issue from the parent they are nearly spherical, but 
 when they pass into the sea they assume the flask-like shape. 
 They next elongate themselves considerably, and then suddenly 
 become even shorter than their width. 
 
 In this fourth stage the mouth is surrounded by eight little 
 cushion-like projections, which soon sprout into the beautiful 
 fringed tentacles which give to the animal so flower-like an ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 When it has arrived at this stage of existence, the young Coral 
 begins to develop some new and remarkable powers. From vari- 
 ous parts of the body spring little projections, which soon exhibit 
 an orifice like the mouth of the original Coral, and in a short time 
 this aperture is surrounded with cushions, which are developed 
 into tentacles as before. As soon as it Comes to maturity, each 
 of these supplementary Corals puts forth similar buds, so that the 
 increase is wonderfully rapid, even by " gemmanation," as this 
 mode of multiplication is called, not to mention the vast numbers 
 of new settlements that are made by the young which are poured 
 from the mouth. 
 
 Although we have now learned the method by which the Coral 
 animals are reproduced, we have not ascertained how the solid, 
 stony substance which we call Coral is formed, nor the precise 
 connection which exists between the animal and the Coral, 
 
408 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 If the reader will take up a branch of the ordinary Coral of 
 commerce, he will see that it is slightly grooved or fluted through- 
 out its extent, and that its surface is studded with little projec- 
 tions having star-like disks. Now, if this piece of Coral could be 
 again clothed with the living creature by which it was deposited, 
 we should see a beautiful and a wonderful sight. Next to the 
 stony core lie a series of longitudinal vessels, each vessel corre- 
 sponding with a groove, and above them lies a confused mass of 
 irregular vessels communicating with each other. At intervals 
 there arise the lovely flowerets of the Coral, the bodies being 
 bright rose-color, and their arms pure white. These arms or ten- 
 tacles are in ceaseless motion, and the aspect of a large and healthy 
 branch of coral is imposingly beautiful. 
 
 The animal has the power of depositing certain minute calcare- 
 ous particles, commonly called spicules, which are always of re- 
 markable forms, and are different in the various species of coral. 
 In the common red Coral they are nearly cylindrical, and armed 
 with projecting knobs covered with angular spikes. These spi- 
 cules are then bound together by a red cement, and thus the 
 Coral is formed, the fluted branches being deposited under the 
 longitudinal vessels, and the raised projections under the flower- 
 ets of the polype. To see the Coral in full vigor it is necessary 
 to visit the spots where it grows, as it dies almost immediately 
 after being taken out of' the water, and even if transferred with 
 great care to a vessel, is sure to die in a very short time. After 
 death, the whole of the bark dries up and fades away, so that it 
 crumbles into powder at a touch, and can be removed by merely 
 rubbing the Coral between the fingers. 
 
 Several of the more curious species of Corals and Madrepores 
 are to be seen upon the large illustration, which represents a por- 
 tion of sea-bed beset with these beautiful zoophytes. 
 
 In the upper left-hand corner is the common Eed Coeal of 
 commerce, which has been already mentioned, and in the upper 
 centre is a clustered branch of the White Cobal, which is so 
 much used as a drawing-room ornament when placed under a 
 glass shade. In the upper right-hand corner may be seen a sin- 
 gular group of zoophytes with curved stems and flower-like heads. 
 This is the Green Clavellaria {Clavellaria viridis), one of the 
 most striking examples of the genus. 
 
 The Green Clavellaria is very common on the Isle of Vaniko- 
 
00n&I.B AND UADBEPOBES. 
 
 Coralliitm rubrum, 
 Tuhipora rubeola. 
 Aatrcea viridis. 
 
 Clavellaria viridia. 
 Pceoillopo'ra cenpUo8a, 
 X&nia uomaata* 
 
CORALS. 411 
 
 ro, and is found in tolerably large masses, adhering to rocks, 
 madrepores, and similar substances. All the Clavellarias are of 
 somewhat similar shape, though variable in size and color, and 
 may be recognized by several conspicuous characteristics. The 
 tubes are nearly cylindrical, but tapering, as shown in the illus- 
 tration, and forming a foot-stalk which is more or less bent. 
 
 The texture is somewhat leathery, and is strengthened by in- 
 numerable spicules of a calcareous nature, which are agglomera- 
 ted together in bundles. These spicules are too small to be dis- 
 tinguished except by the microscope, but under a tolerably high 
 power they are seen to be long and spindle-shaped, sharp at both 
 ends, and encircled with little rounded knobs set in regular rows. 
 These tubes are always placed very closely together, but do not 
 adhere to each other, their grooved surfaces being always distinct. 
 
 The animal by which this tube is formed is a very pretty one, 
 cylindrical, with eight radiating tentacles of a violet gray. The 
 color of the tube is'green for the upper half, and then changes to 
 brown, so that the contrast of the two colors is >ery decided. 
 The average length of the tube is two inches. 
 
 There are several other species of Clavellaria, among which 
 may be noticed the Violet Clavellaeia {Clavellaria violacea). 
 This is a much smaller species, but is colored in a more bold and 
 decided manner. In this creature the tubes are dark violet and , 
 the tentacles are bright yellow. They do not, however, project 
 from the tube as boldly as those of the preceding species, but only 
 just show their tips above the entrance, withdrawing them smart- 
 ly on the least- alarm. As they retreat they slightly contract the 
 orifice, their bodies being fastened to the inside of the tube. 
 
 ' Toward the centre of the illustration, and on the right-hand 
 side, may be seen a remarkable tree-like object, covered with 
 long, tendril-like appendages, each tipped with a radiating beard. 
 This zoophyte is known by the title of Xenia elongata, and, on 
 account of its singular form, is a very conspicuous species. 
 
 Examples of this genus are spread over many of the hotter 
 parts of the world, some being found in the Eed Sea, and all no- 
 table for the remarkable form of the animal and its submarine 
 home. The present species has been chosen more for the singu- 
 larity of its form than the beauty of its colors, which can not be 
 expressed in the simple black and white of a wood-cut. , Some 
 species of this genus have the star-like tentacles colored with 
 
412 HOMES 'WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 blue of various shades, some with rose, and some with lilac, and 
 as in many cases the expanded tentacles are an inch in diameter, 
 the effect of a large mass of these animals in full health is very 
 fine. 
 
 Except, however, in their native state, they never can be seen 
 in full health, their constitutions being so delicate that they can 
 not endure removal from the spot whereon they were developed. 
 If removed from the water they immediately shrink to half their 
 size, and do not assume their former dimensions, no matter how 
 carefully they are tended. The present species is found on the 
 shores of the Feejee Islands, and in form is certainly the most 
 singular of its genus, the enormously long and slender body at 
 once distinguishing it from any other species. Its color is simple 
 brown, and the diameter of the tentacles is rather more than three 
 quarters of an inch. 
 
 In the left-hand lower corner of the illusfration is a curious 
 globular object, covered with circular and radiated marks, and 
 having a number of flower-headed projections upon the top.. 
 This is the Gkeen Astr^a {Astrcea viridis), one of the finest ex- 
 amples of a singular and bfeautiful group of zoophytes. In this 
 genus the animals are shaped something like the well-known sea 
 anemone, and rather short, having a great number of very small 
 tentacles, which are gathered round a central mouth. The " cups" 
 which these animals form, and in which they live, are rather deep 
 and conical, and their inner surfaces are corrugated into a num- 
 ber of thin walls with beautifully serrated edges. 
 
 The animal is rather oddly formed. The body is not quite 
 cylindrical, but is broader at the base than at the top, and is deep- 
 ly ridged with circular furrows, so that it looks very like the 
 well-known glass bottles which are used for holding salad dress- 
 ing, and which make up for lack of contents by profusion of 
 glass. In the very centre of the top is placed the mouth, and 
 round it are grouped a vast number of little tentacles that radiate 
 like the flowerets of a daisy or dandelion. In the present species 
 the animal is about half an inch in length, and the animals are 
 clustered together in masses that are often as large as the fist. 
 They are rather variable in shape, but are always more or less 
 globular. 
 
 The color of this species is simple and pleasing. The body of 
 the animal is pale gray-blue, and the tentacles are bright green. 
 
THE BED OEGAN-PIPE COEAL. 413 
 
 SO that ■when a number of the animals are simultaneously pro- 
 truding themselvesj the general effect is very striking. These 
 zoophytes are able to retract themselves almost wholly within 
 their houses, so that nothing is visible except that round the 
 mouth there is a small green circle, which is formed by the pro- 
 jecting tips of the tentacles, i This species is found at Vanikoro. 
 There are many species of Astrsea, all very pretty, and some 
 quite beautiful. Among the most conspicuous are the Abnorm- 
 al AsTR^A {Astrcea abdita), in which the mouth is scarlet and 
 the tentacles yellow ; the Anana Astrcea {Asircea ananas), where 
 the tentacles are yellow, but the mouth white ; and the Choco- 
 late AsTR^A {Astrcea fusco-viridis), where the mouth is green, 
 surrounded with a broad chocolate border, and the tentacles are 
 white. 
 
 Inr the left centre of the illustration is seen a group of that 
 most beautful zoophyte which is known as the Eed Organ-pipe 
 Coral {TuMpora rubeola [or syringd]). 
 
 This handsome zo6phyte is found chiefly off Carteret, in New 
 Ireland, and is grouped together in masses that are often many 
 yards in diameter. It is usually found in about two or three feet 
 of water, but is sonietimes placed so high that at very low tides 
 it is laid bare by the receding waters. 
 
 The animal which forms this wonderful tubing is cylindrical, 
 and the tentacles are pinkish, not possessing the brilliant red of 
 the tubes, and in its native state the animals envelop so com- 
 pletely the upper part of the general mass that the bright red 
 head is not perceptible/ The coral masses are very fragile, and 
 will not bear the pressure of the human foot, crumbling beneath 
 the tread as if they were made of sugar. The tubes are beauti- 
 fully cylindrical, and do not adhere to each other, being kept 
 asunder by partitions, which precisely resemble the boards 
 through which the pipes of an organ are passed. 
 
 They are very thin, thought 'hard, and a rough pressure of the 
 hand will always damage them. My own specimen is now sadly 
 shorn of its original fair dimensions, at least half of its tubes hav- 
 ing been broken away by the rude grasp of servants' hands, just 
 as my best specimens of the paper nautilus and other fragile cu- 
 riosities were damaged before I learned to put them under lock 
 and key. 
 
 The animal is not a large one, its length being scarcely greater 
 
414 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 thaa that of the distance from one partition to another. The ar- 
 rangement of the tubes and the partitions looks very complicated, 
 but is, in fact, simple enough. The animal secretes around itself 
 the calcareous substance which forms the tube, but when it has 
 reached to its full extent, it is obliged to leave the cylindrical 
 home in which it had resided. The partition is then secreted by 
 the edge of the mantle, or membrane by which the creature is 
 attached to its tube, and the zoophyte then begins another tube 
 immediately above that which it has quitted. 
 
 Sometimes there is a kind of floor that separates the upper tube 
 from the lower, but it is extremely thin, so that a tolerably stout 
 bristle can be pushed through it. The partition is at least twice 
 as strong as the tubes, which are scarcely thicker than the paper 
 on which this account is printed, and is not solid, but perforated 
 _with holes just like the machine-made bricks which have lately 
 come into use. In my own specimen there is a curious proof of 
 the abundance of submarine animal life. The group of Organ- 
 pipe Coral has enveloped a piece of White Coral, and has shown 
 a remarkable instance of the manner in which beings so low in 
 the scale of nature can accommodate themselves to circumstances. 
 As if conscious that the coral formed an obstacle which they 
 could not pass in a direct line, they ceased from tube-building 
 when they arrived within a little distance of the coral, and threw 
 up a partition vertically instead of horizontally, so as to envelop 
 the greater part of the coral with the red calcareous substance. 
 Having done so, they then made a new foundation upon the 
 coral, and built a fresh series of tubes, so that, when viewed from 
 above, the series of tubes is quite uninterrupted, and no one 
 would imagine that any extraneous substance had intruded into 
 the mass. 
 
 The tubes themselves have formed the basis of other subma- 
 rine habitations, for a moderate magnifying-glass shows that sun- 
 dry molluscs and moUuscoids have settled down upon their ex- 
 terior, while the white serpentine tubes which creep among the 
 perpendicular pillars show that the serpulaa and other tube-mak- 
 ing creatures have taken up their residence in so well-protected 
 a spot. 
 
 At the bottom of the sea there are a vast number of wonderful 
 and interesting animals that are known to naturalists as Tijhico- 
 bus Annelides, i e., Tube-inhabiting "Worms. These creatures are 
 
SEEPULwS:. 
 
 416 
 
 Terebella Gonchilega. 
 
 Sei'pula Gontortuplicata. 
 
 Sabella Unispii-a. 
 SabeUa Alreolaria. 
 
 true architects, not inhabiting the tubes which have been con- 
 structed by other creatures, but making them gradually, and in 
 some instances getting together sand, stones, mud, shells, and 
 other objects, which they use as materials for their homes. We 
 may call the caddis grubs, which have recently been described, 
 the tubicolous larvae of fresh water, and very curious are the 
 habitations which they construct. In salt water, however, there 
 is much more variety than in ponds and rivers, and the tubicolae 
 are many and diversified. 
 
 We will begin with those which are most plentiful, and which 
 are best known, because the hardness of their tubes causes them 
 to be preserved long after the- inhabitants have perished. If the 
 reader should happen to have used a dredge, or a trawl, he must 
 have brought to the surface great numbers of white shelly tubes, 
 some of them being nearly triangular, and adhering by their 
 
-116 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 whole length to a stone or a shell, and others nearly cylindrical, 
 and rearing themselves from the stone after the first half inch 
 or so. 
 
 These are the work of a curious worm, called by Linnaeus the 
 Serpula, on account of the serpentine manner in which its tube 
 is formed. There are many species of Serpula, and some of the 
 more conspicuous among them will be mentioned. 
 
 The Serpula belongs to the Annelidse, or Ringed animals, a 
 very large group, which includes the earth-worm, the leech, the 
 nereis, and many other well-known creatures, all of which have 
 the body composed of a great number of rings, and are destitute 
 of true feet. They breathe either through the skin, by sacs, or 
 by gills, and in the present genus the respiration is by means of 
 gills, wljich are always delicate and elegant in form, and mostly 
 brilliant in color. The body of the Serpula is comparatively 
 short, the tube being frequently six or ten times as long as the 
 animal which made it, and in consequence the Serpula possesses 
 a deep and safe retreat, into which it can withdraw itself when- 
 ever threatened by danger. 
 
 The very fact, however, that the worm lives in a tube, causes 
 the observer to ask himself how the creature contrives to breathe, 
 and how the long tubular shell is kept clean. A reference to the 
 illustration will explain the, former of these difficulties, and the 
 latter will presently be touched upon. 
 
 Projecting from the orifice of the shell may be seen a curious 
 fan-like appendage ; were the illustration to be colored, this fan 
 would have been tinted with the brightest hues of scarlet and 
 white, though no brush could give the wondrous delicacy of 
 the feeling or express its semi-pellucid beauty. This " fan" is 
 composed of the gills of the Serpula, and the animal is enabled 
 to breathe by its power of projecting them from the orifice of its 
 tube. 
 
 If the reader can procure a group of living Serpulas and a little 
 sea water, he is strongly advised to do so, as he will understand 
 their structure far better than can be the case if he merely refer 
 to books. The creatures can be procured at any of the numer- 
 ous shops in which aquaria are sold, and as they are plentiful on 
 our own coast, they can be procured at a very cheap rate. They 
 are terribly apt to die, unless the purity of the water be carefully 
 preserved ; but even in that case they can be dissected, and will 
 afford lovely objects for the microscope. There is always an 
 
SEEPUL^. 417 
 
 abundance of Serpulse in the aquarium house at the Zoological 
 Gardens, and the keeper is quite willing to give any advice as to 
 the management of these interesting annelids. 
 
 Supposing, then, that a group of Serpulse has been procured, it 
 should be placed in the aquarium close to the glass, and, if pos- 
 sible, the vessel should be one with flat sides, the ordinary fish- 
 globes giving a distorted image. A magnifying -glass should 
 then be fixed so as to command the orifices of the tubes, and all 
 will be ready. It is necessary to fix the glass, because the Serpu- 
 lse are strangely sensitive beings, and retreat into their tubes at 
 the slightest alarm. If even a hand be moved suddenly, though 
 at some little distance, the Serpulse shoot back into their tubes as 
 if propelled by springs, the feathery tentacles collapsing, and the 
 beautiful operculum closing up the entrance. 
 
 This lightning-like rapidity of movement is caused by a won- 
 derful array of hooks on the front portion of the body. These 
 hooks are placed on th^ foot-warts which edge that part of the 
 body, and are wonderfully adapted for catching the membrane 
 that lines the tube. The botanist who looks at such a group as 
 is now before me in the microscope would be instantly reminded 
 of the seed-vessels of the " wait-a-bit" thorn, with its double array 
 of hooked prickles. Each hook is rendered still more effective 
 by the six or seven teeth into which its inner edge is cut, so that 
 the most formidable array of hooks that the ingenuity of anglers 
 ever devised, and named with appellatives as strange as their 
 shapes, would appear quite harmless by the side of the Serpula's 
 hooks, could they only be magnified to proportionate size. One 
 bunch of these most .formidable hooks would seem to be all-suf- 
 ficient for the purpose, but when it is remembered that every foot- 
 wart has its hooked armatures, amounting to fourteen or fifteen 
 hundred in number, the power of the creature's hold ceases to be 
 surprising. 
 
 Perhaps the reader may ask how the animal ever contrives to 
 push itself out ol" the case at all, seeing that it is held by such 
 a grasp.' A farther look through the microscope shows that the 
 hooks are affixed to long tendinous bands, of great delicacy, but 
 at the same time of great strength, which enable the animal to 
 protrude the hooks' so as to seize the membrane, and to with- 
 draw them when their purpbse has been served. The dark back- 
 ground illumination shows the formation of the hooks in a very 
 clear and beautiful manner. 
 
 D D 
 
418 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 If possible, tlie observer should preserve specimens of the 
 hooks for the microscope. He will not want for examples, as 
 the creatures have a habit of coming out of their tubes and dy- 
 ing on the floor of the aquarium, to the great discomfiture of the 
 owner. I find that Deane's gelatine answers very well for the 
 purpose, and the specimens which have just been mentioned are 
 now in perfect preservation, after having been in the gelatine for 
 some six years. 
 
 It is very curious to watch the different methods by which the 
 Serpula protrudes and withdraws itself When it retires into the 
 tube, it vanishes so quickly that the eye can not follow its move- 
 ments, but when it protrudes itself, it does so in a very deliberate 
 manner, seeming to feel its way cautiously toward the light, and 
 to be ready to dart back again with or without reason. 
 
 The organs by means of which it protrudes itself are placed 
 close to those which withdraw it. Through the foot-warts pro- 
 ject a number of stiff, transparent bristles, which are wonderfully 
 like the many-barbed spears of savage nations. I have an arrow 
 of the Tonga Islands which is almost an exact reproduction of a , 
 foot-bristle of the Serpula, saving that wood and bone are substi- 
 tuted for the purer material of the bristle. The shaft runs quite 
 straight, but toward the tip the bristle is flattened and widened 
 into a head just like that of a spear. The head has a very slight 
 curve, is sharply pointed, and is armed with a double row of barbs 
 on the edge. A great number of these bristles are clustered to- 
 gether, so that their united force is really considerable. 
 
 Supposing that the animal is fully expanded, and that the ob- 
 server has succeeded in placing his eye to the glass without 
 alarming the sensitive creature, he will see a wonderful sight. 
 In its way there is nothing which surpasses in beauty the ex- 
 panded gill-tuft of a Serpula in perfect health. The long feathery 
 gills radiate from the tube in a curve which combines grace and 
 force in no ordinary degree, while the beautiful colors that glow 
 as the blood courses through their translucent substances are far 
 beyond the power of description. 
 
 One use of the gills is evident enough. They serve for respi- 
 ration. But they also answer another purpose, and aid the ani- 
 mal in procuring food. Being necessarily stationary, it can not 
 roam about in search of food, and its appetite is so great that it 
 would soon die were it to depend for subsistence on the nourish- 
 ment which might be brought within its reach by the waves. 
 
SEEPUL^. 419 
 
 If a tolerably powerful glass can be brought within the neces- 
 sary focal distance, it will be seen that the exterior of the gill- 
 tufts is covered with wonderfully delicate filaments, or cilia, as 
 they are technically named, which are continually waving in reg- 
 ular ripples. Their movement constitutes a sharp current of 
 water, which not only washes against the gills and furnishes the 
 requisite supply of air for the regeneration of the blood, but car- 
 ries the water downward into the mouth, which opens at the bot- 
 tom of the gill-tufts. In the water is always a bountiful supply of 
 minute animal organisms, together with other substances, which, 
 although microscopically small, are in the aggregate sufficient to 
 feed the Serpula. This current is kept continually flowing as 
 long as the tentacles are protruded, and thus the creature is en- 
 abled to breathe, is supplied with nourishment, and the tube is 
 kept clean by the water current which is perpetually rushing 
 through it. 
 
 "We now come to that wonderful portion of the animal which 
 is called by naturalists the "operculum," and which is popularly 
 and rightly known as the "stopper." This is the conical ap- 
 pendage which hangs from the tube, and is used in closing its 
 mouth when the gills have been withdrawn. The operculum is 
 known to be a development of one of the antennse, the other an- 
 tenna being small, slender, and without any such appendage. To 
 systematic naturalists the operculum is one of the most valuable 
 parts of the animal, as it is often found in the tube in good pres- 
 ervation long after all the softer parts of the animal have disap- 
 peared. We can learn but little from the tube, as it is very sim- 
 ilar in animals belonging to different genera. The value of the 
 operculum was detected by Dr. Philippi, and has been corrobo- 
 rated by Dr. Baird, who has made great use of it in some valua- 
 ble papers on specimens of Serpulse which are now in the British 
 Museum. 
 
 In one genus, Eupomatus, for instance, the operculum is fur- 
 nished with a number of movable spikes. In one species, Eupo- 
 matus Boltoni, these spikes are about twenty in number, and are 
 hard, flat, and calcareous. Their form is very much like that of 
 a hedger's bill-hook, except that they are furnished in the inner 
 edge with several bold tooth-like projections. These spikes are 
 called by Philippi horns or comua, and are always- deeply toothed, 
 whatever may be the species. The very appropriate name, Eu- 
 pomatus, is formed from two Greek words, and signifies "beauti- 
 
420 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 ful lid," in allusion to the. elegant structure of the operculum and 
 its complement of horns. 
 
 In another genus, which has been called Placostegus, the oper- 
 culum is calcareous, flat, and rounded, looking so like the opercu- 
 lum of some aquatic mollusc that it might easily be mistaken for 
 that object. The genus is so named on account of the shape of 
 the operculum, and the word is of Greek derivation, signifying 
 Plate-roofed. / 
 
 One species of this genus, Placostegus carinafus, is remarkable 
 for a peculiarity which has been brought forward by Dr. Baird, 
 in a paper read before the Linnsean Society in April, 1864. " I 
 wish particularly to bring before the notice of the Society the 
 fact that the animal gives out a beautiful dye or color. The 
 specimens which were the subjects of my examination had been 
 for a number of years in the British Museum, some having been 
 placed there in 1845, and others in 1847. Notwithstanding their 
 having been so long dry, when softened in water, taken out of 
 the tubes and placed in spirits of wine, they imparted to the 
 liquid a beautiful and delicate red tint." 
 
 The specific title of carinatus, or keeled, is given to the animal 
 because its tube has a decided keel or ridge upon its upper sur- 
 face. The color of the animal is blue, and the fan-like tuft of 
 gills is blue banded with white. An allied species, Placostegus 
 latiligulaius, is remarkable for the shape of its tube, which is de- 
 fended at the orifice by a kind of pent-house or hood, which pro- 
 jects boldly from the upper edge, just like the peak of a boy's 
 cap. 
 
 Another genus of Serpulae, called Gymospira, has the opercu- 
 lum homy, elliptical, and furnished with two or more large 
 toothed horns, which are generally placed near the hinder edge. 
 Some of the species are very large — one, which is in the British 
 Museum, being as thick as a man's finger, and being inhabited 
 by a Serpula three inches in length, and more than a quarter of 
 an inch in diameter. Sometimes the horns are long and boldly 
 projecting, and sometimes the tube has a pointed projection like 
 the hood which has already been mentioned. One of the short- 
 horned species which was procured from Swain's Reefs, on the 
 eastern coast of Australia, was always so imbedded in corals and 
 madrepores that the true shape of its tube can not be ascertained. 
 
 Perhaps the most extraordinary example of the operculum is 
 furnished by the genus Pomatostegus, in which the operculum is 
 
SERPUL^ — SPIROBBIS. 421 
 
 made in three stories, each smaller than that below it, so that it 
 bears a distant resemblance to the fusee of a watch. In the Brit- 
 ish Museum is a fine example of this genus Pomatostegus Bower- 
 hanlcii), in which the operculum rises li^e the conventional tower 
 of Babel, all the stories being devoid of horns, but covered with 
 short hairs of a fibrous nature. If the reader should happen to 
 be acquainted with conchology, he can form a very good idea of 
 this remarkable operculum by taking up the similar organ in 
 any species of solarium, or staircase shell, except that in the Ser- 
 pula the stories of the operculum are distinct, and not formed by 
 successive whorls. 
 
 The operculum of the animal which is supposed to be under 
 examination does not present any of these singular appendages, 
 but is more or less conical, grooved above in a radiated form, and 
 horny in substance. It is, however, a very beautiful object, if 
 only for the elegant shape, which remains after the softer parts 
 have perished, and is in form so like a wine-glass with beautifully 
 fluted sides, that Dr. Johnston has remarked that jt might serve 
 as a pattern for that article. 
 
 There is another marine annelid which constructs calcareous 
 tubes, and which is sufficiently interesting to warrant a short no- 
 tice. If the reader should happen to have in his possession a 
 piece of stone, or an oyster-shell, that has been for some time im- 
 mersed in the sea, or if he has a piece of the large tangleweed 
 that is so popular as a barometer, he will see that upon the sur- 
 face are certain tiny calcareous tubes, scarcely thicker than hairs, 
 and rolled spirally so as to form flat circular objects about as 
 large as pins' heads. They are firmly fixed to the objects on 
 which they are placed, and are often thought to be the earlier 
 forms of the serpula. 
 
 These, however, are distinct animals, called Spirorbis by natu- 
 ralists, who have noticed that their spiral tubes bear a great re- 
 semblance to the planorbis shell, which is so plentiful in our riv- 
 ers and ponds. A tolerably powerful magnifying-glass is needed 
 before the real nature of the Spirorbis can be made out; but a 
 short examination will show that not only is the little worm fur- 
 nished with gills, or branchise which closely resemble those or- 
 gans in the serpula, but that, like that animal, it can shut up its 
 tube with an operculum of a conical shape. 
 
422 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Anothee example of a submarine builder may be found in 
 the well-known Terebella of our coasts, sometimes known by 
 the name of Shell-bindee. Sandy shoals are the best spots for 
 the Terebella, and in many places there is scarcely a spare yard 
 of sand without its inhabitants. Like the serpula, the Terebella 
 constructs tubes, but, unlike that animal, it makes the tubes of a 
 soft and flexible texture, although the materials which it employs 
 are far harder than those which are used by the serpula. The 
 Terebella has the art of making its submarine tubes of sand, 
 which it agglutinates, together with such wonderful power, that, 
 if Michael Scott's impish familiar had only been acquainted with 
 natural history, he might soon have learned the art of making 
 ropes of sea-sand, and have turned the tables on his master. 
 
 Should any of my readers be desirous of finding the habitation 
 of a Terebella, he may easily do so by repairing to the nearest 
 sandy shore, and looking under every large stone or piece of 
 rock. There he will probably find some loose tufts of sandy 
 threads, which are fixed to the mouth of a flexible tube, made 
 of the same materials. This tube is the habitation of the Tere- ' 
 bella, and by means of a crowbar and a chisel the animal may 
 generally be procured, together with its home. There are, how- 
 ever, plenty of deserted tubes, and I have often been sadly disap- 
 pointed by finding that, after a long and laborious digging, noth- 
 ing but the empty tube was to be found. 
 
 Supposing, however, that a specimen is obtained in an unin- 
 jured state, the observer can easily watch its method of house- 
 building by ejecting it from its tubular home, placing it in a ves- 
 sel filled with sea- water, and supplying it with a handful of sand. 
 As clearness of the water is an essential part of success, shell-sand 
 is the best material that can be supplied, and it will be safer to 
 wash the sand thoroughly before placing it in the vessel. A 
 large rough stone should also be placed in the vessel, as the ani- 
 mal always likes to lurk behind some sheltering object while it is 
 engaged in the task of house-building. 
 
 Like many other creatures, the Terebella is a night- worker, and 
 during the hours of daylight will retire behind the stone, and 
 crouch in the darkest corner, as if to repose itself after the violent 
 struggles and gyrations which it enacts when it is first taken out 
 of the tube. Until noon is passed, the only sign of life will be 
 the slight movement of the many tentacles which surround the 
 upper lip ; but, as the sun declines, the tentacles begin to move 
 
THE TEEEBELLA. 423 
 
 more rapidly, and as if they hg,d some purpose to fulfill. In tTie 
 evening the worm is in full work ; and as Professor Eymer Jones 
 has given a clear and graphic description of its proceedings, I can 
 not do better than transfer his account to these pages. After re- 
 marking on the general habits of the creature, and describing the 
 tentacles, he proceeds as follows : 
 
 " They," i. e., the tentacles, " are now spread out from the orifice 
 of the tube like so many slender cords. Each seizes on one or 
 more grains of sand, and drags its burden to the summit of the 
 tube, there to be employed according to the service required. 
 Should any of the tentacula slip, the same organs are again em- 
 ployed to search eagerly for the lost portion of sand, which is 
 again seized and dragged toward its destination. 
 
 " Such operations are protracted during several hours, though 
 so gradually as to be apparently of little effect; nevertheless, on 
 resuming inspection next morning, a surprising elongation of the 
 tube will be discovered ; or, perhaps, instead of a simple accession 
 to its walls, the orifice will be surrounded by forking threads of 
 sandy particles agglutinated together. 
 
 "The architect has now retired to repose; but, as evening 
 comes, its activity is renewed, and again at sunrise a farther pro- 
 longation has augmented the extent of its dwelling. 
 
 "At first sight the numerous tentacula seem only so many long, 
 cylindrical, fleshy threads of infinite flexibility. 
 
 " On examining them, however, more attentively, we see that 
 in exercising their special function, the surface which is applied to 
 the foreign objects becomes flattened into twice or thrice its ordi- 
 nary 'diameter; and while conveying the sandy materials to the 
 tube, these are seized and retained in a deep groove, which almost 
 resembles a slit ; in fact, the tentaculum becomes a flat, narrow 
 ribbon, folding longitudinally in diff'erent places to hold the par- 
 ticles securely. 
 
 "Although these organs, when contracted, are collected into a 
 brush scarcely double the thickness of the animal's body, so enor- 
 mous is their extensibility that they can be stretched out to the 
 length of four inches, or half the length of the body, thus sweep- 
 ing the area of a circle eight inches in diameter. 
 
 "A thin internal coating, resembling silk, lines the whole tube, 
 and at the same time serves as a real cement to unite and strength- 
 en its innumerable parts. This silk-like material is derived from 
 a glutinous slime, which exudes from the surface of the body of 
 the Terebella. 
 
424 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 "Notwithstanding the unrivaled expertness and expedition 
 with which this Annelidan advances its work, it has never been 
 observed to resume possession of its tube when once forsaken. 
 To obtain the shelter of a new dwelling in place of the old, its la- 
 bors are invariably recommenced from the foundation." 
 
 "In Terehella iiebulosa" writes Dr. Williams, "the tentacula con- 
 sist of hollow, flattened tubular filaments, furnished with strong 
 muscular parietes, each tentacle forming a band which may be 
 rolled longitudinally into a cylindrical form, so as to inclose a 
 hollow cylindrical space if the two edges of the band meet, or a 
 semi-cylindrical space if they imperfectly meet. This inimitable 
 mechanism enables each filament to take up and firmly grasp, at 
 any point of its length, a molecule of sand, or, if placed in a linear 
 series, a row of molecules. But so .perfect is the disposition of the 
 muscular fibres at the extreme free end of each filament that it is 
 gifted with the twofold power of acting on the sucking and the 
 muscular principle. When the tentacle is about to seize an ob- 
 ject, the extremity is drawn in, in consequence of the sudden re- 
 flux of fluid in its hollow interior ; by this movement a cup- 
 shaped cavity, is formed, in which the object is securely held by 
 atmospheric pressure ; this power is, however, immediately aided 
 by the contraction of the circular muscular filbres. Such, then, 
 are the marvelous instruments by which these peaceful worms 
 construct their habitations, and probably sweep their vicinity for 
 food." 
 
 There are many species of Terebella, each remarkable for 
 some peculiarity in the structure of its habitation. On the east- 
 ern coast of England, the preceding species seems to be more 
 plentiful, and affords a notable instance of the manner in which 
 stubborn materials can be rendered useful. Some of our coasts, 
 however, are plentifully stocked with the SHBLii-BiNDER Tere- 
 bella {Terebella conchilega), a creature which has earned its well- 
 deserved name from its curious habit of choosing broken shells 
 for the construction of its tube. This being the case, it is evident 
 that the creature will be most abundant on those shores where 
 shells are most plentiful, and that it may usually be found on 
 those parts of our coast where the sand is almost wholly com- 
 posed of shells. 
 
 The tube resembles in texture that of the preceding species, but 
 it is rather firmer, owing to the superior size of the material with 
 
THE SHELL-BINDER TEEEBELLA. 425 
 
 whicli it is built. Generally the fragments of shell are very- 
 small, no larger, indeed, than those of which the well-known shell- 
 sand is composed. But, in many instances, the Terebella has 
 been known to choose shells in an entire state, and thus to give 
 its tube a very extraordinary aspect. 
 
 The process of tube-making is conducted with much rapidity. 
 Supposing that, as is often the case, a storm has arisen, and wash- 
 ed away the projecting portion of the tube, the Terebella sets to 
 work to make a new portion in lieu of that which has been de- 
 stroyed. Spreading out its long and delicate tentacles in all di- 
 rections, it brings the materials toward its mouth, and always ap- 
 portions the number of tentacles employed to the load which is to 
 be carried. Having brought the materials within reach, it ar- 
 ranges them in regular circles, agglutinating them together with 
 some secretion which has the property of hardening under water 
 into a gelatinous substance. The union of these two materials — 
 namely, the gelatinous secretion and the shells which are fastened 
 to it — gives to the tube the two needful qualities of strength and 
 flexibility. 
 
 Small particles of shell are generally affixed by the whole of 
 their surface, but the large pieces are only fastened by one edge, 
 so that a tube that is made wholly of large fragments looks as if 
 it were covered with scales, like those of a serpent. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that the Terebella does not form tubes 
 during the early portions of its life, but swims about freely, like 
 the nereis and other marine annelids. It has a head, eyes, feet, 
 and antennae, and roams about at will; whereas, in its perfect 
 state, it has neither head, nor eyes, nor antennae, nor true feet, the 
 last-mentioned organs being modified into the tufts of hooks and 
 bristles by means of which it moves up and down its tube. The 
 reader may perhaps remember that the -barnacles and many other 
 stationary marine animals are free during their preliminary epochs, 
 and only become fixed when they attain the perfect form. To 
 our minds, the former seems the more perfect, and certainly the 
 more agreeable state of existence ; but we can not measure the 
 feelings of such an animal by our own, and may be sure that the 
 creature enjoys existence as much while shut up in a tube as 
 when roaming the ocean at liberty. 
 
 Another species, Terebella figulus, sometimes called the Pot- 
 ter, prefers mud as the material for its dwelling, and contrives to 
 
426 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 make the dark sea-mud so adhesive that it is capable of being 
 formed into a tube. 
 
 As may be easily imagined, this tube is extremely fragile, and 
 can not be removed entire from the water without the exercise of 
 much care, its own weight being mostly sufficient to tear it asun- 
 der. The walls of the tube are tolerably thick, and the tube it- 
 self is of some size, measuring nearly half an inch across, and is 
 always found to be protected by the earth upon which it is placed. 
 It is a rather curious fact that the tentacles of this species are of 
 extraordinary length, extending for some eight or nine inches be- 
 yond the entrance of the tube, the animal itself measuring little 
 more than four inches in length. 
 
 The last species of Terebella that will be mentioned is a very 
 small and very remarkable species. . It has been appropriately 
 termed the Weavee Tekebella {Terebella textrix) from the curi- 
 ous submarine home which it makes. 
 
 Not content with using the glutinous secretion as a means for 
 binding together the muddy particles of which the tube is ma^e, it 
 spins a kind of web, bearing some resemblance to that of the spi- 
 der, and being quite a complicated piece of work. This web is 
 composed of many threads, which are very strong, but are also 
 very fine, and, in consequence, are almost invisible when in the 
 water, and their substance is quite translucent, like the threads of 
 isinglass. The threads encircle the body, and as it is only made 
 in the month of May, when the eggs are deposited, it is in all 
 probability employed more for the sake of guarding the eggs 
 than protecting the body. 
 
 The tube of the Weaver Terebella is very small, not sufficing 
 to cover more than half the body. The worm seems to be more 
 independent of its tube than is usually the case, frequently vacat- 
 ing and returning to it, and sometimes making two or three tubes 
 near each other, and living in any of them which it may happen 
 to prefer at the time. 
 
 "We now come to a group of tube-building annelids which are 
 called Sabellse, because they live in the sand, and in most cases 
 form their tubes of that material. The general appearance of the 
 tube is extremely variable.' In some cases it bears so great a re- 
 semblance to the dwelling of the serpula that a practiced eye is 
 needed to discover the distinction. 
 
THE SABELL^. 427 
 
 One very conspicuous species is the Teumpet Sabella {Saiella, 
 tvhularia), which is generally found attached to stones or shells. 
 The inaterial of which it is made is that hard, calcareous matter 
 which is employed by the serpula, and at first the two tubes seem 
 to be exactly alike. A more detailed examination will, however, 
 show that it is not twisted like that of the serpula, but is nearly 
 straight, looking very much like the military trumpet, or "tuba," 
 of the ancient Eomans. In some cases this tube attains consider- 
 able length, measuring eight or nine inches from tip to mouth. 
 It is a solitary animal, and, as far as is yet known, is never found 
 grouped in masses, like many allied species. 
 
 The gill-fan of this species is exceedingly beautiful, being white, 
 dotted profusely with scarlet, and expanding into a graceful feath- 
 ery coronet. Although the resemblance to the serpula is very- 
 close, the animal may easily be distinguished by the absence of 
 the beautiful operculum or stopper, which forms so conspicuous a 
 feature in the serpula. 
 
 Perhaps the most plentiful species of this genus is the com- 
 mon Sabella {Sahella alveolaria), which may be found in count- 
 less myriads on many of our coasts. On several sandy shores, 
 especially those of the southern coast, the wanderer by the sea 
 may perceive masses of hard, agglutinated sand, pierced with in- 
 numerable holes. These masses are of great size, and in some 
 places are strong enough to bear the pressure of a foot, though in 
 others a slight push with the hand is sufficient to detach a portion. 
 
 If this perforated sand be closely examined, it will be seen to 
 consist of a vast number of tubes, which are fixed together, and 
 are farther consolidated by sand which has washed over them, 
 and lodged between them. "When the water covers the sand 
 mass, a delicate feathery tuft is seen to protrude from each hole, 
 so that the general aspect is full of beauty. These tufts are the 
 tentacles of the Sabella, and when examined with a niicroscope 
 of moderate power, each tentacle is seen to be composed of a cen- 
 tral shaft, with projecting teeth or fringes on both sides. There 
 are about eighty of these tentacles, and as they are extremely flex- 
 ible and always in motion, their appearance is peculiarly elegant. 
 
 Nothing is easier than to examine the structure of this Sabella, 
 though the task of isolating a single tube is not an easy one. A 
 penknife will soon break up the tube, and a pair of forceps will 
 easily pull out the inhabitant, in spite of the array of bristles and 
 
428 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 hooks wherewith it clings to its habitation. It is but a little 
 creature in point of length, but in point of width it nearly fills, 
 the diameter of the tube. The extremity of the body, however, 
 is very small and slender, and is doubled back upon itself, with 
 its tip pointing to the mouth of the tube. 
 
 The structure of the tube is extremely variable. Some indi- 
 viduals seem to give all their endeavors toward making their 
 dwelling as long and strong as possible, while others are content 
 with a tube which is barely long enough to shelter the whole 
 body. They work with great rapidity, and, when confined in an 
 aquarium, will build their sandy homes nearly as well as if they 
 were at liberty in the sea. Many interesting experiments have 
 been made upon their modes of working, and by a judicious sup- 
 ply of different substances they may be forced to build tubes of 
 various colors and forms. 
 
 Very little care is required in keeping the Sabella in the aqua- 
 rium. The beautiful little worm requires no feeding, and the. 
 only precaution that is needed is to see that the water is pure. 
 All dead animals should be carefully removed from the aquari- 
 um, as they are sure to putrefy very quickly, and the noxious 
 gases evolved in that process will soon destroy all the other in- 
 habitants. 
 
 Generally, when the Sabella feels ill, it is obliging enough to 
 come out of its cell and die, in full sight ; but now and then one 
 of them will retreat to the bottom of its cell and die there, in 
 which case it is as noisome and as difficult to discover as a dead 
 rat behind the wainscot. Still, although the number of apertures 
 in a single group of Sabella tubes renders it difficult for the pos- 
 sessor to identify the particular tube in which the defunct worm 
 may be lying, its presence can generally be detected by a kind of 
 whitish growth that appears at the mouth of the tube, and that 
 tells its tale to an experienced eye. The best plan of getting out 
 the inmate is by a slender wire hooked at the end. This can be 
 pushed down to the very bottom of the cell, when a twist of the 
 wire will mostly secure the dead worm, and the nuisance may 
 thus be removed. 
 
 Another species belonging to this genus, the Straight Sabel- 
 la {Sabella unispira), is remarkable for the form of its tube, which 
 is nearly cylindrical, and scarcely possesses any curve at all. 
 
 There is another group of tube-making marine annelids which 
 
THE SILKWOKM AND THE FAN AMPHITBITE. 429 
 
 are remarkable for the transparency of their newly-constructed 
 dwellings. Of these, a very singular example is found in the 
 SiLEWOEM Amphiteite {AmpMtnte homhyx). 
 
 The reader will remember that one, at least, of the Terebellse 
 can make a structure which is as transparent as isinglass, and will 
 not, therefore, be surprised to find that another annelid possesses 
 similar powers. The tube of the Silkworm Amphitrite is longer 
 than the body, and is made entirely of the gelatinous secretion 
 which in most of the species is used as a cement for fastening to- 
 gether the sand, shells, mud, and other materials of which the tube 
 is formed. In this creature, however, the secretion is so plentiful 
 that it forms the whole of the tube. 
 
 .Nor does it content itself with a single tube, but forms several, 
 one after the other. When first made, the tube is so beautifully 
 transparent that the body of the inhabitant can be seen almost as 
 plainly as through glass ; but in process of time it becomes in- 
 crusted with mud and sand, and almost looks as if it were made 
 of very dirty leather. The average length of an adult specimen 
 is three inches, and its beautiful gill-fan is decorated with brown 
 and yellow. As is the case with most of the tube-inhabiting 
 worms, it is a very timid creature, jerking itself into the tube on 
 the least alarm, and contracting the orifice after it has retired into 
 seclusion. 
 
 Anothee species, the Fan Amphiteite {Amphitrite veniila- 
 hrurri), forms a long and tough tube, which is apparently made of 
 shoe-leather, but which is really formed from mud and the cement 
 which is secreted by the animal. Mr. Eymer Jones has very lu- 
 cidly described the mode of construction: "We will suppose a 
 specimen, with its plume fully expanded, in a jar filled with its 
 native element. In this condition, if a drop of liquid mud be 
 dropped from above into the water so as to disturb its cleanliness, 
 the animal immediately begins to arouse itself, and all the thou- 
 sands of cilia that fringe its branchial plumules are discovered to 
 be in vigorous activity, collecting by their incessant action the 
 diffused muddy particles into a loose mass, which is soon per- 
 ceived visibly accumulating in the bottom of the funnel. Mean- 
 time the neck, or first segment of the body, rising unusually high 
 above the orifice of the tube, exhibits two fleshy lobes or trowels, 
 beating down the thin edges as they fold and clasp over the mar- 
 gin, like our fingers pressing a flattened cake against the palm of 
 the hand. 
 
430 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 "During these operations the muddy niaterials are seen descend- 
 ing between the roots of the fans toward the trowels, while another 
 organ, perhaps the mouth, is also occupied, it may be, in com- 
 pounding the preparation with adhesive matter. As the bulk of 
 the muddy mass diminishes, the activity of the worm abates ; . it 
 is soon succeeded by repose, and then the tube is found to have 
 received evident prolongation." 
 
 The gill-fans of this species are most lovely, forming a nearly 
 complete funnel by their regularly radiating arrangement, and 
 being colored gorgeously with scarlet, green, brown, and gold. 
 
 Then there is the Funnel Amphiteite (Amphitrite infundi- 
 bulum), so called because the tentacles are so perfect in shape that, 
 when fully spread, they form a circular funnel, in which scarcely 
 the slightest break is perceptible. This funnel is rendered more 
 complete by the curious fact that in each half of the fan the 
 tentacles are united by a delicate and transparent web, reaching 
 nearly to their tips. The prevailing color of these beautiful fans 
 is purple, darkest toward the tips, and changing gradually to 
 chestnut at the base. 
 
 This is not a plentiful species, and is mostly obtained by means 
 of the dredge or drag, which tears up a portion of the ground, 
 and brings with it the Funnel Amphitrite and its dwelling. This 
 is of a tubular shape, and generally black, with a slight mixture 
 of green. The color, hbwever, is very variable, and depends much 
 upon the age of the tube ; for, when freshly made, it is nearly as 
 transparent as that of the previous species. There are other spe- 
 cies of Amphitrite, all of which are interesting, but which our 
 diminished space will not admit. 
 
 Should the reader happen to be an entomologist, he will readily 
 call to mind the tiny cylindrical cases that are made by certain 
 lepidopteran larvae, belonging to the great family Tineidse, and 
 which are found so plentifully upon the leaves of oak, hazel, and 
 other trees. If he should happen to be something of an aquarian 
 naturalist, and fond of looking for marine curiosities, he may find 
 attached to submarine plants certain little cylindrical cases which 
 are wonderfully like those of the moths. They are very small 
 indeed, scarcely thicker than the shaft of an ordinary pin, and 
 measuring scarcely more than the eighth of an inch in length. 
 Their color is pale brown, their surface is rough, and they are 
 stuck upon the sea-weed in great confusion, without the least at- 
 tempt at arrangement 
 
THE CADDIS SHRIMP — THE BEAVER. 431 
 
 These are the habitations of a very small crustacean {Cerapus 
 tuhdaris), properly called the Caddis Shrimp, because the tube 
 which the creature makes is analogous to that which is formed 
 by the caddis larvae. The animal which inhabits this case is a 
 curious little being, very like the long-bodied, long-legged ca- 
 prellse, that are so plentiful among sea-weeds, and furnished with 
 two pairs of long and stout antennas, and two pairs of grasping 
 feet. As the tube is too short to contain the entire animal, the 
 long antennae are always protruded, and occasionally the powerful 
 grasping feet are also thrust out of the opening. 
 
 The antennae are continually flung forward and retracted in a 
 manner that reminds the observer of the movements of the acorn 
 barnacle, each grasp being evidently made for the purpose of 
 arresting any passing substance that may serve for food. This 
 remarkable little crustacean is generally found upon the well- 
 known alga which produce the Carrageen, or Irish Moss (Ghxmdrus 
 crispus). It will not, however, be found upon those plants which 
 can be plucked by hand, but resides in deeper water, so that the 
 best method of procuring it is to go out in a boat, throw the drag 
 overboard, and then examine the algse which are torn from their 
 attachments. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXI. 
 social habitations. 
 
 SOCIAJ/ SIASIMALIA. 
 
 The Beateb. — Its Form and aquatic Habits. — Need for Water, and Means used to 
 procure it. — Quadrupedal Engineering. — The Dam of the Beaver. — Erroneous 
 ideas of the Dam. — How the Beaver cuts Timber. — The Beaver in the Zoological 
 Gardens. — Theories respecting the Beaver's Dam, — How the Timber is fastened 
 together. — ^Form of the Dam, and mode of its Enlargement. — Beaver-dams aiid 
 Coral-reefs. — The House or Lodge of the Beaver. — Its Locality and Structure. — 
 Use of a subterranean Passage. — How Beavers are Hunted. — Curious Supersti- 
 
 , tion. — "Les Paresseux." 
 
 We now come to the Social Habitations, and give prece- 
 dence to those which are constructed by Mammalia. 
 
 Of the Social Mammalia, the Beaver ( Gaster fiber) takes the 
 first rank, and is the best possible type of that group. There are 
 other social animals, such as the various marmots and others; 
 but these creatures live independently of each other, and are only 
 drawn together by the attraction of some favorable locality. The 
 
432 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Beavers, on the other hand, are not only social by dwelling near 
 each other, but by joining in a work which is intended for the 
 benefit of the community. 
 
 The form of the Beaver is sufficiently marked to indicate that 
 it is a water-loving creature, and that it is a better swimmer than 
 walker. The dense, close, woolly fur, defended by a coating of 
 long hairs, the broad, paddle-like tail, and the well-webbed feet, 
 are characteristics which are at once intelligible. Water, indeed, 
 seems to be an absolute necessity for the Beaver, and it is of the 
 utmost importance to the animal that the stream near which it 
 lives should not grow dry. In order to avert such a misfortune, 
 the Beaver is gifted with an instinct which teaches it how to keep 
 the water always at or about the same level, or, at all events, to 
 prevent it from sinking below the requisite level. 
 
 If any modern engineer were asked how to attain such an ob- 
 ject, he would probably point to the nearest water-mill, and say 
 that the problem had there been satisfactorily solved, a dam hav- 
 ing been built across the stream so as to raise the water to the 
 requisite height, and to allow the superfluous water to flow away. 
 Kow water is as needful for the Beaver as for the miller, and it is 
 a very curious fact that, long before millers ever invented dams, 
 or before men ever learned to grind corn, the Beaver knew how 
 to make a dam and insure itself a constant supply of water. 
 
 That the Beaver does make a dam is a fact that has long been 
 familiar, but how it sets to work is not so well known. Engrav- 
 ings representing the Beavers and their habitations are common 
 enough, but they are generally untrustworthy, not having been 
 drawn from the natural object, but from the imagination of the 
 artist. In most cases the dam is represented as if it had been 
 made after the fashion of our time and country, a number of 
 stakes having been driven into the bed of the river, and smaller 
 branches entwined among them. The projecting ends of the 
 stakes -are neatly squared off, and altogether the work looks 
 exactly as if it had been executed by human hands. One artist 
 seems to have copied from another, so that the error of one man 
 has been widely perpetuated. 
 
 Now, in reality, the dam is made in a very different manner, 
 and in order to comprehend the mode of its structure, we must 
 watch the Beaver at work. 
 
 When the animal has fixed upon a tree which it believes to 
 be suitable for its purpose, it begins by sitting upright, and with 
 
THE BBAVEn AMD ITS HOME. 
 
THE BEAVEB. ' , 435 
 
 i 
 
 its chisel-like teeth cutting a bold groove completely round the 
 
 trunk. It then widens the groove, and always makes it wide in 
 
 exact proportion to its depth, so that when the tree is nearly cut 
 
 through, it looks something like the contracted portion of an 
 
 hour-glass. When this stage has been reached, the Beaver looks 
 
 anxiously at the tree, and views it on every side, as if desirous of 
 
 measuring the direction in which it is to fall. Having settled this 
 
 question, it goes to the opposite side of the tree, and with two or 
 
 three powerful bites cuts away the wood, so that the tree becomes 
 
 overbalanced and falls to the ground. 
 
 This point having been reached, the animal proceeds to cut up 
 the fallen trunk into lengths, usually a yard or so in length, em- 
 ploying a similar method of severing the wood. In consequence 
 of this mode of gnawing the timber, both ends of the logs are 
 rounded and rather pointed, as may be seen by reference to the 
 illustration. In the Zoological Gardens may be seen many ex- 
 cellent examples of timber which has been cut by the Beaver: 
 the logs and cut stumps which are given in the illustration were 
 sketched from those objects. 
 
 The next part of the task is to make these logs into a dam. 
 i!Tow, whereas some persons have endeavored to make the Beaver 
 a more ingenious animal than it really is, and have accredited it 
 with powers which only belong to mankind, others have gone to 
 the other extreme, and have denied the existence of a regularly 
 built dam, saying that it is entirely accidental, and caused by the 
 logs that are washed down by the stream, after the Beavers have 
 nibbled off all the bark. 
 
 That this position is untenable is evident from the acknowl- 
 edged fact that the dam is by no means placed at random in the 
 stream, just where a few logs may have happened to lodge; but is 
 set.exactly where it is wanted, and is made so as to suit the force 
 of the current. In those places where the stream runs slowly, 
 the dam is carried straight across the river, but in those where 
 the water has much power, the barrier is made in a convex shape, 
 so as to resist the force of the rushing water. The poWer of the 
 stream can therefore always be inferred from the shape of the dam 
 which the Beavers have built across it. 
 
 Some of these dams are of very great size, measuring two or 
 three hundred yards in length, and ten or twelve feet in thickness, 
 and their form exactly corresponds with the force|Of the stream, 
 being straight in some parts, and more or less convex in others. 
 
436 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The dam is formed, not by forcing the ends of the logs into the 
 bed of the river, but by laying them horizontally, and covering 
 them with stones and earth until they can resist the force of the 
 water. Vast numbers of logs are thus laid, and as fast as the wa- 
 ter rises, fresh materials are added, being obtained mostly from 
 the trunks and branches of trees which have been stripped of 
 their bark by the Beavers. 
 
 The reader will remember that many persons have thought 
 that the dam of the Beaver is only an accidental agglomeration 
 of loose logs and branches, without any engineering skill on the 
 part of the animals. There is some truth in this statement, 
 though the assertion is too sweeping ; for, after the Beavers have 
 completed their dam, it obstructs the course of the stream so com- 
 pletely that it intercepts all large floating objects, and every log 
 or branch that may happen to be thrown into the river is arrested 
 by the dam, and aids in increasing its dimensions. 
 
 Mud and earth are also continually added by the Beavers, so 
 that in process of time the dam becomes as firm as the land 
 through which the river passes, and is covered with fertile allu- 
 vium. Seeds soon make their way to the congenial soil, and in 
 a dam of long standing forest trees have been known to grow, 
 their roots adding to the general stability by binding together the 
 materials. It is well known that the fertile islands formed on 
 coral reefs are stocked in a similar manner. Originally the dam 
 is seldom more than a yard in width where it overtops the water, 
 but these unintentional additions cause 0, continual increase. 
 
 The bark with which the logs were originally covered is not 
 all eaten by the animals, but stripped away, and the greater part 
 hidden under water, to serve for food in the winter time. A 
 farther winter provision is also made by taking the smaller 
 branches, diving with them to the foundations of the dam, and 
 carefully fastening them among the logs. When the Beavers are 
 hungry, they dive to their hidden stores, pull out a few branches, 
 carry them on larid, nibble away the bark, and drop the stripped 
 logs on the water, where they are soon absorbed by the dam. 
 
 We have now seen how the Beavers keep the water to the re- 
 quired level, and we must next see how they make use of it. The 
 Beaver is essentially an aquatic mammal, never walking when it 
 can swim, and seldom appearing quite at its ease upon dry land. 
 It therefore n»akes its houses close to the water, and communi- 
 cating with it by means of subterranean passages, one entrance of 
 
THE BEAVER. 437 
 
 whicli passes into the house or " lodge," as it is technically named, 
 and the other into the water, so far below the surface that it can 
 not be closed by ice. It is, therefore, always possible for the 
 Beaver to gain access to the provision stores and to return to its 
 house without being seen from the land. 
 
 The lodges are nearly circular in form, and much resemble the 
 well-known snow-houses of the Esquimaux, being domed, and 
 about half as high as they are wide, the average height being 
 three feet, and the diameter six or seven feet. These are the in- 
 terior dimensions, the exterior measurement being much greater, 
 on account of the great thickness of the walls, which are continu- 
 ally strengthened with mud and branches, so that, during the se- 
 vere frosts, they are nearly as hard as solid stone. Bach lodge 
 will accommodate several inhabitants, whose beds are arranged 
 round the walls. 
 
 All these precautions are, however, useless against the practiced' 
 skill of the trappers. Even in winter time the Beavers are not 
 safe. The hunters strike the ice smartly, and judge by the sound 
 whether they are near an aperture. As soon as they are satis- 
 fied, they cut away the ice and stop up the opening, so that if the 
 Beavers should be alarmed, they can not escape into the water. 
 They then proceed to the shore, and by repeated soundings trace 
 the course of the Beavers' svibterranean passage, which is some- 
 times eight or ten yards in length, and by watching the various 
 apertures are sure to catch the Beavers. This is not a favorite 
 task with the hunters, and is never undertaken as long as they 
 can find any other employment, for the work is very severe, the 
 hardships are great, and the price which they obtain for the skins 
 is now very small. 
 
 While they are thus engaged, they must be very careful not to 
 spill any blood, as, if they do so, the rest of the Beavers take 
 alarm, retreat to the water, and can not be captured. They also 
 have a curious superstitious notion, which leads them to remove 
 a knee-cap from each Beaver and to throw it into the fire. They 
 v/ouid expect ill luck were they to omit this ceremony, which is 
 wonderfully like the custom of our fishermen of spitting into the 
 mouth of the first fish they catch, and the first money which they 
 take in the day, " for luck." 
 
 Generally, the Beavers desert their huts in the summer time, 
 although one or two of the houses may be occupied by a mother 
 and her young offspring. All the old Beavers who have no do- 
 
438 HOMES -WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 mestic ties to chain them at home take to the water, and swim up 
 and down the stream at liberty until the month of August, when 
 they return to their homes. There are also certain individuals, 
 called by the trappers " les paresseux," or idlers, which do not 
 live in houses, and make no dam, but abide in subterranean tun- 
 nels like those of our common water rat, to which they are close- 
 ly allied. These "paresseux" are always males, and it some- 
 times happens that seversil will inhabit the same tunnel. The 
 trapper is always pleased when he finds the habitation of an idler, 
 as its capture is a comparatively easy task. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 SOCIAL BIRDS. 
 
 The Sociable Weaver Bird and its Country. — Description of the Bird. — Nest of 
 the Sociable Weaver. — How begun and how carried on. — Materials of the Nest. 
 — The Tree on which the Nest is built, and its Uses. — Dimensions of the Nest and 
 disastrous Consequences. — A Hottentot and a JAOa. — Supposed Object of the So- 
 cial Nest. — Average Number of Inhabitants. — Analogy with Dyak Houses. — En- 
 emies of the Sociable Weaver, the Monkey, the Snake, and the Parrakeet. 
 
 We now come to the Social Bieds, one of which is as pre- 
 eminent among the feathered tribes as is the beaver among mam- 
 malia. This is the Sociable Weaver Bird, sometimes called 
 the Sociable Grosbeak {Philetcerus socius). 
 
 This species is allied to the Weaver Birds, some of which have 
 already been described, and makes a 'nest which is no whit infe- 
 rior to those which have already been mentioned. The Sociable 
 Weaver Bird is a native of Southern Africa, and in some places 
 is very plentiful, its presence depending much upon the trees 
 which clothe the country. It is not a large bird, measuring about 
 five inches in length, and is very inconspicuous, its color being 
 pale buff, mottled on the back with deep brown. 
 
 The chief interest about the species is concentrated in its nest, 
 which is a wonderful specimen of bird architecture, and attracts 
 the attention of the most unobservant traveler. Few persons ex- 
 pect to see in a tree a nest which is large enough to shelter five 
 or six men, and yet that is often the case with the nest of the 
 Sociable Weaver Bird. Of course so enormous a structure is not 
 the work of a single pair, but, like the dam of the beaver, is 
 made by the united efforts of the community. How it is made 
 will now be described. 
 
THE SOCIABLE WEAVER BiRD. 
 
 439 
 
 Sociable Weaver Bird. 
 
 Large as is the domicile, and capable at last of containing a 
 vast number of parents and young, it is originally the work of a 
 single pair, and attains its enormous dimensions by the labors of 
 those birds which choose to associate in common. The first task 
 of this Weaver Bird is to procure a large quantity of the herb 
 which really seems as if made expressly for the purpose. This 
 is a grass with a very large, very tough, and very wiry blade, 
 which is known to the colonists as Booschmannie grass, probably 
 because it grows plentifully in that part of Southern Africa where 
 the Bushmen, or Bosjesmans live. 
 
 They carry this grass to some suitable tree, which is usually a 
 species of acacia, called by the Dutch colonists Kameel-dorn {Aca- 
 cia giraffa), because the giraffe, which the Dutch persist in calling 
 a kameel or camel, is fond of grazing on the leaves. This is a 
 most appropriate tree for the purpose, as the wood is extremely 
 
440 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 hard and tough, and the branches are therefore able to bear the 
 great weight of the nests. This tree is used in Southern Africa 
 for many purposes wherein hardness and endurance are required, 
 such as the axle-trees of the wooden wagons, which have to with- 
 stand such rough usage, the upright timbers of houses, and the 
 handles of tools, especially those which are intended for agricul- 
 tural purposes. 
 
 The birds then hang the Booschmannie grass over a suitable 
 branch, and by means of weaving and plaiting it, they form a 
 roof of some little size. Under this roof are placed a quantity 
 of nests, increasing in number with each successive brood. The 
 nests are set closely together, so that at last they look like a mass 
 of grass pierced with numerous holes, and it is really wondei;'ful 
 that the birds should be able to find their way to their, own par- 
 ticular homes. To human eyes, the nests are as much alike as 
 the houses in a modern street, before the blinds, the flowers, and 
 other additions have communicated an individuality to each 
 dwelling ; but, notwithstanding this similarity, the inmates glide 
 in and out without any hesitation. ^ 
 
 Although the same nest-mass is occupied for several successive 
 seasons, the birds refuse to build in the same nests a second time, 
 preferring to make a fresh domicile for each new brood. In con- 
 sequence of this custom, when the birds have entirely filled the 
 roofs with their nests, they do not desert it, but enlarge the roof, 
 and build a second row of nests, just like the combs of a wasp's 
 or hornet's habitation. 
 
 , Layer after layer is thus added, until tlje mass becomes of so 
 enormous a size that travelers have mistaken these nests for the 
 houses of human beings, and been grievously disappointed when 
 they came near enough to detect their real character. There is 
 a story of a Hottentot and a lion, which will give an idea of the 
 dimensions of these nests. A Hottentot, who was engaged in 
 some task, was suddenly surprised by a lion, and instinctively 
 made for the nearest tree, which happened to be a kameel-dorn. 
 Up the tree he sprang, and finding one of the branches occupied 
 by the nest of the 'Sociable Weaver Bird, he took refuge behind 
 the grassy mass, and was thus concealed from the pursuer. 
 
 The lion, in the mean time, arrived at the foot of the tree, but 
 could not see his intended prey. The unlucky Hottentot, how- 
 ever, peeped over the nest in order to see whether the coast was 
 clear, and was spied by the lion, who made a dash at the tree. 
 
THE SOCIABLE WEAVER BIRD. 441 
 
 The man shrank back behind the' nest, but his imprudent move- 
 ment brought its own punishment. 
 
 Knowing that the ascent of the tree was impossible, and at the 
 same time unwilling to leave its prey, the lion sat down at the 
 foot of the tree, and kept watch upon the man. Hour after hour 
 the lion mounted guard over its prisoner, until thirst overpow- 
 ered hunger, and the animal was forced reluctantly to quit its post, 
 and seek for water. The man then scrambled down the tree, and 
 made the best of his way homeward, little the worse for his im- 
 prisonment except the fright, and a skin scorched by long expo- 
 sure to the sun. The artist has introduced this little episode into 
 the illustration, because it enables the reader to judge of the enor- 
 mous size of the nest. 
 
 Season after season the Weaver Birds continue to add their 
 nests, until at last the branch is unable to endure the weight, and 
 comes crashing to the ground. This accident does not often oc- 
 cur during the breeding months, but mostly takes place during 
 the rainy season, the dried grass absorbing so much moisture 
 that the weight becomes too great for the branch to bear. 
 
 The nest group which is shown in the illustration is of medium 
 size, as can be ascertained by its shape. In its early state, the 
 nest-mass is comparatively long and narrow, spreading out by 
 degrees as the number of nests increases, so that at last it is as 
 wide and as shallow as an extended umbrella. The dimensions 
 of some of these structures may be gathered from the fact 'that 
 Le Yaillant counted in one unfinished edifice, besides the desert- 
 ed nests of previous seasons, no less than three hundred and 
 twenty nests, each of which was occupied by a pair of birds en- 
 gaged in bringing up a brood of young, four or five in number. 
 
 Those who are acquainted with Borneo and the customs of its 
 inhabitants can not fail to perceive the analogy between these so- 
 cial nests of the Weaver Bird and the " long houses" of the Dyaks, 
 each of which houses is in fact one entire village, sheltering a 
 whole community under a single roof. 
 
 The Weaver Birds have but few enemies. First, there are the 
 snakes, which are such determined robbers of nests, swallowing 
 both eggs and young ; and then there are the monkeys, which 
 are capable of sad depredations whenever they can find an op- 
 portunity. Monkeys are extremely fond of eggs, and there is 
 scarcely a better bribe to a monkey, ape, or baboon, than a fresh 
 raw egg. The bird which laid it is almost as great a dainty, and 
 
442 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 a monkey seems to be in the height of enjoyment if a newly- 
 killed bird be put into its paws. It always begins by eating the 
 brain, and then tears the carcass to pieces with great deliberation. 
 A mouse is quite as much appreciated as a bird, provided that it 
 has been recently killed, and that the blood has not congealed. 
 
 However, the structure of the nest forms an insurmountable 
 barrier to the snake, and the monkey can only reach a few of the 
 cells which are near the edge. The worst enemies are certain 
 little parrakeets, which are delighted to be able to procure nests 
 without the trouble of building them, and which are apt to take 
 possession of the cells and oust the rightful owners. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 SOCIAL INSECTS. 
 
 Arrangement of Groups. — Nests of Poltbia. — Curious Methpd of Enlargement. — 
 Structure of the Nests. — How concealed. — Various Modes of Attachrnent. — A cu- 
 rious Specimen. — The Hive-bee, and its claims to Notice. — General Histpry of 
 the Hive. — Form of the Cells. — The royal Cell, its Structure and Use. — Uses of 
 the ordinary Cells. — Structure of the Bee-cell. — Economy of Space. — How pro- 
 duced. — Theories of different Mathematicians. — Measurement of Angles. — A log- 
 arithmic Table corrected by the Bee-cell. — The "Lozenge" a key to the Cell. — 
 How to form it. — Beautiful mathematic Proportions of the Lozenge. — Method of 
 Making the Cell or a Model. — Conjectured Analogy between the Cell and certain 
 Crystals. — Effect of the Cell upon Honey. — ^The Hoknet and its Nest. — Its fa- 
 vorite Localities. — Difficulties of taking a Homefs Nest. — Habits of the Insect.-:— 
 Mr. Stone's Method of taking the Nest. — The Stnosca and its Habitation. — ^Beau- 
 tiful Nests in the British Museum. — Description of the Insect. — Nest of the Etr- 
 CHEiRA. — Its external Form. — Curious Discovery in Dissection. — A suspended 
 Colony. — Conjectures respecting the Structure. — Nest from the Oxford Museum. 
 — Remarkable Form of its Doors, and Material of which it is made. — The Small 
 Ermine Moth and its Eavages. — Its large social Habitation. — General Habits of 
 the Larva. — Why the Sparrow does not eat them. — ^The Gold-tailed Moth and 
 its beautiful social Nest. — Description of a Specimen from Wiltshire. — Illustration 
 of theTheoiy of Heat. — The Beown-tailed Moth and its Nest. — Social Habita- 
 tions of the Peach and Small Toktoise-shell BuTTEErnES. 
 
 After the Social Birds come the Social Insects, to which the 
 following chapter is dedicated. 
 
 The reader will prqbably have noticed that several insects, es- 
 pecially those of the hymenopterous order, seem to have been 
 omitted in previous chapters, although they might fairly claim ad- 
 mission into the ranks of Builders, Pensiles, Burrowers, and Sub- 
 aquatics. The fact is, that some of them unite the characteristics 
 
POLYBIA. 
 
 443 
 
 of several groups, and may therefore be placed in either of them. 
 For example, the South American wasp, which makes the nest 
 called popularly the " Dutchman's pipe," may be ranked either as 
 a builder, a pensile, or a social insect. In such cases, therefore, I 
 have endeavored to select that characteristic which seems to be 
 marked most strongly, and have arranged the insects accordingly. 
 Just as the hymenoptera are chief among the pensiles and the 
 builders, so are they chief among the Social Insects, and the spe- 
 cies which may be placed in this group are so numerous, that it 
 will only be possible to make a selection of a few, which seem 
 more interesting than the others. 
 
 Polybia. 
 
 In the British Museum there are some very remarkable nests 
 made by hymenopterous insects belonging to the genus Polybia, 
 several of which are drawn in the accompanying.illustration. As 
 
444 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 it was desirable to include more than one specimen, the figures 
 are necessarily much reduced in size. Neither the nests nor the 
 insects, however, are of large dimensions, and the former are so 
 sombre in color as well as small in size that they would not of 
 themselves attract any attention. Their nests, however, are ex- 
 tremely interesting, as may be seen from the examples which are 
 figured in the illustration. 
 
 ' On the left hand may be seen a nearly spherical nest, which is 
 evidently hollow, and has cells both on the outside and within the 
 cover. These cells are not placed vertically, with their mouths 
 downward, like those of the wasp and hornet, nor horizontally 
 like those of the bee, but are set with their mouths radiating from 
 the centre of the nest. Moreover, there is another curious cir- 
 cumstance connected with the nest. If it were to be opened, it 
 would be seen to be composed of several concentric layers, very 
 much like those ivory puzzle-balls which the Chinese make so 
 beautifully. 
 
 The method by which the nest is formed is very simple, though 
 not one that is usually seen among the hymenoptera. The layers 
 of combs are made like hollow spheres, the mouths of the cells 
 being outward, and, as soon as a layer is completed, the insects 
 protect it from the weather by a cover of the same material as is 
 used for the construction of the cells. When they require to 
 make a fresh layer of cells, they do not enlarge the cover, as is 
 the case with the wasp and hornet, but place the new cells upon 
 the surface of the cover, and make a fresh cover as soon as the 
 comb is completed. Thus the nest increases by the addition of 
 concentric layers, composed alternately of comb and cover. 
 
 In the nest which is in the British Museum, the insects have 
 commenced several patches of comb on the outside of the cover, 
 and one such patch is shown in the illustration. 
 
 On the right of the. globular nest is another curious structure, 
 also made by insects of the same genus, and having a kind of sim- 
 ilarity in its aspect. This nest, however, is very much longer in 
 proportion to its width, and being fixed throughout its length to 
 a leaf, is not so plainly visible as the last mentioned specimen. 
 Indeed, when the leaf has withered, as is the case with the object 
 from which the drawing was made, the dull brown of the nest co- 
 incides so completely with the color of the faded leaf that many 
 persons would overlook it unless their attention were specially 
 drawn toward it. 
 
THE HIVE-BEE. 445 
 
 On the extreme right of the illustration, and in the upper cor- 
 ner, \3 seen a nest which is also the work of insects belonging to 
 the genus Polybia, and it is pendent from a bough, like the habi- 
 tation of the Chartergus and other pensile hymenoptera. 
 
 In the same collection there are many more specimens of social 
 nests formed by insects belonging to this genus, two cases being 
 quite filled with them. One is attached to the bark of a tree, and 
 resembles it so closely that it seems to be made of the same sub- 
 stance, this similarity of aspect being evidently intended as a pre- 
 servative against the attacks of birds and other insect-loving creat- 
 ures, which would break up the nest, and eat the immature and 
 tender grubs. Most of the nests are fixed to leaves, and are dif- 
 ferent forms, according to the species which made them. They 
 are mostly fixed to the under sides of the leaf, so that the weight 
 causes the leaf to bend and to form a natural roof above them. 
 The shape of the nest seems to depend much on the character of 
 the plant to which it is fixed. Those that are fastened to reeds 
 are long and slender, and generally much narrower than the 
 sword-shaped leaf on which they rest. Others, which are fasten- 
 ed to short and broad leaves, adapt themselves so closely to the 
 shape of the leaf, that, if removed, they would enable any one to 
 conjecture the form of the leaf upon which they had been fixed. 
 
 One such nest is very remarkable. In general form it bears a 
 singular resemblance to the nest of the fairy martin, which is 
 figured at page 330, though its materials are entirely different. 
 The nest is flask-shaped, and its base is fastened to a leaf which 
 it almost covers. The body of the nest is oval, and the entrance, 
 which is small, is placed at the end of a well-marked neck. The 
 shell of the nest is extremely thin, not in the least like the loose, 
 papery structure of an ordinary wasp-nest, nor the pasteboard -like 
 material which defends the nest of the Chartergus. It is rather 
 fragile, and in thickness is almost double .that of the paper on 
 which this account is printed. 
 
 The name of the species which builds this curious nest is Po- 
 lyhia sedula, and the specimen was brought from Brazil. 
 
 Fob the reasons which have been given at the beginning of 
 this chapter, the HiVE-BEE has been reckoned among the Social 
 Insects. 
 
 The Bee has always been one of the most interesting insects to 
 mankind on account of the direct benefit which it confers upon 
 
UQ 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 the human race. There are many other insects which are in re- 
 ality quite as useful to us, and, indeed, are indispensable, but which 
 we neglect because we are ignorant of their labors. The Bee, 
 however, furnishes two powerful and tangible arguments in its 
 favor, namely, honey and wax, and is sure, therefore, to enlist our 
 sympathies in its behalf. 
 
 Independently, however, of theSe claims to our notice, if the 
 Bee never made an ounce of honey — if the wax were as useless 
 to us as a wasp-comb — if the insect were a mere stinging creature, 
 wJth a tetchy temper, it would still deserve our admiration, on 
 account of the wonderful manner in which it constructs its social 
 home, and the method by which that home is regulated. 
 
 Ill niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 
 
 Bee-hive. 
 
 The accompanying illustration shows the lower part of the in- 
 terior of a hive, which is supposed to be viewed through a plate 
 
THE HIVE-BEE. 447 
 
 of glass set in the back. When the hive is in full operation, the 
 combs are so crowded with Bees that their structure can hardly 
 be seen ; but in the illustration the Bees are supposed to have 
 gone away, with the exception of one individual. 
 
 I need not, in this place, repeat the well-known facts respect- 
 ing the constitution of the Bees, nor describe the duties of the 
 Queen, Drone, and Worker Bees. Suffice it to say that the for- 
 mer is the mother as well as the queen of the hive ; that the 
 workers are undeveloped females, which are properly called neu- 
 ters ; and that the drones are males, which do no work, and have 
 no stings. 
 
 In the illustration, the Queen Bee is seen walking over the 
 combs, and in this position she exhibits the peculiarities of form 
 which distinguish her from her subjects, and which enables an 
 experienced eye to detect her at once amid a crowd of workers. 
 In the Queen Bee, the abdomen is long in proportion to its width, 
 and the wings slightly cross each other when closed, the latter 
 being a very conspicuous badge of sovereignty. The drones are 
 easily distinguished by their generally larger size, their larger 
 eyes, and the wide, blunt, and rounded abdomen. 
 
 The lower part of the comb, in the foreground, is formed of 
 cells which are closed at their mouth, and which do not show the 
 hexagonal shape as well as those which are yet iempty. Some 
 of the empty cells are shown ajsove, and the Queen Bee is repre- 
 sented as making her way toward them. 
 
 There are three kinds of cell in a hive, namely, the worker 
 cell, the drone cell, and the royal cell. Of these, the two former 
 are hexagonal, but can easily be distinguished by the greater size 
 of the drone cell ; while the royal cell is totally unlike the nurs- 
 ery of a subject, whether drone or worker, and is almost always 
 placed on the edge of a comb. One of these cells is shown in 
 the illustration, and may be seen on the edge of the comb in the 
 foreground. It is very much larger than an ordinary cell, and is 
 built with a lavish expenditure of wax that affords a curious con- 
 trast with the rigid economy observed in the structure of the 
 other cells. The difference of size between the worker and the 
 drone cells is shown in the central comb, where the worker cells 
 are seen below, and the drone cells above. 
 
 The little grub which is placed in the royal cell is not fed with 
 the same food which is supplied to the other Bees, but lives upon 
 an entirely different diet, and which is, apparently, of a more 
 
448 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Stimulating character; and it is now well known that if a young 
 grub which has been hatched in one of the worker cells be re- 
 moved into the royal cell, and supplied with royal food, it be- 
 comes developed into a queen, and, in time, is qualified to rule 
 and populate a hive. This remarkable provision of nature is in- 
 tended to meet a difficulty which sometimes occurs when the 
 reigning queen dies, and there is no royal larva in the cell. 
 
 Although the primary object of the bee-cell is to serve as a 
 store-house and a nursery, it is also made to answer other pur- 
 poses. When the Bee seeks repose, it almost invariably creeps 
 into a cell, and buries itself deep therein, the whole head, thorax, 
 and part of the abdomen being hidden. If a hive be examined 
 in the winter time, every cell that happens to be empty will be 
 tenanted by a Bee ; and when the poor insects are put to death 
 by the absurd and cruel plan of smothering them with the fumes 
 of burning sulphur, they will be found to have vainly sought es- 
 cape from the suffocating vapor by forcing themselves into the 
 recesses of the empty cells. 
 
 As a general fact, the Bees place the honey in the coolest part 
 of the hive, and the young brood in the warmest, so that' bee- 
 keepers are enabled to procure honeycomb of wonderful purity 
 by affixing glass or wooden caps to their hives. These caps are 
 necessarily cooler than the body of the hive, and therein the Bees 
 will store large quantities of honey. 
 
 The chief point which distinguishes the comb of the Hive-bee 
 from that of other insects is the manner in which the cells are 
 arranged in a double series. The combs of the wasp or the hor- 
 net are single, and are arranged horizontally, so that their cells 
 are vertical, with the mouths downward and the bases upward, 
 the united bases forming a floor on which the nurse wasps can 
 walk while feeding the young inclosed in the row of cells imme- 
 diately above them. 
 
 Such, however, is not the case with the Hive-bee. As every 
 one knows who has seen a bee-comb,-the cells are laid nearly 
 horizontally, and in a double series, just as if a couple of thim- 
 bles were laid on the table with the points touching each other 
 and their mouths pointing in opposite directions. Increase the 
 number of thimbles, and there will be a tolerable imitation of a 
 bee-comb. 
 
 There is another point which must now be' examined. If the 
 bases of the cells were to be rounded like those of the thimbles, 
 
THE HIVE-BEE. 449 
 
 it is clear that they would have but little adhesion to each other, 
 and that a large amount of space would be wasted. The simplest 
 plan of obviating these defects is evidently to square off the 
 rounded bases, and to fill up the ends of each cell with a hexag- 
 onal flat plate, which is actually done by the wasp. If, however, 
 we look at a piece of bee-comb, we shall find that no such ar- 
 rangement is employed, but that the bottom of each cell is formed 
 into a kind of three-sided cup. Now, if we break away the walls 
 of the cell so as only to leave the bases, we shall see that each cup 
 consists of three lozenge-shaped plates of wax, all the lozenges 
 being exactly alike. 
 
 These lozenge-shaped plates contain the key to the bee-cell, 
 and their properties will therefore be explained at length. Be- 
 fore doing so, I must acknowledge my thanks to the Eev. Walter 
 Mitchell, Vicar and Hospitaler of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, 
 who has long exercised his well-known mathematical powers on 
 this subject, and fias kindly supplied me with the outline of the 
 present history. 
 
 If a single cell be isolated, it will be seen that the sides rise 
 from the outer edges of the three lozenges above mentioned, so 
 that there are, of course, six sides, the transverse section of which 
 gives a perfect hexagon. Many years ago, Maraldi, being struck 
 with the fact that the lozenge-shaped plates always had the same 
 angles, took the trouble to measure them, and found that in each 
 lozenge the large angles measured 109° 28', and the smaller 70° 
 32', the two together making 180°, the equivalent of two right 
 angles. He also noted the fact that the apex of the three-sided 
 cup was formed by the union of three of the greater angles. The 
 three united lozenges are seen at Fig. 1. 
 
 Some time afterward, Eeaumur, thinking that this remarkable 
 uniformity of angle might have some connection with the won- 
 ; derful economy of space which is observable in the bee-comb, hit 
 upon a very ingenious plan. Without mentioning his reasons 
 for the question, he asked Kcenig, the mathematician, to make the 
 following calculation. Given a hexagonal vessel terminated by 
 three lozenge-shaped plates; what are the angles which would 
 give the greatest amount of space with the least amount of ma- 
 terial ? 
 
 Kcenig made his calculations, and found that the angles were 
 109° 26' and 70° 34', almost precisely agreeing with the meas- 
 urements of Maraldi. The reader is requested to remember these 
 
 Fr 
 
450 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 angles. Edaumur, on receiving the answer, concluded that the 
 Bee had very nearly solved the difficult mathematical problem, 
 the difference between the measurement and the calculation being 
 so small as to be practically negatived in the actual construction 
 of so small an object as the bee-cell. 
 
 Mathematicians were naturally 'delighted with the result of 
 the investigation, for it showed how beautifully practical science 
 could be aided by theoretical knowledge, and the construction of 
 the bee-cell became a famous problem in the economy of nature. 
 In comparison with the honey which the cell is intended to' con- 
 tain, the wax is a rare and costly substance, secreted in very 
 small quantities, and requiring much time for its production ; it 
 is therefore essential that the quantity of wax employed in mak- 
 ing the comb should be as little, and that of the honey contained 
 in it as great, as possible. 
 
 For a long time these statements remained uncontroverted. 
 
THE HIVE-BEE. 451 
 
 Any one with the proper instruments aould measure the angles 
 for himself, and the calculations of a mathematician like Koenig 
 would hardly be questioned. However, Maclaurin, the well- 
 known Scotch mathematician, was not satisfied. The two re- 
 sults very nearly tallied with each other, but not quite, and he 
 felt that in a mathematical question precision was a necessity. 
 So he tried the whole question himself, and found Maraldi's 
 measurement correct, namely, 109° 28', and 70° 32'. 
 
 He then set to work at the problem which was worked out by 
 Koenig, and found that the true theoretical angles were 109° 28', 
 and 70° 32', precisely corresponding with the actual measurement 
 of the bee-cell. 
 
 Another question now arose. How did this discrepancy oc- 
 cur ? How could so excellent a mathematician as Koenig make 
 so grave a mistake ? On investigation, it was found that no 
 blame attached to Koenig, but that the error lay in the book of 
 logarithms which he used. Thus a mistake in a mathematical 
 work was accidentally discovered by measuring the angles of a 
 bee-cell — a mistake sufficiently great to have caused the loss of a ship 
 whose captain happened to use a copy of the same logarithmic tables 
 for calculating his longitude. 
 
 Now let us see how this beautiful lozenge is made. . There is 
 not the least difficulty in drawing it. Make any square, ABCD 
 (Fig. 3), and draw the diagonal AC. 
 
 Produce BA toward F and AD, both ways to any distance. 
 
 Make AE and AG equal to AC, and make AF equal to AB. 
 Join the points EFGrB, and you have the required figure. 
 
 Now comes a beautiful point. If we take AB as 1, being one 
 side of the square on which the lozenge is founded, AE and AG 
 will be equal to V2, and EF, FG, GB, and BE, will be equal to 
 ■y/S, as can be seen at a glance by any one who has advanced as 
 far as the 47th proposition of the first book of Euclid. 
 
 Perhaps some of my readers may say that all these figures may 
 be very true, but that they do not show how the cell is formed. 
 If the reader will refer to Fig. 4, he will see how the theory maj'^ 
 be reduced to practice. After he has drawn the lozenge-shaped 
 figure which has just been described, let him draw upon card- 
 board nine of them, as is shown in the illustration (Fig. 4). Then 
 let him cut out the figure, and draw his penknife half through 
 the cardboard at all the lines of junction. He will then find that 
 the cardboard will fold into an exact model of a bee-cell, the three 
 
452 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 lozenges which project from the sides forming the base, and the 
 others the sides. This cell will, of course, have very short sides ; 
 but by the simple expedient of widening the lozenges which form 
 the sides without altering the angles, the imitation cell can be 
 made of any desired length. 
 
 nci. 
 
 The best way of showing this beautiful structure is to make 
 two models, one to lie flat or be folded and opened at discretion, 
 and the other formed into a cell, and the angles written upon the 
 cardboard. A little gummed paper will hold the sides together, 
 so that the model can be handled without breaking. A very 
 amusing puzzle may be formed by cutting out the nine lozenge- 
 shaped pieces of cardboard, and by requesting that they be so put 
 together as to form the model of a bee-cell. 
 
 We have not yet exhausted the wonders of the bee-comb. 
 
 If we take a piece of comb from which all the cells have been 
 removed and hold it up to the light, we shall see that the cells 
 are not placed opposite each other, but that the three lozenges 
 which form the base of one cell form part of the base of three 
 other cells, as is seen in Fig. 2. Thus a still farther economy of 
 material is attained, while the strength is enormously increased, 
 each of the edges formed by the junction of two lozenges making 
 a buttress which performs precisely the same office as the but- 
 tresses of architecture. 
 
THE HIVE-BEE. 45S 
 
 The same principle is observable throughout the cell, which 
 even at its edges is supported by three cdls, and gives partial 
 support to three others. As the walls of the cells are extremely 
 thin, the Bee always strengthens their mouths by a thick edging 
 of harder wax than that with which the cell itself is made. The 
 engineer who plans girders, boilers, and other objects of a simi- 
 lar character, acts in precisely the same manner, and strengthens 
 the comparatively thin and yielding plates by flanges or angle- 
 irons. 
 
 Many inquirers have asked themselves how the Bee constructs 
 the comb, and on what principle it proceeds. To this question 
 there have been several answers, none of which appear to be sat- 
 isfactory. One ingenious entomologist remarked that, when the 
 Bee placed the claws of its fore feet against each other, the limbs 
 embraced a hexagonal space, of which the thorax formed one side. 
 Another, a very popular solution of the question, is that which 
 may be called the "sculpture" theory. 
 
 The Bee that commences the task is supposed to work a lump 
 of wax on the stick or bar which supports a comb, and then to 
 excavate a circular hole on one side, the interior of the hole be- 
 ing shaped like a concave lens. Eound this hole or basin the 
 Bee then excavates six other holes of equal diameter, so that 
 their edges nearly touch each other. It then cuts away the wax 
 from each basin until the material is reduced to the requisite 
 thinness, and thus obtains the hexagonal cell. In the mean time, 
 another Bee is working in the same manner on the opposite side 
 of the wax, taking care, however, to make the centre of its first 
 basin correspond with the union of three basins on the opposite 
 side. A similar system of sculpturing is carried on, so that at 
 last a series of hexagonal basins is formed, from which rise the 
 walls of the future cells. 
 
 There is an amount of plausibility about this theory which is 
 very attractive. It must, however, be remembered that the Bee 
 is still supposed to execute problems which are as difficult as that 
 which they are presumed to explain. 
 
 In the first place, the Bee must strike perfect circles from cen- 
 tres the distance of which from each other must be accurately ad- 
 justed. Again, these centres must be so placed that the centre 
 of the circle sculptured on one side of the comb paust be equidis- 
 tant from the centres of the three adjacent circles on the other 
 side — a problem of no easy accomplishment, even with the aid 
 
454 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 of rule and compass. Then, if the circles be not perfect, or their 
 centres wrongly placed, or the hollow of one cut deeper than that 
 ot another, or the hemispherical form of the hollow not precisely 
 just, the whole accuracy of the angles is destroyed, and the en- 
 tire comb would be as distorted as the first essays of a young 
 carpenter. 
 
 Then there is another explanation, which may be called the 
 "equal pressure" theory. The Bee is, according to the advocates 
 of this theory, supposed to construct all the cells of a cylindrical 
 shape, and the cells are supposed to assume the hexagonal form 
 by equal pressure in all directions. Every one knows that cylin- 
 ders made of a yielding substance always become hexagonal if 
 pressed together, and a similar process was supposed to cause the 
 hexagonal shape of the bee-cell. 
 
 There is another theory, which I believe to be entirely original, 
 which is suggested by the well-known mathematician and crystal- 
 lographer above mentioned. Mr. Mitchell writes to me as follows : 
 " It may not be out of place to remark that the bee-cell forms a 
 mould, as it were, of the natural form of a crystal. There ip in 
 nature a great variety of crystals, hexagonal prisms terminated 
 by three planes, like the bee-cell. These have many different 
 angles. But there is one form, called the rhombic dodecahedron 
 (Fig. 6), very frequently found in natural crystals of the garnet, 
 which has precisely the same angles as the bee-cell. 
 
 " Certain crystals split naturally into planes precisely like the 
 lozenges which have already been described in giving the key to 
 the structure of the bee-cell. May it not, therefore, be possible 
 that wax, which is a crystalline substance, cleaves in this particu- 
 lar direction, and does the Bee use this property in forming its 
 cell ? Though this vague conjecture should prove to be true, we 
 shall not less admire the marvelous instinct which combines this 
 fact with the structure of the cell." 
 
 It would, of course, be easy to fill many pages with the account 
 of the Hive-bee and its habits; but as this work is restricted to 
 the habitations of animals, we can only look upon the Bee as a 
 maker of social habitations. It will, however, be necessary to 
 mention the material of which the comb is made. 
 
 The other hymenoptera, obtain their materials from external 
 sources. The hornet and wasp have recourse to trees and branch- 
 es, arid bear home in their mouths the bundles of woody fibres 
 which they have gnawed away. The upholsterer and leaf-cutter 
 
THE HIVE-BEE. 455 
 
 Bees are indebted to the petals and leaves of various plants, and 
 various wood-boring insects make their homes of the woody par- 
 ticles which they have nibbled away. The Bee, however, obtains 
 her wax in a very different manner. 
 
 If the body of a worker Bee be carefully examined, on the 
 under sides of the abdomen will be seen six little flaps, not unlike 
 pockets, the covers of which can be easily raised with a pin or 
 needle. Under these flaps is secreted the wax, which is pro- 
 duced in tiny scales or plates, and may be seen projecting from 
 the flaps like little semilunar white lines. Plenty of food, quiet, 
 and warmth are necessary for the production of wax, and as it is 
 secreted very slowly, it is so valuable that the greatest economy 
 is needed in its use. It is, indeed, a wonderful substance ; soft 
 enough, when warm, to be kneaded and to be spread like mortar, 
 and hard enough, when cold, to bear the weight of brood and 
 honey. Moreover, it is of ii texture so close that the honey can 
 not soak through the delicate walls of the cells, as would soon be 
 the case if the comb were made of woody fibre, like that of the 
 hornet or wasp. 
 
 Indeed, it is a most remarkable fact that the Bee should be able 
 to produce not only the honey, but the material with which is 
 formed the treasury wherein the honey is stored. Honey itself 
 is again scarcely less remarkable than wax. The Bee goes to 
 certain flowers, inserts its hair-clad proboscis into their recesses, 
 sweeps out the sweet juice, passes the laden proboscis through its 
 jaws, scrapes off the liquid, and swallows it. The juice then 
 passes into a little receptacle just within the abdomen, called the 
 "honey -bag," which is apparently composed of an exceedingly 
 delicate membrane, and seems to discharge no other of&ce than 
 that of a vessel in which the juice can be kept while the Bee is at 
 work. >:' 
 
 As soon as the honey-bag is filled, the Bee flies back to the 
 hive and disgorges the juice into one of the cells. But, during 
 that short sojourn in the insect, the juice has undergone a change, 
 and been converted into honey, a substance which is quite unlike 
 that from which it was formed, and which has an odor and flavor 
 peculiarly its own. How this change is wrought is at present 
 unknown, for the little bag in which the transformation is made 
 is composed of a membrane that seems incapable of exerting any 
 influence upon the substance contained within it. 
 
 All food that is eaten by the Bee passes through the honey- 
 
456 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 bag, which is closely analogous to the crop of a bird, and it would 
 seem that the honey ought rather to pass into the stomach than 
 be disgorged at the will of the insect. However, it is well known 
 that many birds feed their young by disgorging food, and the Bee 
 is enabled to perform the same operation by means of a little valve 
 which leads from the honey-bag into the stomach, and is plainly 
 perceptible even with the unassisted eye. Under ordinary cir- 
 cumstances, the valve just allows the food to pass gently and grad- 
 ually into the stomach ; but the violent effort which is made in 
 ejecting the food closes the valve, and only allows the honey to 
 flow upward through the mouth. 
 
 The office of the worker and drone cells is twofold — first, to act 
 as nurseries for the insects while passing through their prelimin- 
 ary stages, and, next, to serve as repositories for food, whether 
 liquid or solid. The egg of the queen bee is placed nearly at the 
 bottom of the cell, exactly on the angle where the points of the 
 lozenges meet. It is soon hatched into a little white grub, which 
 is assiduously fed by the nurses, and grows with wonderful rapid- 
 ity. As soon as it has eaten its last larval meal, it spins a silken 
 cover over the cell, and remains there until it has become a per- 
 fect insect It then bites its way out, and after a day or so de- 
 voted to hardening and strengthening its limbs, it leaves the hive 
 and joins in the labors of the community. 
 
 No sooner is the Bee fairly out of its waxen nursery than the 
 workers clear out the cell, and prepare it for the reception of 
 honey. As soon as the cell is filled, the Bees close up the en- 
 trance with a waxen door, which is air-tight, and serves to pre- 
 serve the honey in proper condition. Those who wish to eat 
 honey in its pure state should always purchase it in the comb. 
 If it be stored in pots, however well they may be sealed, it always 
 crystallizes, and in that state is injurious to digestion. Moreover, 
 it is so extensively adulterated that a pot of really pure honey is 
 not readily obtained. 
 
 Besides the honey, "bee-bread" is placed in the cells. This is 
 a compound of honey and the pollen of flowers, and is chiefly 
 used as food for the young grubs. We may often see the Bees 
 hastening home with a load of yellow pollen on each of the hind- 
 er pair of legs, and this pollen is destined to be made into bee- 
 bread. 
 
 Such, then, is a brief outline of the wonderful social habitation 
 which is made by the Hive-bee. 
 
THE HOENET. 457 
 
 We now come to an insect which is as well known by name as 
 the bee, though not so familiar to our eyes. This is the common 
 Hornet {Vespa crabro), which is tolerably plentiful in many parts 
 of England, but seems to be almost absent from others. 
 
 The nest of the Hornet is much like that of the wasp, except, 
 that it is proportionately larger, and is almost invariably built in 
 hollow trees, deserted outhouses, and places of a similar descrip- 
 tion. Whenever the Hornet takes up its residence in an inhabit- 
 ed house, as is sometimes the case, the inmates are sure to be in 
 arms against the insect, and with good reason. The Hornet is 
 much larger than the wasp, and its sting is proportionately ven- 
 omous. It is popularly said that thre? Hornets can kill a man ; 
 and although in such a case the sufferer must previously have 
 been in bad health, the poisonous properties of the Hornet are 
 sufficiently virulent to render such a saying popular. 
 
 Moreover, the Hornet is an irascible insect, and given to assault 
 those whom it fancies are approaching its nest with evil inten- 
 tions. It is not pleasant to be chased by wasps, but to be chased 
 by Hornets is still less agreeable, as I can personally testify. 
 They are so persevering in their attacks that they will follow a 
 man for a wonderfully long distance, and if they be struck away 
 over and over again, they will return to the charge as soon as 
 they recover from the shock. There is a deep ominous menace 
 in their hum, which speaks volumes to those who have some ac- 
 quaintance with the language of insects ; and no one who has 
 once been chased by these insects will willingly run the same 
 risk again. 
 
 Mr. S. Stone, whose interesting letter upon the wasp has al- 
 ready been mentioned, tells me that he has been successful in 
 breeding Hornets as well as wasps, and forcing them to build 
 nests much more beautiful than they would have made if they 
 had been at liberty. 
 
 One nest, when of moderate size, was removed from the head 
 of a tree, and placed in a large glazed box similar to those which 
 have been mentioned in connection with the wasp. Within the 
 . box the Hornets continued their labors, and a most beautiful nest 
 was produced, symmetrical in shape, and variegated with wonder- 
 fully rich colors. "Such a nest as that," writes Mr. Stone, "is 
 not produced by Hornets in a general way. They do not trouble 
 themselves to form much of a covering, especially when a small 
 cavity in the head of a tree is selected, which is often the case. 
 
458 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANBS. 
 
 The walls of the chamber they consider a sufficient protection for 
 the combs. 
 
 "If you expect them to form a substantial covering, the combs 
 must be so placed as to have ample space around them; and if 
 you expect them to fabricate a covering of great beauty, you 
 must select the richest colored woods, and such as form the most 
 striking contrasts, and place them so that the insects shall be in- 
 duced, nay, almost compelled to use them in the construction of 
 their nest. This is exactly what I did with reference to the nest 
 in question." 
 
 Knowing from experience the difficulty of assaulting a Hor- 
 net's nest, I asked Mr. Stone how he performed the .task, and was 
 told that his ghief reliance was placed on chloroform. Approach- 
 ing very cautiously to the nest, he twists some cotton wool round 
 the end of a stick, soaks it in chloroform, and pushes it into the 
 
THE HOENET. 459 
 
 aperture. A mighty buzzing immediately arises, but is soon si- 
 lenced by the chlorofprm, and as soon as this result has happened, 
 mallet, chisel, and saw are at work, until the renewed buzzing tells 
 that the warlike insects are recovering their sebses, and will soon 
 be able to use their formidable weapons. The chloroform is then 
 reapplied until they are quieted, and the tools are again taken up. 
 
 The extrication of a nest from a hollow tree is necessarily a 
 long and tedious process, on account, of the frequent interruptions. 
 Even if the insects did not interfere with the work, the labor of 
 cutting a nest out of a tree is much harder than could be imagined 
 by those who have not tried it. 
 
 Moreover, the habits of Hornets are not quite like those of the 
 wasps. At night all the wasps retire into their nest, and in the 
 dead of night the nest may be approached with perfect safety, the 
 last stragglers having come home. Hornets are apt to continue 
 their work through the greater part of the night, and if the moon 
 be up, they are nearly sure to do so ; therefore the nest-hunters 
 are obliged to detail one of their party as a sentinel, whose sole 
 business it is to watch for the Hornets that come dropping in at 
 intervals, laden with building materials or food, and that would at 
 once dash at the intruders upon their domains. Fortunately, the 
 light from the lanterns seems to blind them, and they can be 
 struck down as they fly to and fro in the glare. 
 
 .The nest that has just been mentioned was rather deeply im- 
 bedded in the tree, and cost no less than six hours of continuous 
 labor, the work of excavation having been begun at eight P.M., 
 and the nest extracted at two A.M. on the following morning. 
 
 In the illustration is seen a portion of a lately -begun nest, much 
 reduced in size, as may be conjectured from the dimensions of the 
 insects that are crawling upon it. As the arrangement of the 
 combs is identical with that of the wasp-nest, the interior is not 
 disclosed. Another reason for showing the exterior of the nest is 
 that the reader might see how the Hornet forms the paper-like 
 coyer, and the manner in which the insects can enter at different 
 parts, instead of having but a single entrance, as is the case with 
 several hymenopterous nests which have been mentioned. 
 
 Isr many parts of Brazil there may be seen the social nests of 
 certain hymenopterous insects, which are very aptly termed Sy- 
 noeca, this name being derived from two Greek words which sig- 
 nify sociality'. 
 
460 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The nests of these insects have some resemblance to those of 
 certain Polybise which have already been described. They are, 
 however, of much greater size, and as they are rather heavy, are 
 affixed to tolerably strong branches. One such nest, which is, 
 now in the British Museum, has been built upon a post, nearly en- 
 circling it above, and sloping off to a rounded^ point, nearly two 
 feet below the highest portion. Another is fixed to a rather 
 stout, straight, and upright branch. The nests are dark brown in 
 color, and as they are fixed to' objects of a similar hue, are very 
 inconspicuous. The insect which makes this nest is nearly as 
 large as the English hornet. 
 
 The walls of the nests made by insects of this genus are very 
 thin and fragile, not unlike those of the structure built by Polyb- 
 ia sedula. In one nest the cover is remarkably elegant, being 
 shaped like the half of a melon cut longitudinally, and moulded 
 into ribs which run transversely across the nest, and have a gen- 
 tle and regular curve. These ribs project about a quarter of an 
 inch, and are nearly half an inch wide, and are as round and reg- 
 ular as if they were produced by cords wound upon the comjjs. 
 
 The insect which made this nest is of a deep steel-blue color, 
 looking nearly black in a dim light. The head is rather large, 
 and the abdomen is rounded and small, being connected with the 
 thorax by a foot-stalk of moderate length. 
 
 The two remarkable nests which are figured in the large illus- 
 tration come from different parts of the world, but, as they are 
 similar in many respects, they are placed close to each other. - 
 
 The long, flask-like nest was brought from Mexico by Owen 
 Eees, Esq., in 1834. Even before it was opened its structure was 
 evidently full of interest. The color is dull white, not unlike 
 parchment, and the .texture of the materials is nearly as hard, stiff, 
 and close as that substance. When placed under the microscope, 
 it is seen to be composed of a vast number of shining threads, 
 crossing and recrossing each other in every direction, and pro- 
 ducing a material like very thin, but stiff felt. 
 
 It was suspended to a branch,, but could not swing in the wind, 
 because a twig descended into the neck and prevented any lateral 
 motion. At the bottom of the nest there is a small and nearly 
 circular aperture, through which the insects are enabled to make 
 their exit and entrance. The length of the nest is about eight 
 inches. 
 
HE8TS OF SOCIAL LEPIDOPTEKA. 
 
CURIOUS NEST. 463 
 
 So much for the exterior. Oa opening the nest, however, a 
 most singular state of things was discovered. A great number 
 of pupse, evidently those of some butterfly, were suspended by 
 their tails to the walls and to the twig which runs down the nest. 
 In this nest^they were about one hundred in number, and they 
 were hung to the whole of the upper part of the nest, but without 
 any particular order. 
 
 On seeing this nest, an entomologist naturally asks how and 
 when the insects made it. That they did not form it of a small 
 size, and then add to its dimensions in order to suit their growth, 
 is evident from the fact that no trace of enlargement can be per- 
 ceived. It is most probable that, as in the case of the procession- 
 ary moth, the caterpillars spin their silken home when they are 
 three parts grown, and, in consequence, have but a short time to 
 spend in it before they pass into the quiescent pupal form. 
 
 It is evident that the insects make their escape from their pen- 
 sile home as soon as they have broken out of the pupal skin, be- 
 cause the aperture is so small that they could not possibly pass 
 through it when their wings were thoroughly expanded and 
 dried. Of what form and color these wings might be Was for a 
 long time a mystery. Mr. Westwood, who first opened a nest, 
 carefully dissected some of the pupse, and by cautiously softening 
 the withered membranes in warm water, succeeded in spreading 
 out the wings sufficiently to learn the general form of the ner- 
 vures and the shape of the " cells," as the spaces between the ner- 
 vures are named. 
 
 Specimens of the perfect insect have now been obtained, and 
 are seen to be butterflies closely resembling in shape the lovely 
 Heliconidse, which are so plentiful in Southern America, but of 
 very simple colors, the general hue being blackish -brown, diver- 
 sified by a broad, but indistinctly marked white band across the 
 wings. Examples of the nest have lately been sent to Vienna, 
 l^ut any one who wishes to see the specimen from which the 
 above sketch arid description were taken may do so by visiting 
 the museum at Oxford, where the perfect butterflies may also be 
 seen. The scientific name of the butterfly is Eucheira socialis. 
 
 On the upper part of the same illustration may be seen a curi- 
 ous object, that looks something like a flattened pincushion fast- 
 ened to the branches. This is the nest of a social insect, and 
 is, I believe, a unique specimen. It was brought from Tropical 
 
464 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Africa by Vernon Wollaston, Esq., and is so remarkable as to 
 deserve a detailed description. 
 
 In length it measures eight inches, and in width five and a 
 half inches, its depth being about three inches. The aspect of 
 the exterior gives but little promise of the exceeding strength of 
 the structure, which is as hard and elastic as the side of a silk 
 hat, rebounding when pressed in precisely the same manner. 
 When cut, this covering is seen to be double, the outer case being 
 very thin, and formed of orange-brown silken threads, and the 
 inner being made of many successive layers of dark-brown silk, 
 so that it looks very like undressed leather. 
 
 The most extraordinary part of the nest, however, is the pro- 
 vision which is made for the exit of the inmates. Set upon dif- 
 ferent parts of the nest are thirteen or fourteen little conical pro- 
 tuberances, which do not project very far from the general sur- 
 face, and are quite inconspicuous. On examination, these prom- 
 inences are seen to be composed of stiff silken threads, which con- 
 verge to a point, precisely like those which guard the entrance 
 of the emperor moth's cocoon, so that any inhabitant can crawl 
 out, but "no enemy can crawl in. 
 
 This nest, like the preceding, may be seen in the museum at 
 .Oxford. 
 
 There is a very pretty, very interesting, and very destructive 
 insect, called by entomologists the Small Ermine Moth ( Ypono- 
 meuta padella), which is very plentiful in this country, and by 
 gardeners is. thought to be much too plentiful. It can easily be 
 recognized by its long narrow wings, the upper pair of which are 
 soft silvery or satiny white, spotted with black, and the lower 
 pair dark brown. The expanse of the spread wings is about 
 three quarters of an inch. 
 
 In its winged and pupal states the insect i.s perfectly harmless, 
 but in its larval condition it becomes a terrible pest. Most cater- 
 pillars wage war singly on the foliage, and though they , do much 
 damage, their ravages are conducted in a desultory manner. The 
 Small Ermines, however, band themselves together in hosts, and 
 march like disciplined armies to the attack, invading a district 
 and completely devastating it before they proceed to another. 
 
 They live in large tents, placed among the branches of some 
 tree, and composed of silken threads, which are loosely crossed 
 and recrossed in various directions. From this centre the cater- 
 
SMALL ERMINE MOTH. 
 
 465 
 
 Small Ermine Moth. 
 
 pillars issue in vast numbers, each individual spinning a strong 
 silken thread as it proceeds, which acts as a guide to the nest, 
 just as the fabled clew led through the intricacies of Eosamond's 
 bower. When once these caterpillars have taken possession of a 
 tree, they are sure to strip it of its leaves as completely as if the 
 foliage had been plucked by hand. It is a very curious sight to 
 watch the systematic manner in which these troublesome insects 
 set about their work, how they send out pioneers which lead the 
 way to new branches, either by crawling up to them or by low- 
 ering themselves to them, by means of their silken life-lines, and 
 how soon they are followed by their ever-hungry companions. 
 
 Perhaps the reader may wonder why the little birds do not eat 
 these caterpillars. When they have nearly stripped the branch 
 they are very -conspicuous, especially as they make their way 
 from bough to bough along their silken bridges. Indeed, a pro- 
 prietor of a garden that was much damaged by this moth did 
 once mention the immunity of the caterpillars as a proof that any 
 tenderness to small birds was misplaced, saying that if the spar- 
 rows were half as insectivorous as I mentioned, they would long 
 ago have eaten all the caterpillars. 
 
 Now, at the first glance, there seemed to be some reason in this 
 remark;, but a short look at one of the damaged trees explained 
 the reason why the sparrows did not eat the caterpillars. The 
 
 Gq 
 
'466 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 birds literally dared not approach the insects; for the silken 
 threads which traversed the branches in all directions were an ef- 
 fectual barrier, striking against the wings and terrifying the poor 
 birds. We all know that a few threads of fine cotton passed 
 from bough to bough of a gooseberry-bush will deter any little 
 bird from settling on it, and, in the same manner, the silken 
 threads of the caterpillars deter the birds from settling on the 
 branches. These threads are very elastic, and of marvelous 
 strength considering their tenacity, producing most uncomforta- 
 ble sensations when they come across the face, and being nearly 
 as strong as the fibres spun by the common silkworm. 
 
 The oatferpillar which works all this damage is rather slender, 
 and is covered with black dots along the back. 
 
 Another well-known British insect which constructs social 
 habitations is the Gold-tailed Moth {Porihesia chrysarrhcea), a 
 familiar and beautiful insect, with wings of soft downy plumage, 
 and snowy-white in color, and a tuft of yellow hair at the end of 
 the tail. The perfect insect may often be seen sticking on the 
 trunks of trees in gardens, waiting until the evening, when it will 
 fly off to its labors. 
 
 When the moth has laid its eggs, it plucks off the beautiful 
 yellow tuft at the end of the tail, and with it forms a roof over 
 the pile of eggs, laying the hairs so artificially as to make a per- 
 fect thatch. When the larvae are hatched they retain their socia- 
 bility, and spin for themselves a common domicile. This house 
 is very remarkable. Viewed on the exterior, it is seen to be a 
 bag-like structure of whitish silk, rather strong and tough, but 
 very yielding. 
 
 One of these nests, which I found in Wiltshire, is now before 
 me. It was found in a hedge, about two feet from the ground, 
 and is rather a complicated structure. The scaffolding, so to 
 speak, of the nest is formed by a horizontal spray of three small 
 twigs, and it is strengthened by the long hedge -grass which 
 crossed the spray. Seeds of different kinds are woven into the 
 walls, so that a comparatively small portion of the silk is exposed 
 to view. 
 
 When cut open, it shows a singularly beautiful structure with- 
 in. There are several sheets of silken tissue, each becoming 
 more delicate, and the innermost being white, shining like satin ; 
 whereas the outer covering is dull white, and very tough, cling- 
 
PEACOCK AND SMALL TOETOISE-SHELL BUTTERFLIES. 467 
 
 ing to the scissors so that a straight cut is almost impossible. 
 Delicate walls divide the interior into several compartments, in 
 all of which are evidences that the caterpillars must have resided 
 for some time. The reason why the creatures make this nest is 
 that they are hatched toward the end of summer, and, in conse- 
 quence, are forced to pass the winter in the larval condition, so 
 that some warm residence is needful for them. It is well-known 
 that air is a very bad conductor of heat, and, in consequence, the 
 successive sheets of silk which cover the nest, and which inclose 
 layers of air between them, form a protection which is far warm- 
 er than would be obtained by a solid mass of silk measuring 
 twice the thickness of the three walls, together with their inter- 
 vening spaces. 
 
 There is an allied insect, popularly called the Beown-tailed 
 Moth {Porthesia aurijlua), which spins a social nest that in many 
 respects resembles that of the Gold-tailed Moth. The nest, how- 
 ever, is scarcely so elegant, nor is the silken web so beautifully 
 delicate. Much, however, depends upon surrounding conditions, 
 such as the disposition of the twig on which the nest is placed, 
 and the presence or absence of leaves, whether those of the tree 
 or of other plants that happen to grow in close proximity. 
 
 These nests are very firmly constructed, and the walls are sol- 
 id, as is needful for insects which are obliged to pass the winter 
 within them. There are, however, many caterpillars which live 
 socially, and which spin a common habitation, but which leave it 
 before the cold weather comes on, and, in consequence, do not 
 need such thick walls. Any hedgerows where nettles are found 
 will supply numerous examples of such nests, made by the curi- 
 ous caterpillars which afterward assume the lovely and familiar 
 forms of the Peacock and Small Tortoise-shell Butterflies 
 {Vanessa lo and Vanessa uriicce). Great black masses of these cat- 
 erpillars may be seen upon the nettles, and, on examining them 
 closely, they will be seen to reside within a common home, made 
 of tough silken threads, very loosely spun, and forming a kind of 
 net, with long and irregular meshes. 
 
468 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 SOCIAL INSECTS (^Contimed). 
 
 A curious Ant from India (Mt/rmica Kirbii). — Locality of its Nest. — Description of 
 the Nest, its Material, and Mode of Structure. — A nocturnal Misadventure. — The 
 Driver Ant of Africa. — Description of the Insect. — Reason for its Name. — Its 
 general Habits. — Destructive Powers of the Driver Ant. — How the Insects devour 
 Meat and convey it Home. — How they kill Snakes. — Native Legend of the Py- 
 thon.- — Their Mode of March. — Fatal Effects of the Sunbeams. — An extemporized 
 Arch. — Method of escaping fi'ora Floods. — Site of their Habitation. — Modes of 
 destroying them. — Living Ladders and their Structure. — Method of crossing 
 Streams. — Tenacity of Life. — A decapitated Ant. — Mode of Biting. — Description 
 of the Insect. -'Curious Nest of a Brazilian Wasp. — Weight of the Nest and Meth- 
 od of Attachraeiit. — Variety of Polistes Nest, — Polistes atemmus and its singular 
 Nest. — Beautiful Structure of an unknown Polistes. 
 
 Although several species of Ants have been mentioned under 
 the title of burrowing insects, there are many which possess, very 
 interesting habits, and which may here take their place among 
 the creatures which build social habitations. Among them is a 
 curious insect inhabiting India, and discovered by Colonel Sykes, 
 the well-known naturalist, who called it Myrmica Kirhii. 
 
 This insect forms its nest on the branches of trees and shrubs, 
 and Colonel Sykes mentions that he has found their curious hab- 
 itation on the branches of the Kurwund shrub, Carissa Carandas, 
 and on the Mango-tree, Mangifera Indica. 
 
 The nests are more or less spherical, and are about as large as 
 an ordinary foot-ball. The material of which they are made is 
 cowdung, which is spread in flakes in a manner that reminds the 
 observer of the outside cover of a wasp's nest The flakes are 
 placed upon each other like the tiles of a house, so that, although 
 the insects can creep into the nest beneath the flakes, no water 
 can enter. On the summit of the nest is one very large flake, that 
 acts as a general roof to the structure. 
 
 Within the nest are placed a number of cells made of the same 
 material as the exterior, and in them may be found insects in ev- 
 ery state of development, eggs in one, larvae in another, and pupse 
 in a third. No provision seems to be laid up within the nest, so 
 that the inhabitants must depend on their daily excursions for 
 their food. 
 
THE DRIVER ANT. 469 
 
 When Colonel Sykes brought home the first nest he discover- 
 ed, he hung it to the tent-pole, preparatory to examining it in the 
 morning. "In the night the men were awakened by repeated 
 punctures and general irritation of the skin, but the darkness pre- 
 vented them from discovering their tormentors, and they contin- 
 ued to toss and tumble in their beds for some hours in no very 
 complacent state of mind. At last they got up, dressed them- 
 selves, and abandoned the tent ; but the evil was rather aggra- 
 vated than abated, as parts of their persons which had previously 
 escaped had now their share of suffering. At daylight they dis- 
 covered to their consternation that they were covered with minute 
 ants, which had filled their pantaloons, penetrated the sleeves of 
 their coats and every other part of their habiliments. On inspect- 
 ing the tent, they found the interior teeming with multitudes. of 
 little angry beings, in busy progress, seeking to resent the out- 
 rage which had been committed on the community by the re- 
 moval of their abode." 
 
 The insects are extremely small,barely one fifth of an inch in 
 length, and are reddish in color.. 
 
 Perhaps one of the most terrible of insects is that which is ap- 
 propriately called the Driver Ant of Western Africa {Anomma 
 arcens). 
 
 This insect is a truly remarkable creature. Although it is to 
 be found in vast numbers, it has never been found in the winged 
 condition, and neither the male nor the female have as yet been 
 discovered. The workers are uniform in color, but exceedingly 
 variable in size. Their hue is deep brownish - black, and their 
 length varies from half an inch to one line, so that the largest 
 workers nearly equal the common earwig, while the smallest are. 
 no larger than the common red ant of our gardens. In the Brit- 
 ish Museum are specimens of the workers, which form a regular 
 gradation of size from the largest to the smallest. 
 
 They are called Driver Ants because they drive before them 
 every living creature. There is not an animal that can withstand 
 the Driver Ants. In their march they carry destruction before 
 them, and every beast knows instinctively that it must not cross 
 their track. They have been known to destroy even the agile 
 monkey, when their swarming host had once made a lodgment 
 on its body; and when they enter a pig-stye, they soon kill the 
 imprisoned inhabitants, whose tough hides can not protect them 
 
470 
 
 HOMES ■WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 from the teeth of the Driver Ants. Fowls they destroy in num- 
 bers killing in a single night all the inhabitants of the hen-roost, 
 and, having destroyed them, have a curious method of devouring 
 them. 
 
 Drivel' Ants. 
 
 The Eev. Dr. Savage, who has experimented upon these formi- 
 dable insects, killed a fowl and gave it to the Ants. At first they 
 did not seem to pay much attention to it, but he soon found that 
 they were in reality making their preparations. Large parties of 
 the insects were detached for the purpose of preparing a road, 
 and worked with the assiduity which seems to be a characteristic 
 of these energetic insects. Numbers of them were employed in 
 smoothing the road to the nest by removing every obstacle out 
 of the way, until, by degrees, a tolerably level road was obtained. 
 The Ants are possessed of strength which seems gigantic when 
 compared with their size, carrying away sticks four or five times 
 
DRIVER ANTS. 471 
 
 as large as themselves, and never failing to pounce upon anj grub 
 or insect that might happen to be lurking beneath their shelter. 
 They always carried such burdens longitudinally, grasping them 
 with th^eir jaws and legs, and passing the load under the body. 
 Some of these roads are more than two hundred yards in length. 
 
 Meanwhile the other Ants were busy with the fowl. Begin- 
 ning at the base of the beak, they contrived to pull out the feath- 
 ers one by one, until they stripped it regularly backward, working 
 over the head, along the neck, and so on to the body. This was 
 evidently a very hard task, as the insects did not possess sufficient 
 strength to pull out the feathers by main force, and were conse- 
 quently obliged to grub them up laboriously by the roots. The 
 next business was to pull the bird to pieces, and at this work 
 they were left. Unfortunately the experiment was spoiled by 
 the natives, who stole the fowlj thinking that the Ants had eaten 
 so many of their poultry that they were justified in retaliation. 
 Others chose to excuse themselves by saying that they thought 
 the fowl to be a fetish offering to the Ants, and accordingly took 
 it away from them. 
 
 The large iguana lizards fall victims to the Driver Ants, and 
 so do all reptiles, not excluding snakes. It seems, from the per- 
 sonal observations of Dr. Savage, that the Ants commence their 
 attack on the snake by biting its eyes, and so blinding the poor 
 reptile, which only flounders and writhes helplessly on "one spot, 
 instead of gliding away to a distance. 
 
 It is said by the natives that when the great python has crushed 
 its prey in its terrible folds, it does not devour it at once, but 
 makes a large circuit, at least a mile in diameter, in order to see 
 whether an army of Driver Ants is on the march. If so, it glides 
 off and abandons its prey, which will soon be devoured by the 
 Ants ; but if the ground is clear, it returns to the crushed animal, 
 swallows it, and gives itself to repose until the process of digestion 
 be completed. Whether this assertion be true or not, Dr. Savage 
 can not say; but it is here given in order to show the extreme 
 awe in which the natives hold the Driver Ants. 
 
 So completely is the dread of them on every living creature, 
 that on- their approach whole villages are deserted, and in extreme 
 cases the entire population is forced to take to the rivers, know- 
 ing that the insects will not enter water unless obliged to do so, 
 although, on occasions, they do not hesitate to commit themselves 
 to the- waves, as will presently be seen. 
 
472 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The order of their marchyig is very curious, and is well de- 
 scribed by Dr. Savage : 
 
 "Their sallies are made in cloudy days, and in the night, chiefly 
 in the latter. This is owing to the uncongenial influence of the 
 sun, an exposure to the direct rays of which, especially when the 
 power is increased by reflection, is almost instantaneously fatal. 
 If they should be detained abroad till late in the morning of a 
 sunny day by the quantity of their prey, they will construct 
 arches over their path of dirt agglutinated by a fluid excreted 
 from their mouth. If their way should run under thick grass, 
 sticks, etc., affording suf&cient shelter, the arch is dispensed with ; 
 if not, so much dirt is added as is necessary to eke out the arch in 
 connection with them. In the rainy season, or in a succession of 
 cloudy days, the arch is seldom visible ; their path, however, is 
 very distinct, presenting a beaten appearance, and freedom from 
 every thing movable. 
 
 " They are evidently economists in time and labor ; for if a 
 crevice, fissure in the ground, passage under stones, etc., come in 
 their way, they will adopt them as a substitute for the arch. 
 
 " In cloudy days, when on their predatory excursions, or mi- 
 grating, an arch for the protection of the workers is constructed 
 of the bodies of their largest class. Their widely -extended jaws, 
 long slender limbs, and projecting antennae, intertwining, form a 
 sort of network, that se^ms to answer well their object. When- 
 ever an alarm is given, the arch is instantly broken, and the ants, 
 joining others of the same class on the outside of the line, who 
 seem to be acting as commanders, guides, and scouts, run about in 
 a furious manner in pursuit of the enemy. If the alarm should 
 prove to be without foundation, the victory won, or danger passed, 
 the arch is quickly renewed, and the main column marches for- 
 ward as before, in all the order of an intellectual military dis- 
 cipline." 
 
 Sometimes, as is usual iii tropical countries, the rain descends 
 like a flood, converting in a few minutes whole tracts of country 
 into a temporary lake. The dwellings of the Driver Ant are im- 
 mediately deluged, and, but for a remarkable instinct which is 
 implanted in the insects, most of the Ants, and all the future 
 brood, would perish. As soon as the water encroaches upon 
 their premises, they run together and agglomerate themselves into, 
 balls, the weakest (or the " women and children," as the natives 
 call them) being in the middle, and the large and powerful insects 
 
DRIVER ANTS. 473 
 
 on the outside. These balls are much lighter . than water, and 
 consequently float on the surface until the floods retire, and the 
 insects can resume their place on dry land. 
 
 The size of the ant-balls is various ; but they are, on an average, 
 as large as a full-sized cricket-ball. One of these curious balls 
 was cleverly caught in a handkerchief, put in a vessel, and sent to 
 Mr. P. Smith, of the British Museum, who has kindly presented 
 me with several specimens of the insect. 
 
 When a colony of these insects has been established near a 
 house, the inhabitants naturally endeavor to destroy it. The 
 habitation is very simple and artless, and generally consists of a 
 mere hole in a rock or bank, in which the ci-eatures assemble. 
 They are very fond of usurping the sepulchres of the dead, which 
 are usually excavated in the sides of hills, and are about eighteen 
 inches in depth. 
 
 The natives generally try to destroy the colony by heaping dry 
 leaves of the palm upon the dwelling, and setting fire to the heap. 
 When this plan was tried, it was found to be very unsatisfactory ; 
 for the greater mass of the insects contrived to make their escape, 
 and were found upon the neighboring trees, clinging in heavy 
 bunches and long festoons, which connected one branch with 
 another, and formed ladders over which the insects could pass. 
 These festoons were made in a very curious manner. 
 
 First, a single Ant clung tightly to a branch, and then a second 
 insect crawled cautiously down its' suspended body, and hung to 
 its long, outstretched limbs. Others followed in rapid succession, 
 until they had formed a complete chain of Ants, which swung 
 about in the wind. One of the largest workers then took its stand 
 immediately below the chain, held firmly to the branch with its 
 hind limbs, and dexterously caught with its fore legs the end of 
 the living chain as it swung past. The ladder was thus com- 
 pleted, and fixed ready for the transit of insects ; and, in a similar 
 way, the whole tree was covered with festoons of Ants, until it 
 was blackened with their sable bodies. 
 
 They can even cross streams by means of these ladders. 
 Crawling to the end of a bough which overhangs the water, they 
 form themselves into a living chain, and add to its length until 
 the lowermost reaches the water. The long, wide-spread limbs 
 of the insect can sustain it upon the water, especially when aided 
 by its hold on the suspended comrade above. 
 
 Ant after Ant pushes forward, and the floating portion of the 
 
474 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 chain is thus lengthened, until the free end is swept by the stream 
 against the opposite bank. The Ant which forms the extremity 
 of the chain then clings to a stick, stone, or root, and grasps it so 
 firmly that the chain is held tightly, and the Ants can pass over 
 their companions as over a suspension bridge. In the illustration 
 a column of Driver Ants is shown on the march. The vanguard 
 of the column has crossed the stream by means of the living lad- 
 der, which is seen suspended from a branch, and extended across 
 the water. The fragile tube which they build is also shown, and 
 a few of the larger architects are drawn of the natural size. The 
 smaller specimens will not emerge from the tunnel. 
 
 There. is a species of Ant in Oeylon which makes living bridges 
 in precisely the same manner as the Driver Ant. In Mr. B. Sul- 
 livan's "Bungalow and the Tent" there is the following passage: 
 " I have seen Ants form a bridge from one stick to another. I 
 even saw one leave his companions, who were clustered at the 
 end of a stick, unable to reach another at a short distance, make 
 a considerable circuit, ascend the stick they were aiming at from 
 another direction, and by stretching out his body' as far as possi- 
 ble, enable the pioneer of the main body to reach him, and thus 
 complete the chain of communication, by which the rest immedi- 
 ately crossed. It would be difficult to prove that this was not 
 reason." 
 
 Finding that the comparatively gradual action of fire permitted 
 the active insects to escape before the heat finally reached them. 
 Dr. Savage waited until they had settled in their home, and then 
 poured upon them a few gallons of boiling water, which was in- 
 stantaneously fatal. As for cold water, they seem to care little 
 for it ; having been immersed for twelve hours, and although they 
 were apparently dead when removed, yet they soon recovered 
 themselves, and ran about as lively as ever. Their tenacity of 
 life is indeed wonderful, aind injuries which would immediately 
 kill almost any creature seem to have no immediate effect upon 
 their vigor. Another fact illustrating their tenacity of life may 
 here be stated. 
 
 " The head of one of the largest class, when dissevered from 
 the body, grasped the finger of an attendant so furiously as to 
 cause an immediate flow of blood. It was left in a glass tumbler 
 from three P.M. till the next morning at eight o'clock, when- the 
 finger was again applied, and apparently as severe a wound as 
 before inflicted. Another individual of the same class was de- 
 
DRIVER ANTS. 475 
 
 capitated at seven A.M., and at half past nine next morning, 
 twenty-six and a half hours from the time of decapitation, a piece 
 of newspaper was held between the jaws, which it grasped and 
 retained with considerable force. 
 
 " I then applied the small finger of my right hand, which it bit 
 severely; indeed, so powerful was the grasp, that the point of 
 the mandibles met beneath the cuticle. It then partly withdrew 
 one mandible, and, pointing it more perpendicularly, penetrated 
 deeper than the other, and thus at every stroke giving to the 
 mandible a direction more vertical, wounding and cutting wider 
 and deeper, precisely in the manner of the insect in possession of 
 all its parts and powers. The sensation at each thrust was like 
 that of a pin, and equally painful ; and when the mandibles were 
 withdrawn, the blood flowed as freely. The head continued to 
 give signs of life for more than thirty -six hours after decapita- 
 tion. The body to which it belonged lived still longer, or more 
 than forty-eight hours." 
 
 It is a very remarkable fact that the insect should be so tena- 
 cious of life under circumstances that would be instantly fatal 
 to most creatures, and yet should die suddenly under conditions 
 in which many insects live and thrive. The reader will remem- 
 ber that the direct action of the sun's rays will kill the Driver 
 Ant in less than two minutes, and yet there are ants of the same 
 country which run about freely in the blazing sunshine, travers- 
 ing with impunity the heated ground, which blisters the bare 
 hand, and being able to secrete abundant stores of the liquid 
 which they use in making their habitation. 
 
 In Dr. Livingstone's well-known work, there are several inter- 
 esting accounts of ants and their habits, and one anecdote bears 
 so aptly on the subject that I give it in the writer's own words. 
 
 After describing the terrible drought at Chonuane, when the 
 Eiver Kolobay ran dry and the fish perished, when the crocodile 
 himself was stranded and died, and the native trees could not 
 hold up their leaves, he proceeds as follows: "In the midst of 
 this dreary drought, it was wonderful to see those tiny creatures, 
 the Ants, running about with their accustomed vivacity. I put 
 the bulb of a thermometer three inches under the soil in the sun 
 at midday, and found the mercury to stand at 132° to 134° ; and 
 if certain beetles were, placed on the surface, they only ran about 
 a few seconds and expired. 
 
 " But this boiling heat only augmented the activity of the long- 
 
476 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 legged Black Ants ; they never tire ; their organs of motion seem 
 endowed with the same power as is ascribed by physiologists to 
 the muscles of the human heart, by which that part of the frame 
 never becomes fatigued, and which may be imparted to all our 
 organs in that higher sphere to which we fondly hope to rise. 
 
 "Where do these Ants get their moisture? Our house was 
 built on a hard, ferruginous conglomerate, in order to be out of 
 the way of the White Ant, but they came despite the precaution ; 
 and not only were they in this sultry weather able individually 
 to moisten soil to the consistency of mortar for the formation of 
 galleries, which in their way of working is done by night (so that 
 they are screened from the observation of birds by day in passing 
 and repassing toward any vegetable matter they may wish to de- 
 vour), but, when their inner chambers were laid open, these were 
 also surprisingly humid; yet there was no dew, and the house 
 being placed on a rock, they could have no subterranean passage 
 to the bed of Jhe river, which ran about three hundred yards 
 below the hill. Can it be that they have the power of combining 
 the oxygen and hydrogen of their vegetable food by vital force 
 as to form water ?" 
 
 In corroboration of this opinion, Dr. Livingstone mentions an in- 
 sect found in Angola, and which is allied to the common cuckoo- 
 spit {Aphropliora spumarid) of England, which has the property 
 of pouring out great quantities of water, so that a group of seven 
 or eight insects will produce three or four pints of water in the 
 course of the night. After stating that he believes the water to 
 be produced, not from the sap of the tree, but from the atmos- 
 phere, he proceeds as follows : 
 
 " Finding a colony of these insects busily distilling on a branch 
 of the Eicinus communis, or castor-oil plant, I denuded about 
 twenty inches of the bark on the tree-side of the insects, and 
 scraped away the inner bark, so as to destroy all the ascending 
 vessels. I also cut a hole in the side of the branch, reaching to 
 the middle, and then cut out the pith and internal vessels. The 
 distillation was then going on at the rate of one drop in each 
 sixty-seven seconds, or about two ounces five and a half drams 
 in twenty-four hours. Next morning the distillation, so far from 
 being affected by the attempt to stop the supplies, supposing they 
 had come up through the branch from the .tree, was increased to a 
 drop every five seconds, or twelve drops per minute, making one 
 pint in every twenty-four hours. 
 
DRIVEE ANTS. 477 
 
 "I tben cut the branch so much that during the day it broke; 
 but they still went on at the rate of a drop every five seconds, 
 while another colony on a branch of the same tree gave a drop 
 every seventeen seconds only, or at the rate of about ten ounces 
 four and one fifth drams in every twenty-four hours. I finally 
 cut off the branch ; but this was too much for their patience, for 
 they immediately decamped, as insects will do from either a dead 
 branch or a dead animal. The presence of greater moisture in the 
 air increased the power of these distillers ; the period of greatest 
 activity was in the morning, when the air and every thing else 
 was charged with dew." 
 
 Three species of Driver Ant are known, namely, the common 
 species, which has already been described, Anomma Burmeisteri, 
 and a smaller species, Anomma ruhella. 
 
 The two first insects are deep, shining black, and resemble each 
 other so closely that an unpracticed eye could not distinguish be- 
 tween them, while the last may be easily known by its brownish- 
 red hue. 
 
 The specimens which have already been mentioned are now 
 before me, and curious beings they are. The largest are black, 
 with a slight tinge of red, and have an enormous head, almost 
 equaling one third of the entire length. It is deep and wide as 
 well as long, as indeed is necessary for the attachment of the 
 muscles which move the enormous jaws. These weapons are 
 sharply curved, and when closed they cross each other, so that 
 when the insect has fairly fixed itself, its hold can not be loosened 
 unless the jaws are opened. It is useless, therefore, to kill the 
 ant, for its head will retain its grasp in death as well as in life. 
 Besides the sharp points of the mandibles, they are farther armed 
 with a central tooth, which is so formed that when the mandibles 
 are quite closed, and the points crossed to the utmost, the tips of 
 the central teeth meet and form another means of grasping. 
 
 There is no vestige of external eyes, and even the half-inch 
 power of the microscope fails to show the slightest indication of 
 visual organs. As, however, the horny coat of the head is suffi- 
 ciently translucent to permit the articulation of the javrs to be 
 seen through it, when a very powerful light is thrown upon the 
 head and the eyes of the observer are well sheltered, it is possible 
 that the insect may have some sense of sight, and, at all events, 
 will be able to distinguish light from darkness. 
 
 The limbs are of a paler red than the body, and although they 
 
478 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 are slender and delicate, their grasping power is verj great. Two 
 .of my specimens had grasped each other's limbs with such force 
 that they could not be separated without damaging the insect, 
 and it was not until the rigid joints were softened with moisture, 
 and then with the aid of a magnifier, that I succeeded in disen- 
 gaging the insects. 
 
 The smaller specimens are not so black as the larger, nor are 
 their jaws so proportionately large, but they are still formidable 
 insects, if not from their individual size, yet from their collective 
 numbers and their reckless courage, which urges them to attack 
 any thing that opposes them. Fire will frighten almost any 
 creature, but it has no terrors for the Driver Ant, which will dash 
 at a glowing coal, fix its jaws in the burning mass, and straight- 
 way shrivel up in the heat 
 
 In the collection of the British Museum may be seen a very re- 
 markable nest, which is made by some species of wasp at present 
 unknown. 
 
 The material of which it is formed is mud or clay, which is 
 worked by the insect until it has attained a wonderful tenacity 
 and strength, and is rendered so plastic as to be worked nearly as 
 neatly as the waxen bee-cell. It is of rather a large size, measur- 
 ing about thirteen inches in length by nine in width, and filled 
 with combs. Unfortunately, in its passage to this country it was 
 broken and much damaged, but the fragments were collected and 
 skillfully put together by Mr. R Smith, who has succeeded in re- 
 storing the nest to its original shape, with the exception of an 
 aperture through which the interior of the nest may be seen. 
 
 The accident was in so far an advantage that it gave oppor- 
 tunities of studying the construction of a nest which is at present 
 unique, and which the officers of the Museum might be chary 
 of cutting open, particularly as its materials are so brittle. The 
 walls of the nest are remarkably hard and solid, but extremely 
 variable in thickness, some parts being nearly three times as 
 strong as others. The upper portions of the nest are the thick- 
 est, the reason for which is evident on inspecting the specimen. 
 
 The nest was found in a Guianian forest, near the River Ber- 
 bice, suspended to a branch, which passed through a hole in the 
 solid wall of the nest. In the actual specimen the branch is want- 
 ing ; but in the illustration it has been restored, in order to show 
 the manner in which the winged artificers suspended their won- 
 
THE MUD WASP. 
 
 479 
 
 derful home. As is always the case with pensile nests, the foun- 
 dation is laid at the top, thus carrying out Dean Swift's sugges- 
 tion for a new patent in architecture. A large quantity of clay 
 is worked round the chosen branch, and made very strong, in or- 
 der to sustain the heavy weight which will be suspended from it. 
 This clay foundation is wonderfully hard, though very brittle, 
 this latter quality being probably due to the long residence in a 
 room which is always kept warm and dry by artificial means. 
 In the open air, and in the ever-damp, though hot atmosphere of 
 tropical America, the clay would probably be much tougher, 
 without losing the necessary hardness. 
 
 Mud Wasp. 
 
 The combs are not flat, like those of an ordinary wasp-nest, but 
 are very much curved, so that when the nest is laid open they al- 
 most follow the curve of the walls. This peculiar form of the 
 comb is shown in the illustration. The cells are not very large. 
 
480 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 scarcely equaling the worker cells of the common burrowing 
 wasp of England. 
 
 One of the most remarkable points in the construction of this 
 nest is the entrance. In pensile nests, the insect usually forms 
 the opening below, so that it may be sheltered from the wind and 
 rain. Moreover, it is usually of small dimensions, evidently in 
 order to prevent the inroads of parasitic insects and other foes, 
 and to give the sentinels a small gateway to defend. But the 
 particular Wasp which built this remarkable nest seems to have 
 set every rule at defiance, and to have shown an entire contempt 
 of foes and indifference to rain. 
 
 As may be seen by reference to the illustration, the entrance 
 is extremely long, though not wide, and extends through nearly 
 the length of the nest, so that the edges of the combs can be seen 
 by looking into the aperture. The edges of the entrance are 
 rounded, so that the outer edge is wider than the inner ; but it is 
 still sufficiently wide to allow the little finger of a man's hand to 
 be passed into the interior, while its length is so great that forty 
 or fifty insects might enter or leave the nest together. 
 
 The remarkable fact has already been mentioned that two spe- 
 cies of Wasp will inhabit the same nest, and amicably work at the 
 same edifice. Entomologists have long been aware that two spe- 
 cies of Ant will dwell in the same nest, and live upon friendly 
 terms, although the association of the working part of the com- 
 munity is not voluntary, but compulsory. 
 
 The Ant which employs enforced labor is called the Amazon 
 Ant {Polyergus rufescens), and is tolerably common on the Con- 
 tinent. This insect is not furnished with jaws which are capable 
 of performing the work that usually falls to the lot of the neuters, 
 but the same length and sharpness of the mandibles which unfit 
 the insect for work, render it eminently capable of warfare. When, 
 therefore, a colony of the Amazon Ants is about to establish it- 
 self, the insects form themselves into an army, and set off on a 
 slave-hunting expedition. 
 
 There are at least two species of Ant which act as servants to 
 the Amazon Ants, the one being named Formica fusca, and the 
 other Formica cunicularia ; and to the nests of one or other of 
 these insects the Amazons direct their march. 
 
 As soon as they reach the nest, they penetrate into all its re- 
 cesses, in spite of opposition, and search every corner for their 
 
THE AMAZON ANT. 481 
 
 spoil. This consists solely of the pupae which will afterward be 
 developed into neuters, and vast numbers of the unconscious 
 young are carried off in the jaws of the conquerors. The right- 
 ful owners and relatives of the captured young can not resist the 
 enemy, as their shorter though more generally useful jaws are 
 unable to contend with the long and sharply-pointed weapons of 
 their foes. 
 
 After the marauding army has returned, the living spoils are 
 carefully deposited in the nest, where they are speedily hatched 
 into perfect insects of the worker class, and immediately take on 
 themselves the labors of the nest, just as they would have done 
 in their own home. The Amazon Ant seems to be utterly incap- 
 able of work ; and in one notable instance, when a numbet of 
 them were confined in a glass case, together with some pupse, they 
 were not only unable to rear the young, but could not even feed 
 themselves, so that the greater number died from hunger. By 
 way of experiment, a single specimen of the slave Ant {Formica 
 fused) was introduced into the case, when the sta,te of affairs was 
 at once altered. The tiny creature undertook the whole care of 
 the family, fed the still living Amazon Ants, and took charge of 
 the pupae until they were developed into perfect insects. 
 
 Some writers have enlarged upon the hard lot of the slave Ants, 
 imagining their servitude to be as distasteful to them as it is 
 sometimes made to human slaves. Mr. "Westwood, however, points 
 out very clearly that any compassion bestowed upon them is wast- 
 ed, and that the lot of the " helots" — if they may be so called — is 
 precisely that for which they were made. The labors which the 
 little creatures undertake are not arbitrarily forced upon them by 
 the dread of punishment, but are urged upon them by the instincts 
 implanted within them. They would have worked in precisely 
 the same manner, and with exactly the same assiduity, in their 
 own nests as in that of their captors, and the labors are undertaken 
 as willingly in the one case as in the other. 
 
 They find themselves perfectly at home, and are in every re- 
 spect on a par with their so-called masters. In point of fact, how- 
 ever, the real masters in the nest are the slaves, for upon them the 
 Amazons are dependent from their earliest days to the end of 
 their life, and without them the entire community would perish. 
 The slaves have no other home but that to which they have been 
 brought, and are no more to be pitied than are dogs, cattle, and 
 other domestic animals that never have freedom. Indeed, none 
 
 Hh 
 
482 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 but solitary animals can be free even in the wild state, for they 
 are held in absolute servitude by the leaders of the herds, and, if 
 they dare to disobey, are summarily punished. 
 
 As the slaves are always neuters, it is necessary that fresh im- 
 portations should be made as fast as the demand for workers ex- 
 ceeds the supply ; and it is really a wonderful thing that the Ama- 
 zon Ants should always select the pupae which will afterward be 
 developed into neuters, and never take those from which males 
 or females will issue. 
 
 The Amazon of the Continent is not the only Ant which en- 
 slaves the neuters of another species, for in different parts of the 
 world several species of Ants have been observed which seize 
 upon workers belonging to other nests, and bring them to do the 
 work of the home. A Brazilian species {Myrmica pahaia) has 
 been observed to act in this manner. 
 
 In the accompanying illustration are shown two remarkable 
 nests, made by insects of the same genus, which have been placed 
 side by side in order to show the different manner in which ^cells 
 are arranged by insects which are closely allied to each other. 
 
 Neats. Folistea Ateirima, etc. 
 
 The smaller, though more conspicuous nest, is formed by an in- 
 sect which is called Polistes at&rrima, a name which is very appro- 
 
SINGULAR NESTS. 483 
 
 priate to tlie creature, inasmuch as the generic title signifies a 
 builder, or the founder of a city, and the specific name signifies 
 intense blackness, and is given to the insect on account of its col- 
 or. In general shape the insect resembles other species of its 
 genus-, but is rather larger than the generality of its kin, and is 
 conspicuous for its deep black color. ■ ■ 
 
 The method of nidification which this species adopts is very pe- 
 culiar. The cells are formed with beautiful regularity, but are ar- 
 ranged in a very curious fashion. They are placed with their 
 mouths downward, as is frequently the custom with the cells of 
 hymenoptera, but are not quite perpendicular, inclining alternate- 
 ly to either side. Each cell is set rather lower than its predeces- 
 sor, so that the general effect is very peculiar, and gives to the 
 cell group a character which renders it at once recognizable. 
 
 The second nest which is represented in the same illustration 
 is scarcely so striking in appearance as the preceding, but is 
 equally interesting, and to many minds more so, because the 
 architect is at present unknown, and there is some little mystery 
 about the edifice. That it is the work of a Polistes is evident 
 enough from the character of the cells, but it is not made by any 
 of the numerous species whose nests are already in European col- 
 lections. 
 
 The color of the combs is a rather sombre brown, so that at a. 
 little distance the whole group would easily escape notice, espe- 
 cially if it were buried in the depths of the forest, as is the case 
 with many similar nests. The cells are about the same size as 
 those of the curious day nest which has already been described, 
 but they are undefended by any covering, and exposed to the 
 weather. 
 
 It has been suggested by some observers that the combs might 
 have been originally protected by an outer case, and that the case 
 itself has been lost. The formation of the branch, however, from 
 which the combs are hung, serves to militate against any such 
 theory, as the twigs project so far that they must have been en- 
 veloped by the covering if it ever existed, while upon them there 
 is no trace of any such material as that of which the nest is made. 
 The inference is, therefore, that they were never intended to be 
 protected by a cover, but that they were intentionally exposed to 
 the air, as is the case with the habitations of Polistes and several 
 allied insects, whose homes will shortly be described. 
 
484 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 One of the most curious points in the construction of this nest 
 is the manner in which it is suspended to the branch. As is 
 shown in the illustration, the combs are comparatively narrow at 
 the point of attachment, and gradually increase in width, so that 
 their weight, when filled with the young brood, must be consider- 
 able, and the strain on the upper part of the comb very great. 
 The manner in which the insect has met this difficulty is really 
 wonderful. It has not made the upper part of the comb to con- 
 sist, of a solid mass, as is the case with the clay nest which has 
 just been described, but has utilized almost every portion of the 
 comb from the top to the bottom. But, in order to obtain the 
 needful strength, the upper part is constructed after a manner 
 that is widely dififerent from that which prevails upon the lower 
 and wider portion of the comb. 
 
 If one of the combs were broken across, the lower half would 
 much resemble, except in color, the nest of an ordinary wasp, ex- 
 cept that the cells are smaller, and the material stronger ; but to- 
 ward the top the partitions between the cells become thicker, and, 
 in consequence, the cells are fewer. This increased streng^ is 
 chiefly found in the partitions which run perpendicularly, and 
 which are so thick- that the hexagonal form of the cells becomes 
 obscured, the great object being, not the exact shape of the cells, 
 but their ability to bear the weigBt of the comb below. 
 
 The general effect of this modification can be easily imitated by 
 taking an oblong piece of linen, rounding the corners, and plait- 
 ing one end, just as ladies gather in the upper part of an apron. 
 The longitudinal folds will then represent the perpendicular par- 
 titions of the cells, and will show how strength is gained without 
 needless expenditure of material. The strengthened partitions do 
 not run quite perpendicnlarly, but are slightly irregular, just as 
 would be the case with the folds of the linen if it were fastened to 
 a branch by the plaited end, and suffered to hang loosely. 
 
 The history of Social Insects would be incomplete without the 
 mention of several British insects, which are plentiful enough, but 
 which are scarcely known as well as they deserve. These are 
 the creatures which are popularly known as Cakdeb Bees, be- 
 cause they prepare the materials for their nest in a manner simi 
 lar to that which is employed in carding cotton wool or heckling 
 flax. 
 
 Several species of Carder Bee are known, all belonging to that 
 
CAEDEB BEES. 485 
 
 familiar group of insects called Humble-bees. Among these, as 
 among Humble-bees in general, there is a great variety of color, 
 so that the same species has been called by different names, even 
 by skilled entomologists. For example, in Kirby's admirable 
 monograph of British Bees, no less than seven varieties of the 
 commonest species of Carder Bee (Bomhis muscorum) are given as 
 separate species. 
 
 That such mistakes should be made is no matter of surprise 
 when we take into consideration the capriciousness with which 
 the colors of this species are distributed among its members. 
 Among the queen Bees, the abdomen is sometimes marked with 
 rings of yellow, black, and red, and is sometimes red at the base 
 and tip and black in the middle. The worker has usually a yel- 
 lowish abdomen, with one or two blackish bands, but in some 
 cases the whole abdomen is black, except a small patch on the 
 base and another at the tip. The male Bee has generally the ab- 
 domen colored like the first-mentioned example of the worker, 
 but sometimes it is wholly black, and in many cases it is bMck ex- 
 cept the tip, which is dun. Indeed, these insects are so extremely 
 variable, that the only method of determining their true arrange- 
 ment is by taking a great number of nests, breeding the inmates, 
 and subjecting them not only to careful external examination, 
 but also to dissection of their internal anatomy. 
 
 The specific title " muscorum," i. e., " of the mosses," which is 
 given to this Bee, is due to the material of which the nest is usu- 
 ally made. It was generally thought to be made exclusively of 
 moss, but is, in fact; constructed of various substances, according 
 to the locality. Mr. P. Smith mentions several instances where 
 the Bees had made use of very singular and unexpected materials. 
 
 In one case. Bees were seen flying into a stable through the 
 latticed window, collecting the little hairs that had fallen from the 
 horses during the process of currying, making them up into bun- 
 dles, and flying off with them. On being watched carefully; one 
 of the Bees was seen to alight on some grass, not very far from 
 the stable, and among the grass was found the nest, which was 
 composed entirely of horse-hair. Unfortunately, this remarkable 
 nest was destroyed before it was completed. 
 
 "Another very interesting deviation from the usual economy 
 of the moss -building Bees was observed by Dr. William Bell. 
 During the summer of 1854, a robin built its nest in the porch of 
 his cottage at Putney. Some time after this had been observed. 
 
HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 a Humble-bee took possession of the nest, and adapted it to hej 
 own purpose. He was unfortunately unable to identify the spe- 
 cies by capturing a specimen, the nest having been destroyed ; 
 but Dr. Bell saw the Bee on one occasion, and observed that it 
 was black, with yellow bands, probably the Bomhus pratorum." 
 
 Moss, however, is the favorite material of the Carder Bees, and, 
 wherever it can be obtained, they will use no other substance, 
 though in places where it is scarce, or not to be found, they em- 
 ploy leaves, grass, or any other suitable material. Whatever 
 may be the material, the Bee always takes great pains to disen- 
 tangle the fibres, in order to be able to weave them in a sys- 
 tematic manner into the nest. This process is conducted by 
 means of the legs, the Bee seizing the fibre with her. fore feet, 
 and passing it under her body by means of the remaining pairs 
 of legs, forming it, as she does so, into a small bundle which can 
 be easily carried off. 
 
 The object of the moss and other substances is very simple. 
 The Carder Bees do not build their nests, like those of many 
 Humble-bees, beneath the surface of the ground, but upon, it, 
 choosing a spot where there is a slight hollow of an inch or two 
 in depth. The moss is then woven so as to form a domed cover 
 to the cells, this dome being of variable dimensions, according to 
 the number of cells which it covers, but seldom reaching more 
 than three or four inches in height above the ground. As in 
 very rainy weather this mossy dome would not be water-proof, 
 the insects line it with a very coarse, dark-colored wax, similar to 
 that of which the breeding cells are made. 
 
 The entrance to the nest is always at the bottom ; for, although 
 the insects will sometimes make an opening at the top, they seem 
 to do so merely for the purpose of admitting air and warmth, and 
 never enter or leave the nest through it, closing it at night or in 
 rainy weather. Generally a. kind of tunnel or arched entrance 
 leads into the nest, like the passage into an Esquimaux snow- 
 house, an edifice to which the moss-covered dome of the Carder 
 Bee bears no small resemblance. 
 
 The best time to search for these Bees is in the hay-making 
 season, when the scythe-men often come upon them during their 
 work ; and a promise of some small reward for this or any other 
 structure will probably produce a tolerable harvest of nests as 
 well as of bay. 
 
PARASITIC NESTS. 487 
 
 CHAPTER XXY. 
 
 PARASITIC NESTS. 
 
 Various Parasites. — Parasitic Birds. — The Cuckoo and its Kin. — The Cow-eied 
 and its Nest. — Size of its Egg. ^-Comparison between the Cuckoo and the Ap- 
 teryx. — The JEpyoenis. — The Blue-faced Honet-eater or Batikin. — Gen>- 
 eral Habits of the Bird. — Singular Mode of Nesting. — The Sparbow-hawk and 
 its parasitic Habits. — The Kestrel, its Quarrel with a Magpie! — The Purple 
 Grakle or Ceow Blackbird. — Its curious Alliance with the Osprey. — Wilson's 
 Account of the two Birds. — The Sparrow as a Parasite. — Curious Behavior of 
 the Stork. — Parasitic Insects. — The Ichmeumon Flies. — The Parasite of the 
 Cabbage Caterpillar. — Its Numbers and Mode of making its Habitation. — 
 Trap-doors of the Cells. — The Australian Cocoon and its Parasites. — The Oak- 
 EGGEE Moth, its Cocoons and Enemies. — The Puss Moth. — Its remarkable Co- 
 coon. — PowerfulJaws of the Parasite. — ^Rubt-tailed Flies and their Victims. — 
 Modes of Usurpation.— The Cuckoo Flies or Tachinae.— Parasites within Pupse. 
 — Parasites on Vegetables. — The Gall Flies and their Home. — British Galls, 
 their Shapes, Structures, and Authors. — Foreign Galls, and their Uses. 
 
 We now pass to another brancli of this inexhaustible subject, 
 and come to those creatures that are indebted to other beings for 
 their homes. In some cases the habitation is simply usurped 
 from the rightful proprietors, who are either driven out by main 
 force or are ousted by gradual encroachment. In other cases 
 the deserted tenement of one animal is seized upon by another, 
 which either inhabits it at once, or makes a few alterations, and 
 so converts it to its own purposes. In many instances, however, 
 the habitation of the parasite is found within the animal itself; 
 and in some cases the entire body forms the habitation of the 
 parasite. 
 
 Several examples of the first description of parasites have al- 
 ready been given under other headings ; for instance, where the 
 puffin invades the rabbit-burrows, and drives out the rabbits by 
 dint of courage and a powerful beak ; or where the Coquimbo 
 owl and rattlesnake take possession of the homes which had been 
 excavated by the prairie dog. Examples of the second descrip- 
 tion of parasites have also been given. The kingfisher, for in- 
 stance, usurps the deserted hole of a water-shrew ; and the hum- 
 ble-bee and wasp usually take advantage of the deserted burrow 
 of some rat or mouse. In the account of the sociable weaver 
 
488 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 bird, mention is also made of certain little green parrots, which 
 are apt to take possession of the great nest, and use it for their 
 own purpose. And in the last chapter an example was mentioned 
 where a carder bee established herself in the deserted nest of a 
 wren, and so saved herself the trouble of fetching materials and 
 building a dome. 
 
 BiEDS of various kinds are notorious parasites, the Cuckoos 
 ranking as chief among them, inasmuch as they make no nest at 
 all, but simply lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, and foist 
 upon them a supposititious offspring, which occupies the entire 
 nest, and monopolizes all the care of its foster-parents. 
 
 All Cuckoos, however, do not possess this habit ; for some of 
 the group build nests which are remarkable for their beauty, and 
 tend their young as carefully as do any birds. The celebrated 
 Honey-finders, for example, which are found in most hot por- 
 tions of the globe, are notable for their skill in architecture. 
 The nests of these birds are pensile, and not unlike those of the 
 African weaver birds, which have already been described. They 
 are made of tough bark, torn into filaments, and are flask-like in 
 shape, hung from the branches of trees, and having their entrance 
 from below. 
 
 Then there is the well-known Cow-bird of America {Coccygus 
 Americanus), which is closely allied to the common cuckoo, and 
 yet which builds its own nest, and rears its own young. " Early 
 in May," writes Wilson, " they begin to pair, when obstinate bat- 
 tles take place among the males. About the 10th of that month 
 they commence building. The nest is usually fixed among the 
 horizontal branches of an apple-tree ; sometimes in a solitary 
 thorn, crab, or cedar, in some retired part of the woods. It is 
 constructed with little art, and scarcely any concavity, of small 
 sticks and twigs, intermixed with green weeds and blossoms of 
 the common maple. On this almost flat bed the eggs, usually 
 three or four in number, are placed ; these are of a uniform green- 
 ish-blue color, and of a size proportionate to that of the bird. 
 
 " While the female is sitting, the male is generally not very 
 far distant, and gives the alarm by his notes when any person 
 is approaching. The female sits so close that you may almost 
 reach her with your hand, and then precipitates herself to the 
 ground, feigning lameness, fluttering, trailing her wings, and tum- 
 bling over, in the manner of the partridge, woodcock, and many 
 
THE ^PYOENIS. 489 
 
 otlier species. Botli parents unite in providing food for the 
 young." 
 
 In this narrative two points are especially worthy of notice. 
 In the first place, the egg of the Cow-bird is proportionate in size 
 to the bird which laid it. Now, one of the most remarkable facts 
 connected with the history of the common cuckoo is, that al- 
 though the bird is as large as a small hawk, its egg is scarcely 
 half as large as that of a thrush or blackbird, as indeed is needful 
 for its admission into the nest of a hedge sparrow or redstart. 
 
 Here, then, we have an example of a bird laying an egg which 
 is extremely small in proportion to its own size, while in the ap- 
 teryx, or kiwi-kiwi of New Zealand, we have an example of a 
 bird laying an egg which is absolutely gigantic in proportion to 
 its own size. The apteryx is not a large bird, certainly not larger 
 than a Gruinea-fowl, and yet its egg looks like that of a swan, and 
 weighs just one quarter as much as the bird which produced it. 
 Thus it is evident that the dimensions of an egg afford no cer- 
 tain criterion respecting .the size of the bird that laid it ; and al- 
 though a large bird usually lays a large egg, and a small bird 
 lays a little one, the cases may be reversed, as in the instance just 
 mentioned. 
 
 All naturalists are familiar with the gigantic egg laid by some 
 bird unknown, and called by the provisional name of JEpyornis, 
 or " tall bird." This egg makes that of the ostrich itself shrink 
 into insignificance, for its lineal measurement is precisely double 
 that of a large ostrich egg, and its cubic bulk is eight times as 
 great. In fact, the sepyornis egg looks as gigantic by the side of 
 an ostrich egg as does an ostrich egg near that of a duck. It was 
 therefore imagined that the aspyornis must be at least eight times 
 as large as the ostrich, and a height of sixteen feet was attributed 
 to the unknown bird. 
 
 Now it is easy to work out this problem by the rule of three, 
 and to give the result in figures ; but when that result is com- 
 pared with existing facts, it becomes startling. On paper, a height 
 of sixteen feet for an ostrich-like bird seems rather gigantic, but 
 does not appear to carry with it any idea of its real magnitude. 
 The height of a very fine ostrich being about seven or eight feet, 
 we say that the sepyornis must be twice as tall as an ostrich, and 
 so dismiss the subject from our minds. But when we come to 
 compare the imaginary bird with actually existing beings, we 
 shall better understand the dimensions of a bird that measured 
 
490 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 sixteen feet in height. Sixteen feet is the average height of the 
 adult girafife, the females varying from thirteen to sixteen feet, 
 and the males from fifteen to eighteen. 
 
 It is impossible to say that there never was a bird as large as 
 a giraffe, but all our present knowledge controverts such an idea. 
 If, however, we keep in mind the comparative dimensions of the 
 apteryx and its egg, we must be prepared to find that the sepyor- 
 nis, although necessarily a large bird, may not be larger than an 
 ostrich, and need not be so large. 
 
 Thus, then, the comparative size of an egg is by no means an 
 unimportant fact in natural history, and the comparison of two 
 such birds as the apteryx and the cuckoo niay at least save us 
 from the danger of generalizing too hastily. 
 
 The second point in the history of the Gow-bird is its love for 
 its young, which is quite equal to the affection that is manifested 
 by the lapwing and other birds that endanger themselves in or- 
 der to draw attention away from their offspring, and directly op- 
 posed to the indifference toward the young which seems to actu- 
 ate the ordinary cuckoo. 
 
 In Australia there is a large group of rather pretty birds, pop- 
 ularly called Honey-eaters, because they feed largely on the sweet 
 juices of many flowers, although the staple of their diet consists 
 of insects. They seem, indeed, to occupy in Australia the posi- 
 tion which is taken in America by the humming-birds, and by 
 the sunbirds of the Old World. To this group belong many fa- 
 miliar and interesting species, such as that which produces a 
 sound like the tinkling of a bell, and is, in consequence, called the 
 Bell Bird ; the different species of Wattle Birds ; the odd, bald- 
 headed Friar Birds, and the splendidly decorated Poe Birds. 
 
 One species of it, which comes in the present section, is the 
 Blue-faced Honey-eater of New South Wales, called by the 
 natives Batikin {Entomyza cyanotis). It is a pretty bird, the 
 plumage being marked boldly with black and white, and a patch 
 of bare skin round the eyes being bright azure. This peculiarity 
 has earned for the bird the specific title of cyanotis, or "blue- 
 eared." 
 
 Like all the Honey-eaters, it is a most lively and interesting 
 bird, and to the careful observer affords an endless fund of amuse- 
 ment. It is never still, but traverses the branches with astonish- 
 ing celerity, skipping from one to another, probing every crevice 
 
THE BLUE-FACED HONEY-BATEE. 
 
 49] 
 
 Honey-eater in Nest. 
 
 with its needle-like tongue, hanging with its head downward, and 
 even suspending itself by a single, claw while it secures a tempt- 
 ing insect. It is generally to be found on the eucalypti, or gum- 
 trees, and is one of the stationary birds, remaining in the same 
 locality throughout the year. 
 
 The generality of the Honey-eaters are skillful architects, but 
 the Batikin seems not to share the ability of its relatives, or, at 
 all events, not to exercise it. Mr. Gould thinks that the bird 
 can hardly depart sb far from usual custom as to be incapable of 
 building a nest, but he has never found such a nest, nor heard 
 of one. The Batikin is one of the parasitic group, usurping the 
 nest of another bird, and taking possession of it in a very curious 
 fashion. 
 
 In Australia there is a bird belonging to the genus Pomatorhi- 
 nus, which somewhat resembles the bee-eater except in plumage, 
 which is quite dull and sober. This bird" builds a large, domed 
 edifice, and appears to make a new nest every year. The desert- 
 ed nests are always usurped by the Batikin, which establishes 
 herself without any trouble. The reader would naturally imag- 
 ine that when the bird finds herself in possession of so large and 
 
492 HOMES ■WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 warm a nest, she will pass into the interior, and hatch her young 
 under the protection of the roof. This plan, however, she does 
 not follow, preferring to take up her abode on the very top of the 
 nest, exposed to all the elements. She takes very little trouble 
 about preparing her hoilie, but merely works a suitable depres- 
 sion upon the soft dome, lays her eggs in it, and there hatches 
 them. 
 
 The reader will remember that there are several birds which 
 form a supplementary nest upon the exterior of the original dom- 
 icile, and the'parasitic nest of the Batikin is evidently an exten- 
 sion of the same principle. 
 
 In England we have many parasitic birds, one of which is the 
 common Sparrow-hawk {Accipiter Nisus), which is in the habit 
 of usurping the nest of the common crow, magpie, or other bird, 
 and laying its handsome eggs therein. 
 
 "Whether it forcibly drives away the rightful owner, or whether 
 it contents itself with a nest which has already been abandoned, 
 is not precisely known, different naturalists inclining to opposite 
 opinions. In all probability, therefore, both disputants are right, 
 and the Sparrow-hawk takes a deserted nest when it can find 
 one, and, when it can not do so, attacks birds which are in actual 
 possession of a suitable nest, and takes possession of their home. 
 In such a case the combat must be a sharp one, for both crow 
 and magpie are courageous birds, nothing inferior in determina- 
 tion to their assailant, and armed with bUls which are much 
 larger, and quite as formidable as that of the Sparrow-hawk. 
 
 The Kestrel {Tinnunculus alaudarius) is also in the habit of 
 laying its eggs in the nests of other birds, and may possibly eject 
 the rightful owner by main force. This opinion is rendered 
 probable by a fact mentioned by Mr. Peachey in the " Zoologist." 
 A man was passing a tree, and hearing a loud screaming proceed- 
 ing from a nest at the summit, he had the curiosity to climb the 
 tree. The screams still continued, and on putting his hand into 
 the nest, he found two birds struggling, the uppermost of which 
 he caught. This proved to be a Kestrel ; and, as soon as it was 
 secured, the other bird, which was a magpie, flew out, evidently 
 having been worsted by its antagonist. 
 
 Then there is the well-known Starling {8turnus vulgaris), 
 which is a notably parasitic bird, delighting to take the nests of 
 the jackdaw, pigeon, and other birds, and to use them as its own. 
 
THE PURPLE GEAKLB. 493 
 
 » ■ 
 
 Every one who has a dovecote knows how apt are the Starlings 
 to usurp the boxes intended for the pigeons, and how, in conse- 
 quence, it is accused of killing the young of the pigeons and suck- 
 ing their eggs, two accusations which I believe to be wholly false. 
 Were the Starlings to be thus predaceoiis, the pigeons would be 
 quite aware of their depredations, and would appear greatly dis- 
 turbed whenever the robbers were seen. As, however, the pig- 
 eons in one box live in perfect amity with the Starlings in the 
 next, it is very unlikely that the latter birds prey in any way 
 upon the former. 
 
 There is a. group of birds which are popularly called Grakles, 
 and are scientifically known as Quiscalinse. They are also called 
 Boat-tails, because their tail-feathers are formed so as to take the 
 shape of a canoe. One species, the Purple Geakle, or Ceow 
 Blackbird {Quiscalus versicolor), is conspicuous as a parasitic 
 bird, and selects a most extraordinary spot for its nest. 
 
 Generally the predaceous birds are avoided and feared by the 
 rest of the feathered tribes, and if a hawk or eagle show itself, the 
 smaller birds either hide themselves, or try to drive away the in- 
 truder by force of numbers or swiftness of wing. The Purple 
 Grakle, however, is devoid of such fears — at all events, as far as 
 one species of predaceous bird is concerned, and boldly takes up 
 its abode with the osprey or fish-hawk {Pandion haliaetiis.) 
 
 The nest of the osprey is a very large edifice, made of sticks,, 
 grass, sea-weed, leaves, and similar materials. The foundations 
 are made by sticks almost as thick as broom-handles, and some 
 two or three feet in length, on which are piled smaller sticks, un- 
 til a heap some four or five feet in height is made. Interwoven 
 with the sticks are stalks of corn and various herbs, the larger 
 sea- weeds and large pieces of grass, the whole mass being a good 
 load for an ordinary cart, and as much as a horse can' be reason- 
 ably expected to draw. The bird retains the nest year after year, 
 and, as has been shown fi-om actual observation, the same spot 
 has been occupied for so long a term that the branches of the 
 tree became rotten, and the nest fell to the ground. In this case 
 it is evident that a succession of birds must have occupied the 
 same nest. 
 
 It has been observed that whenever a tree is occupied by the 
 osprey, it dies in a short time, though no one is aware of the pre- 
 cise nature of the injury which kills it. Some persons say that 
 
494 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 the fish-oil which is spilled by the birds is the cause of death ; 
 but when we remember that there is no better manure than fish, 
 we can hardly believe that the alleged cause is the real one. 
 Other persons think that the real cause of death is the huge mass 
 of decaying vegetable and animal substances which is placed on 
 the branches, and that the drippings from the nest fall into casual 
 interstices of the branches, and gradually kill it from above down- 
 ward. So firmly are the materials fastened together, that when a 
 tree falls on which an osprey nest is built, large masses of the nest 
 hold together in spite of the shock. 
 
 The construction of the osprey nest has been described some- 
 what at length, because the manner in which the Purple Grakle 
 becomes a parasite could not be understood unless the structure 
 of the nest were comprehended. 
 
 As the sticks of which the foundation of the nest are made 
 are very large, and not regular in form, considerable interstices 
 are left between them, and in such spots the Grrakle chooses to 
 nidificate. 
 
 In writing of the osprey, Wilson remarks as follows : " There 
 is one singular trait in the character of this bird which is men- 
 tioned in treating of the Purple Grakle, and which I have had 
 many opportunities of witnessing. The Grakles, or Crow Black- 
 birds, are permitted by the fish-hawk to build their nests among 
 the interstices of the sticks of which its own is constructed — sev- 
 eral pairs "of Grakles taking up their abode there, like humble 
 vassals around the castle of their chief — laying, hatching their 
 young, and living together in mutual harmony. I have found 
 no less than four of these nests clustered round the sides of the 
 former, and a fifth fixed on the nearest branch of the adjoining 
 tree, as if the proprietor of this last, unable to find an unoccu- 
 pied corner on the premises, had been anxious to share, as much 
 as possible, the company and protection of this generous bird." 
 In another place, the same writer remarks that the, curious allies 
 "mutually watch and protect each other's property from depre- 
 dators." 
 
 These Grakles exist in great numbers, and sweep over the land 
 in vast flocks, like our own starlings, their wings sounding like 
 the blast of a tempest as they rise from the ground, and their bod- 
 ies darkening the air. "A few miles from the banks of the Eo- 
 anoke, on the 20th of January, I met with one of these prodigious 
 armies of Grakles. They rose from the surrounding fields with 
 
THE SPAEEOW. 495 
 
 a noise like thunder, and, descending on the length of road before 
 me, covered it and all the fences completely with black ; and 
 when they again rose, and, after a few evolutions, descended on 
 the skirts of the high timbered woods, they produced a most sin- 
 gular and striking effect, the whole trees, for a considerable ex- 
 tent, seeming as if hung in mourning ; their notes and screaming 
 the mean while resembling the distant sound of a great cataract, 
 but in more musical cadence, swelling and dying away on the ear 
 according to the fluctuations of the breeze." 
 
 It is evident that such vast multitudes of birds can not all 
 have been nurtured in the interstices of osprey nests. Indeed, 
 the generality of the birds build in tall trees, usually associating 
 together, so that fifteen or twenty nests are made in the same 
 tree. The nests are well and carefully made of mud, roots, and 
 grasses, about four inches in depth, and warmly lined with horse- 
 hair and very fine grasses. The fact that the bird possesses this 
 capability of nest-building gives more interest to the occasional 
 habit of sharing its home with the osprey, a privilege of which it 
 seems to avail itself whenever an osprey's nest is within reach. 
 
 The color of this bird appears at a little distance to be black, 
 but is, in reality, a very deep purple, changing in different lights 
 to green, violet, and copper, and having a glossy sheen like that 
 of satin. 
 
 OuE little friend the Spaerow {Passer domesiicus) is occasion- 
 ally a parasite, following to some extent the custom of the purple 
 grakle, though it does not select a bird of prey for its companion. 
 
 On the Continent, the common Stork builds largely, and in 
 several countries is protected by general consent, the slaughter 
 of a stork, or the destruction of its nest and eggs, being visited 
 with a heavy fine. In consequence of this immunity, the Stork 
 is very tame, building upon houses as freely as does the martin, 
 and being considered SS a bringer of good luck when it does so. 
 
 Any disused chimney is sure to have a stork's nest upon the 
 top, and so is a pillar, or any ruin. The nest of the stork befars 
 a general resemblance to that of the osprey, and, with the excep- 
 tion of the sea-weed, is made of similar materials. It is of huge 
 dimensions, and chiefly consists of sticks and reeds, heaped to- 
 gether without much arrangement, and having on the top a 
 slight depression, in which the eggs are laid. As in the case 
 with the osprey nest, considerable interstices are left between the 
 
496 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 sticks, and in these spots the Sparrow loves to place its nest. 
 Mr. P. Keyl has told me that he has repeatedly seen the Storks 
 and Sparrows thus living in amity together, the stork appearing 
 to extend to a weaker bird that protection which it receives from 
 mankind. 
 
 We now pass to the Parasitic Insects. As this work is intend- 
 ed to describe dwellings which are in some way formed by the 
 creatures, it is necessary to exclude all the parasite insects that 
 may exist upon the animal, and make no habitation, such as the 
 ticks, as well as those which are merely parasitic within the ani- 
 mal, such as the various entozoa. 
 
 Of Parasitic Insects, the greater number belong to that group 
 of hymenoptera which is called Ichneumonidse, and which em- 
 braces a number of species equal to all the other groups of the 
 same order. Being desirous of producing, as far as possible, those 
 examples of insects which have not been figured, I have selected 
 for illustration several specimens which are now in the British 
 Museum, one or two of which have only been recently placed in 
 that collection. 
 
 The best known of all the Ichneumonidse is that tiny creature 
 called Microgdster glomeratus, of which a casual mention has al- 
 ready been made in page 289. 
 
 A group of these insects and their cells is now before me, and 
 will be briefly described. 
 
 The insects themselves much resemble in general form the Bur- 
 net Ichneumon, which is mentioned on pp. 290, 292, but are 
 smaller, blacker, and not nearly so beautiful, although their wings 
 gleam with an iridescence nearly as brilliant. Small as it is, this 
 tiny insect is extremely valuable to us, and to the gardener is 
 beyond all value, though, as a general rule, the gardener knows 
 nothing about it. Were it not for this •ichneumon, we should 
 scarcely have a cabbage or a cauliflower in the garden ; for the 
 noisome cabbage caterpillars would destroy every leaf of the pres- 
 ent plant, and nip the growth of every bud which gave promise 
 for the future. 
 
 Every one knows the peculiarly offensive caterpillars which 
 eat the cabbages, and which are the offspring of the common 
 large white butterfly. In the spring the butterflies may be seen 
 flitting about the gardens, settling on the cabbages for a few mo- 
 
THE lOEDSrEUMOlT FLIES. 
 
 49^ 
 
 Parasitic Insects. 
 
 Cocoon of Oak-egger Moth 
 
 iCryptua /umipennis). 
 
 Cocoon of Fuss Moth 
 
 iPcmiecua glaucopterus). 
 
 Cocoon from New South Wales 
 iPimpla). 
 Cocoon of Goat Moth 
 iLamproaa setosa). 
 
 ments, and then flying off again. They look very pretty, harm- 
 less creatures, but, in fact, they are doing all the harm that lies in 
 their power. Forty or fifty eggs are thus laid on a plant, and if 
 only one quarter of the number are hatched, they are quite capa- 
 ble of eating every leaf. In process of time they burst from the 
 egg-shell and commence their "business of eating, which is carried 
 on without cessation throughout the whole time of the larval ex- 
 istence, with a few short intervals, while they change their skins. 
 When they are full grown they crawl away from the plant to 
 some retired spot, and there suspend themselves, preparatory to 
 changing into the pupal condition. A few of them succeed in 
 this task, but the greater number never achieve the feat, having 
 been the unwilling nourishers of the ichneumon flies. Just be- 
 fore the larva is about to pass into the pupal state, a number of 
 whitish grubs burst from its sides, and each immediately sets to 
 work at spinning a little yellow oval cocoon. The walls of the 
 cocoon are hard and smooth, especially in the interior; but the 
 outside is covered with loose floss-silk, which serves to bind all 
 the cocoons together. Generally they are very loosely connect- 
 ed ; but h group of these little objects is now before me, where 
 the cocoons are formed into a flattish oval mass, about the size 
 
 II 
 
498 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 and shape of a scarlet-runner bean, split longitudinally, and are 
 bound so tigbtly together that their shape can barely be distin- 
 guished through the enveloping threads. 
 
 As is the case with the cells of the Burnet ichneumon, each cell 
 is furnished with a little circular door, which exactly resembles in 
 shape and dimensions the circular pieces of paper that are punch- 
 ed out of the edges of postage-stamps. On the average, about 
 sixty or seventy ichneumon flies are produced from a single cab- 
 bage caterpillar. 
 
 The groups of yellow cells are very plentiful toward the mid- 
 dle of summer and the beginning of autumn, and may be found 
 on walls, palings, the trunks of trees, in outhouses, and, in fact, in 
 every place which affords shelter to the caterpillar. Nothing is 
 easier than to procure the insects from the cocoons, as the yellow 
 mass needs only to be put into a box, with a piece of gauze tied 
 over it by way of a cover. Nearly every cocoon will produce its 
 ichneumon, and as the little creatures are not strong-jawed enough 
 to bite through the gauze, they can all be secured. 
 
 There are many species of Microgaster ; but those which have 
 been mentioned are the most important, and make the most inter- 
 esting habitations. 
 
 The large oval cocoon was brought from New South Wales, 
 and is evidently the produce of some lepidopterous insect, proba- 
 bly a moth allied to the silkworm. Upon the larva which con- 
 structed the cocoon an ichneumon "has laid her eggs, and the con- 
 sequence has been that the caterpillar has been unable to change 
 into the pupal condition, but has succumbed to the parasites 
 which infested it. These insects are not of minute dimensions, 
 like the Microgaster, but are tolerably large, and, in consequence, 
 can be but few in number. The cells are very irregular in shape, 
 and are not rounded like those of many Ichneumonidse, but have 
 angular edges. 
 
 In this, and in one or two other examples which are shown in 
 the illustration, the reader will note a peculiarity in the develop- 
 ment of the parasite. The Microgaster larvae emerge from the 
 .caterpillar just before it undergoes its change into the pupal con- 
 dition, and effectually prevent that change by killing the creature 
 in which they had been nurtured. But, in many instances, the 
 ichneumon larva delays its escape until the caterpillar has com- 
 pleted its cocoon, and in some cases waits until the change into 
 
THE OAK-EGGER MOTH^THE PUSS MOTH. 499 
 
 the pupal state has been achieved. In the present, example, the 
 larva has permitted the cocoon to be made, and then killed the 
 caterpillar, the reason of this delay being that the cocoon is very 
 firm and strong, and affords an impregnable shelter to the para- 
 site. The names of the Parasites are placed beneath the cocoons. 
 
 Within the same case there are several cocoons in which a 
 similar calamity has befallen the caterpillars which made them. 
 There is, for example, a cocoon of the Oak-egger Moth {Lasio- 
 cam/pa quercus), the interior of which resembles that of the insect 
 which has just been described, except that the cells of the parasite 
 are more numerous. This species of caterpillar is peculiarly sub- 
 ject to the attacks of the ichneumon flies, as is well known to all 
 practical entomologists, who lose many of their carefully-bred 
 specimens by means of these insects. 
 
 There is also one of the winter cocoons of the Goat Moth cat- 
 erpillar, the inmate of which has been pierced by the ichneumon 
 fly, and killed by its young. As the species of ichneumon is a 
 large one, only a single individual was produced, and, as may be 
 seen from the cell of the parasite which is placed by the side of 
 its victim, the habitation of the ichneumon is so large that it must 
 have occupied nearly the entire cocoon of the dead caterpillar. 
 
 In another room, placed among the series of British moths, is a 
 cocoon of a Puss Moth {Gerura vinula) which has been occupied 
 by two ichneumon larv3e. 
 
 If the reader should happen to know the cocoon of this moth, 
 he will remember that it is made of wood scrapings, glued togeth^ 
 er with a cement secreted by the insect, and that its walls are so 
 hard that a tolerably strong knife is required in order to cut it 
 ojpen. That the eggs of a parasite should be introduced into the 
 body of the larva is not an extraordinary circumstance, but that 
 the perfect insects should be able to make their way out of such 
 a cocoon is really wonderful. The interior of this cell is hard 
 and smooth as if made of polished ebony, and its concavity ren- 
 ders it more dif&cult of penetration. Yet these singular insects 
 contrive to make their way through the sturdy walls. 
 
 The ichneumons which usually attack the Puss Moth are rath- 
 er large insects, belonging to the genus Ophion, and have long, 
 slender, curved abdomens, and long antennae slightly twisted at 
 the ends. The color is orange, diversified with black. Those 
 
500 HOMES "WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 which have made their cells in the above-mentioned cocoon be- 
 long to the species called Paniscus glaucopiems, and are of a yel- 
 lowish hue. It sometimes happens that the insects fail in making 
 their way through the cell walls and die in the interior. This ac- 
 cident, however, seems chiefly to befall the ichneumons produced 
 in cocoons which are kept in houses for the purpose of breeding 
 the Puss Moth, and which are, in consequence, harder and more 
 dry than those which remain in the open air, adhering to the 
 trunks of trees. 
 
 Those splendid insects which are popularly called Euby-tail- 
 ED Flies, or Fieetails, and scientifically are termed Chrysididce, 
 are also to be numbered among the parasitic insects. 
 
 They make no nests for themselves, but intrude upon those of 
 various mason and mining bees, and several other insects. The 
 Firetail does not, however, lay its eggs in the body of the larva, 
 but makes its way into the nest while the rightful owner is ab- 
 sent, and places an egg near that of the bee. The egg of the par- 
 asite is sometimes hatched at the same time with that of the bee, 
 but generally later. In the first instance, the larva feeds on the 
 provisions which were supplied for the bee, and so starves the 
 poor creature to death ; and in the latter case, it is not hatched 
 until the young bee is large and fat, and capable of aflfording am- 
 ple subsistence to the parasite, which fastens upon it and devours 
 all the after portions. 
 
 Then there are the Cuckoo Flies {Tachince), which bear some 
 resemblance to the common house-fly, but which are parasitic, 
 feeding on the larvae of other insects, and selecting the same spe- 
 cies which are persecuted by the firetails. When the Tachina 
 larva has eaten that of the mason bee, it forms an oval cocoon, 
 and there remains until the time for becoming a perfect insect. 
 A single larva of the mason bee seems to be sufScient for the 
 Tachina grub, as Mr. Eennie has recorded an instance where two 
 larvae of the mason bee were in a nest into which a single egg of 
 the Tachinse had been introduced. The parasitic larva devoured 
 one of the rightful inhabitants, but did not touch the other, and 
 the cocoons of the bee and the Tachina were formed side by side. 
 
 Sometimes, as has already been mentioned, the chrysalis itself 
 of a lepidopterous insept becomes the home of the parasite. I 
 have found the pupae of various butterflies absolutely filled with 
 
BRITISH GALLS. 
 
 501 
 
 tiny ichneumon flies of the most brilliant colors ; and in the Brit- 
 ish Museum there is an excellent example of a chrysalis, which 
 has been filled by a single ichneumon fly, of such a size that the 
 little chrysalis from which it was taken seems scarcely capable of 
 holding it and its cocoon. 
 
 We now pass to a remarkable series of insects belonging to the 
 same order as the ichneumons, but parasitic upon vegetables and 
 not on animals. Their scientific name is Cynipidm, and they are 
 popularly known as GtALL Flies, because they cause those singu- 
 lar excrescences which are so familiar to us under the name of 
 Grails. This group comprises a vast number of species, all of 
 which have a strong family resemblance, though they greatly dif- 
 fer from each other in size, form, and color. 
 
 British Galls. 
 
 Leaf Galls of Oak. Bedeguar of Rose. 
 
 Cynipa i^ollari (slightly magnified). 
 Oak Apple. 
 
 Galls of Cynipa Eollari, 
 Currant Galls of Oak. 
 
 In the accompanying illustration are given several examples 
 of British Galls, most of which are tolerably common in this coun- 
 try, and some of which can be found in plenty. 
 
502 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 In tiie left-hand upper comer of the illustration is a figure of 
 an oak leaf, upon which are, two globular projections. These are 
 the well-known "cherry galls," which are made by a little insect 
 called Cynips quercus -Join. They are beautifully colored, some 
 being entirely scarlet, while others are white, orange, and red, in 
 various gradations, something like the color of a nearly ripe peach, 
 or those of a Newtown pippin. Perhaps they bear more resem- 
 blance to the apple than to the peach, because their surface is high- 
 ly polished and shining, much like that of the American apple. 
 
 These galls may be found in profusion upon the oak leaves, and 
 are most plentiful upon pollard oaks, upon the youngest trees, or 
 upon the oak underwood that sprouts around a felled trunk. In 
 such cases the leaves are much larger, and fuller of juice than 
 those which spring from adult trees, and the developmelit of the 
 gall is proportionately increased. Wherever there is a thick 
 growth of oaken underwood, the numberless galls which stud the 
 leaves have a remarkably beautiful effect, provided that the ob- 
 server, lies on the ground, or stoops sufficiently low to perceive 
 the under surface of the leaves, to which the galls are attached. 
 
 If one of the galls be cut open with a knife, it will be found to 
 consist of a soft pulpy substance, fuller of juice than an apple, and 
 somewhat resembling the consistence of a hothouse grape. In the 
 very centre of the soft mass the knife will meet with resistance in 
 the shape of a globular cell of hard woody texture, and in the 
 middle of the cell will be found a tiny grub, perfectly white, very 
 fat, somewhat resembling the grub of the humble-bee, and curved 
 so as to fit the globular cell in which it lies. This is the little 
 being for whose benefit the gall was formed, and the little white 
 grub feeds on the juices of the gall, precisely as the larva of the 
 ichneumon fly feeds on the soft portions of the insect in which it 
 temporarily resides. 
 
 On seeing the little creature thus snugly ensconced in the re- 
 ceptacle which serves it at once for board and lodging, a question 
 naturally arises as to the manner in which it was placed there. 
 No aperture is perceptible in the gall, not a hole through which 
 air can reach the inclosed larva, which must, therefore, be capable 
 of existing without more air than can pass through the minute 
 pores of the vegetable substance in which it lies, or must be able 
 to respire by means of the oxygen which is given out by living 
 plants. 
 
 The question, indeed, is very like the well-known query as to 
 
BEITISH GALLS. 503 
 
 the manner in which a model of a wagon and four horses can find 
 its way into a bottle, the neck of which is so small as to prevent 
 even the head of the wagoner from passing. The answer is sim- 
 ilar in both cases. The bottle was ingeniously blown over the 
 wagon and horses, and the gall was formed around the grub. 
 
 When the leaf is in its full juiciness, and the sap is coursing 
 freely through its textures, a little black insect comes and settles 
 upon the leaf She is scarcely as large as a garden ant, but has 
 four powerful and handsome wings, which can be used with much 
 agility. An entomologist, on seeing her, would at once pronounce 
 her to belong to the order Hymenoptera, and to be closely allied 
 to the ichneumon flies which have just been described. 
 
 Eunning to and fro upon the leaf, she fixes upon one of the 
 nervures, and there remains for a short time, evidently busy about 
 some task, which is very important to her, but which her minute 
 size renders impossible to be observed^with the naked eye. If, 
 however, a magnifying-glass be applied very carefully to the leaf, 
 the following process will be seen. 
 
 From the abdomen there projects a tiny hair-like ovrpositor, 
 which is coiled in such a manner that it can be protruded to a 
 considerable length. This ovipositor is thrust into the leaf; so as 
 to produce a hole, which is widened by the action of the boring 
 instrument. Presently the blades of the ovipositor separate, and 
 a single egg is seen to pass between them, so that it is lodged at 
 the bottom. of the hole. Into the same aperture is then poured a 
 slight quantity of an irritating fluid, and the insect flies away, hav- 
 ing completed her task. The whole proceeding, indeed, is, with 
 the exception of the deposition of the egg, precisely the same as 
 that which takes place when a wasp uses its sting, the ovipositor 
 and sting being but two slightly different forms of the same or- 
 gan, and the irritating fluid of the cynips being analogous to the 
 poison of the wasp. 
 
 The effect of the wound is very remarkable. The irritating 
 fluid which has been projected into the leaf has a singular effect 
 upon its tissues, altering their nature, and developing them into 
 cells filled with fluid. As long as the leaf continues to grow, the 
 gall continues to swell, until it reaches its full size, which is neces- 
 sarily variable, being dependent on that of the leaf I have, for 
 example, many specimens of these galls, of different sizes, from 
 which the insects have escaped, showing that they had attained 
 their full size. On the juices of the gall the inclosed insect lives 
 
504 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 until it reaches its full term of imprisonment, when it eats its way 
 through the gall and emerges into the world. In some cases it 
 undergoes the whole of its change within the gall, but in others it 
 makes its way out while still in the larval state, burrows into the 
 earth, and there changes into the piipal and perfect forms. 
 
 To the unassisted eye, the insect which forms the leaf gall pre- 
 sents no especial attractioo, as it is simply, to all appearance, a 
 little black fly. When placed under the microscope, however, it 
 soon proves to be a really beautiful creature, though not possess- 
 ing the brilliant and gem-like hues which distinguish many of its 
 relatives. The body still retains its blackness, but has a soft tint 
 on account of the white and shining hairs with which it is thickly 
 studded. The eyes are large, stand boldly from the head, and the 
 many lenses of which these organs are composed are so boldly 
 defined, that even in so small an insect they can be distinguished 
 with a very low power of the microscope. Indeed, the inch and a 
 half object-glass is quite powerful enough to define them, while the 
 half-inch glass makes them look like the pits in a lady's thimble. 
 
 The chief beauty of the insect, however, lies in the wings, which 
 are very large in proportion to the size of the owner, are traversed 
 by a few, but strong nervures, and glow with a changeful radiant 
 lustre, like mother-of-pearl illuminated with living light. In or- 
 der to see these wings properly, the insect should be laid on some 
 black substance, and the light concentrated upon them by the va- 
 rious means which a microscopist can always employ. 
 
 The oak is a tree that seems to be especially loved by gall in- 
 sects, which deposit their eggs in its leaves, its twigs, it^ flowers, 
 and even in its roots. One of the most familiar examples of oak 
 galls is that which is called the pak apple, and which is produced 
 by a species of insect called Cynips terminalis. Although the in- 
 sect is not of very great size, the gall which it produces is some- 
 times enormous, being as large as a common golden pippin or 
 nonpareil apple, and therefore very conspicuous upon the tree. 
 It is colored in the same manner as the cherry gall, but seldom so 
 brilliantly, and the exterior is not so smooth and polished. 
 
 The resemblance to a veritable fruit is much closer at the be' 
 ginning of the season than in the autumn, as a number of small 
 leaf-like projections surround its base, just as if they were a half- 
 withered calyx. These, however, fall off as the summer advances, 
 and are no more seen. 
 
OAK APPLES. 505 
 
 If the oak apple be cut with a knife, the first touch of the steel 
 betrays a marked difference between its substance and that of the 
 cherry gall. Its texture is neither so firm nor so juicy, but. is of a 
 softer, drier, and more woolly character. Moreover, the knife 
 passes through several resisting substances, which, when the gall 
 is quite severed, prove to be separate cells, each containing a grub. 
 From each of these cells, which are es^ctremely variable in num- 
 ber, a kind of fibre runs toward the base of the gall, and it is the 
 opinion of some naturalists that these fibres are in fact the ner- 
 vures of leaves which would have sprung from the bud in which 
 the gall-fly has deposited her eggs, and which, in consequence of 
 the irritating fluid injected into the tree, are obliged to develop 
 themselves in a new manner. 
 
 To procure the insects of this and many other galls is no very 
 difficult task. The branch to which they adhere should be cut 
 off, and placed in a bottle of water, and a piece of very fine gauze 
 tied net-wise over it. The insects, although they can eat their 
 way out of the gall in which they have been bred, never seem to 
 think of subjecting the gauze to the same process, and therefore 
 can be always secured. It is needful, however, to procure galls 
 which are tolerably near their full age, as a branch can only be 
 kept alive for a limited time, and if the supply of nourishment be 
 cut off by the death of the branch, the inclosed insect becomes 
 stunted, if not deformed. 
 
 The galls produced by Cynips terminalis are those which are 
 so greatly in request upon the twenty-ninth of May, and which, 
 when covered with gold leaf, are the standards under which the 
 country boys are in the habit of levying contributions. A figure 
 of this gall is seen in the illustration. 
 
 Some years ago, when I was calling at the office of the Field 
 newspaper, then recently started in its race for popularity, I was 
 shown some oak branches containing a vast number of hard, 
 woody, spherical galls, and asked if I could tell the name of the 
 insect which had produced them. They had recently made their 
 aippearance in the country, and no one knew any thing about; 
 them. A branch beset with these galls is shown in the right- 
 hand upper corner of the illustration, the figures being necessari- 
 ly much reduced. 
 
 I was totally unacquainted with them, but in the following 
 year found m^ny of them on Shooter's Hill, in Kent, where the 
 
506 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 growth of oaks is very dense. At the present day they have in- 
 creased so rapidly that they outnumber almost every species, if 
 we except the tiny spangle galls, and I have bred great quanti- 
 ties of the insect The creature which made them is named 
 Gynips Kollari, in honor of the celebrated entomologist, and is 
 plentiful on the Continent. I believe that it has long been known 
 in Devonshire, though in !5^ent it has only recently made its ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 The galls produced by this insect are wonderfully spherical, of 
 a brown color; smooth on the exterior, and about as large as 
 white-heart cherries. Each contains a single insect, which "under- 
 goes all its changes within the gall, and eats its way out when it 
 has attained the perfect form. Occasionally two galls become 
 fused together, and in my collection there is a very curious ex- 
 ample of these twin galls. They form a figure like that of a rude 
 hour-glass, and each portion has contained an insect. The inhab- 
 itant of one portion has eaten its way out and escaped, but the 
 other has met with a singular fate. By some untoward error, it 
 has taken a wrong direction, and instead of issuing into the world 
 in the ordinary way, has hit upon the neck which connects the 
 two galls, so that, instead of merely piercing half the diameter of 
 the gall, it would have been forced to gnaw a passage equal to 
 three half diameters. 
 
 Natural powers are always adjusted to the work which their 
 possessors have to perform. The insect was gifted with the ca- 
 pability of eating her way -through the walls of her own habita- 
 tion, but not with the power of making a passage through another 
 gall afterward. As a natural consequence, she has died from ex- 
 haustion before she could emerge into the air; and when I cut 
 the double gall, in order to see how the inmates had fared, I found 
 the dead insect lying near the middle of the second gall, so that 
 she was even farther from the outer air than when she started on 
 her course. 
 
 The Gynips Kollari is larger than the generality of the family, 
 equaling a small house-fly in dimensions. Its. color is pale brown. 
 A figure of the insect may be seen in the illustration. 
 
 Neaely in the centre of the illustration is seen a figure of the 
 well-known gall that is so common on the rose, whether wild or 
 cultivated, and which is popularly known by the name of Bede- 
 GUAB. This gall is caused by a very tiny and very brilliantly- 
 
ROSE CALLS. 507 
 
 'colored insect, named Oynips rosea, whicli selects the tender twigs 
 of roses, and deposits its eggs upon them. 
 
 I have now before me quite a collection of these galls, some of 
 which are so variable in shape that they scarcely seem to have 
 been made by the same species of insect. When the Cynips rosee 
 deposits her eggs upon the rose, the effects are rather remarkable. 
 Bach egg becomes surrounded with its own cell or gall, and the 
 whole of them become fused into one mass. The exterior of these 
 galls is not smooth, like that of the specimens which have been 
 described, but is covered with long, many-branched hairs, which 
 stand out so thickly that they entirely conceal the form of the 
 gall itself. 
 
 E^aumur, who gave much attention to galls, thought that the 
 hairs were formed by the exudation of sap through little orifices 
 in the growing gall, just as the web of the spider is formed by the 
 exudation of a. glutinous liquid from minute pores. This theory, 
 however, is scarcely tenable, because sap has no power of hard- 
 ening into threads when exposed to the air, and, besides, a well- 
 defined vegetable structure is seen in the hairs, which would not 
 be the case if they were merely hardened sap. Moreover, if the 
 hairs were formed in this manner, they could not have the power 
 of throwing out the tiny branchlets with which they are studded, 
 or of ramifying like the bough of a tree, as is often the case with 
 them. ' 
 
 The number of galls in a single Bedeguar is mostly very great. 
 A specimen of average size, taken at random from the drawer in 
 which the galls are kept, was, when fCilly clothed, as large as a 
 golden pippin. When the hairy clothing was removed, its size 
 notably diminished, and it was then seen to be composed of a large 
 number of woody tubercles, varying much in size and shape. 
 Their average dimensions, however, are about equal to those of an 
 ordinary pea. The tubercles in question are fused together more 
 or less strongly, some falling off at a slight touch, while others 
 can not be separated without the use of the knife. There are 
 about thirty -five of .these wooden knobs. 
 
 On selecting one of the knobs, and examining it, a few very 
 small circular holes are seen, showing that the insects have made 
 their escape from the cells. Indeed, one or two of the insects 
 were found entangled amid the dry and crisp hairs that surround- 
 ed the gall, and which formed a second barrier, which they could 
 not penetrate. When, however, a sharp knife is carefully used, 
 
508 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 the woody tubercle can be laid open in several directions, and 
 then proves to be a congeries of cells fused together into one 
 mass, and varying from four to twenty in number, acccording to 
 the size of the insect. Perhaps, on an average, ten cells may be 
 reckoned in each knob. 
 
 In many of the cells the perfect insect may be found, the death 
 of the rose-branch, and the consequent deprivation of sap, having 
 so hardened the walls of the cells that the inmates have been un- 
 able to make their way out. In other cells may be seen certain 
 odd little objects, amber-colored, hard, shining, and appearing to 
 the unaided eye to be nearly spherical. They are about as large 
 as dust-shot. For a long time I could not satisfy myself about 
 them, not being able clearly to ascertain whether they were de- 
 ceased insects or merely hardened sap. That they were probably 
 of insect origin was evident from the, fact that they were always 
 found in cells which had no opening, and from which the insect 
 had not escaped. 
 
 At last, however, one of them happened to lie on the paper so 
 that it could be well illuminated, and then the whole mystery was 
 unfolded. These strange little objects were the pupae of the in- 
 sects, which had died in the cells, and shriveled up into the singu- 
 lar forms which have been described. 
 
 The cells are of different sizes, some being more than ten times 
 as large as others. The superior dimensions of the cell seem to 
 be obtained at the expense of the walls, so that the large cells can 
 be broken by the finger and thumb, while the small cells can not 
 be opened without the knife. 
 
 The insects themselves are equally variable, some being mere 
 dots of shining blue and green, while others are about as large as 
 the common red ant of the gardens, but with plumper bodies. In 
 consequence of these two facts, the large, strong-jawed insect can 
 easily make its way through the comparatively thin walls of the 
 large cell in which it was inclosed, while the small and necessarily 
 weak-jawed specimens are utterly unable to pierce the walls of 
 their cells, which are so thick that they must .bore a hole equal in 
 length to that of their whole body before they can escape into the 
 air. Consequently, the great mass of the insects that are found 
 in the cells are the small specimens, the larger having made their 
 escape. I find that on an average twenty small insects are thus 
 found in proportion to one of the larger kind. 
 
 Nothing is easier than the rearing of insects from this as well 
 
ROSE GALLS. 509 
 
 -as other galls, but to decide upon the species which make them is 
 by no means so easy a task as appears on the surface. Even 
 should the experimenter find the right species of insect in the 
 gauze bag, he has to go through the wearisome task of searching 
 through the family of Cynipidae, and 'identifying the species — a 
 process which every entomologist is rather apt to postpQne until 
 the visionary period when he shall have leisure. 
 
 But it is very probable that the required insect does, not make 
 its appearance at all, and that the little hymenoptera which make 
 their way out of the cells, or are found dead within them, are not 
 the rightful occupants of the galls. For the Cynipidse are as lia- 
 ble to parasites as other insects, and it frequently happens that 
 from a single many-chambered gall will issue insects that sadly 
 puzzle an amateur, as they seem to belong to at least two distinct 
 species. The very gall which has just been, described affords a 
 good ex9,mple of this fact, ibv in some of the chambers are speci- 
 mens of the true Gynips rosoe, and in others are insects which be- 
 long to another family, the Ichneumonidse, which, as the reader 
 may remember, are parasites upon other insects. They have evi- 
 dently introduced their eggs into the cells occupied by the larv» 
 of Gynips rosce, so that the larvae which have been hatched from 
 these eggs have fed upon the legitimate occupants, and come to 
 maturity in the cells that were designed for others. 
 
 Insects of totally different orders sometimes make their appear- 
 ance. When I began to take to pieces the gall which has been 
 described, I was rather surprised to find among the long hairs an 
 empty cocoon of the Galleria moth, whose ravages have been 
 mentioned in an earlier part of the volume. On farther dissect- 
 ing the gall, no less than twelve other cocoons were found, all 
 buried so deeply in the hairs and among the woody cells that 
 they could not be seen until the hairy clothing was removed. A 
 person who was entirely ignorant of entomology might naturally 
 fancy that the moths were the architects of the gall from which 
 they had apparently issued. How they obtained access to the 
 galls, and on what food they lived, are two problems that I can 
 by no means solve. The drawer in which the galls were placed 
 is tightly closed, and all bee, wasp, and hornet combs have been so 
 treated with corrosive sublimate that they have not been touched 
 by the caterpillars from which the moths had been developed. 
 
 There is another gall, very common in England, which is 
 
510 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 found upon the oak, and whicli is generally thought, by persons 
 who are unacquainted with botany or entomology, to be the buds 
 which naturally grow upon the tree. 
 
 In these curious galls, the excrescences with which they are 
 covered take the form of leaves instead of hairs, as is the case 
 with the bedeguar and many other g?ills. These bud-like objects 
 may be found on the young twigs, and may be easily recognized 
 by their shape, which somewhat resembles that of a pine-apple, 
 and the curious manner in ^(rhich their leafy covering lies regu- 
 larly over them, like the tiles upon an ornamental roof. The 
 size of the gall is rather variable, but is, on an average, about as 
 large as an ordinary hazel-nut. 
 
 The gall is so wonderfully bud-like that I have known the two 
 objects to be confounded — the immature acorns in their cups to 
 be carried off as galls, while the real galls were left on the tree. 
 The incipient naturalist who made th^ mistake kept the, buds for 
 some eighteen months, and was sadly disappointed to find that no 
 insects were produced from them. 
 
 The insect whose acrid injection produces this curious effect 
 upon the tree is rather larger than the leaf-gall insect, and is of 
 more slender proportions. It has been suggested that the object 
 of the leafy or hairy covering is, that the insect, which remains 
 in the gall throughout the winter, should have a warm house by 
 which it may be protected from the chilling frost, as well as from 
 the wind and rain. 
 
 If the reader will again refer to the illustration, he will see that 
 from the same branch on which the Gynips Kollari has formed so 
 many galls depend two slender threads supporting one or two 
 globular objects. These are popularly cstlled Cuerant Galls, 
 because they look very much like bunches of currants from which 
 the greater part of the fruit has been removed. Their color, too, 
 is another reason for giving them this name, as they are sometimes 
 scarlet, resembling red currants, and sometimes pale cream-color, 
 thus imitating the white variety. 
 
 These galls are placed upon the catkins of the oak, which are 
 forced to give all their juices to the increase of the gall, instead 
 of employing them on their own development. Some authors 
 think that the insect which forms them is a distinct species, while 
 others think that the galls are the production of the same insect 
 which forms the leaf gall, the punctures being made in the stalk 
 of the catkin and not in the nervure of the leaf. 
 
CURRANT GALLS— Sl^ANGLE GALLS. 511 
 
 That this suppositiou may be correct is evident from the fact 
 that the same insect which forms the oak apples does also deposit 
 its eggs in the root of the same tree, causing large excrescences to 
 spring therefrom, each excrescence being filled with insects. I 
 have often obtained these root-galls, several of which are now be- 
 fore me, some having been cut open, in order to show the numer- 
 ous cells with which they are filled, and others left untouched, in 
 order to exhibit the form of the exterior. Being nourished by 
 the juices of the root, they partake, of the sombre hues which 
 characterize the part of the tree from which they spring, and' do 
 not display any of the colors which are seen on the oak apples 
 which spring from the twigs. 
 
 There are, however, distinct species of gall insects which pierce 
 the roots of the oak-tree. One of them^ is termed Cynips aptera, 
 and makes a pear-shaped gall about one third of an inch in diame- 
 ter. Bach gall contains a single insect, and a number of the galls 
 are often found attached by their narrow end to the root-twigs of 
 the tree, something like a bunch of nuts on a branch. There is 
 another insect which is termed Cynips quercus-radicis, which forms 
 a many-chambered gall of enormous size, containing a small army 
 of insects. Mr. Westcott mentions that one of these galls in his 
 possession was five inches long, one inch and a quarter wide, and 
 produced eleven hundred insects, so that the entire number was 
 probably fourteen or fifteen hundred. 
 
 No one who is accustomed to notice the objects which immedi- 
 ately surround him can have failed to observe the curious little 
 galls which stud the leaves of several trees, and which are appro- 
 priately called Spangle Galls, because they are as circular, and 
 nearly as flat, as metallic spangles. 
 
 These objects had been observed for many years, but no one 
 knew precisely whether their growth was due to animal or vege- 
 table agency. That their substance was vegetable was a fact 
 easily settled, but some botanists thought that they were merely 
 a kind of fungus or lichen, while others supposed that they were 
 the work of some parasitic insect. 
 
 When closely examined, these " spangles" are seen to be disks, 
 very nearly, but not quite flat, fastened to the leaf by a very small 
 and short central foot-stalk. E^aumur set at rest the question of 
 their origin by discovering beneath each of them the larva of 
 some minute insect, but he could not ascertain the insect into 
 
512 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 ■which the larva would in process of time be developed. The 
 task of rearing the- perfect insect from the gall is exceedingly 
 difficult, the minuteness of the species and the peculiar manner in 
 which the development takes place being two obstacles which re- 
 quire a vast expenditure of care and patience before they can be 
 overcome. 
 
 Supposing a branch containing a number of infested leaves to 
 be placed in water and surrounded with gauze, it will die in a 
 week or two, and yet there, will be no sign of ^,n insect. If the 
 branch be kept until the winter has fully set in, the desired in- 
 sects will still be absent, and the experimenter will probably 
 think that his trouble has been thrown away. The real fact is, 
 that the little insects are not developed until the spring of the 
 following year, and that they pass through their stages of the 
 pupal and perfect forms after the leaves have fallen, and while 
 they are still lying on the ground. 
 
 Mr. F. Smith, who has given so much time and research to the 
 history of the Hymenoptera, has discovered the insect that in- 
 habited the galls to be Cynips longipennis, and has remarked that 
 the perfect insects do not make their appearance until the month 
 of March. 
 
 We now pass from the British galls 'to those which are found 
 in various other countries. A few of the more interesting, exam- 
 ples are figured in the accompanying illustration. 
 
 Should the reader have the curiosity to examine for himself 
 the structure of the British galls (as I trust he will do), he will 
 find that when he cuts a juicy specimen, such as that of the leaf 
 gall, his fingers will presently be stained with purple-black. He 
 may wash his hands as much as he likes, but he will not wash 
 away the stain, which soon looks as if it had been produced by 
 spilling ink on the hands. There is reason for such an appear- 
 ance, inasmuch as the staining liquid is really ink, though of a 
 paler hue than that which is used for writing. A little lemon- 
 juice will soon discharge the color, and then the soap and water 
 will remove the last remnants of the stain. 
 
 Ink is made by mixing a solution of the sulphate of iron (prop- 
 erly called green vitriol or copperas) with a decoction of certain 
 oak galls. Perhaps I may mention that a '' decoction" signifies 
 water in which any substance has been submitted to boiling heat, 
 but not dissolved. Tea, for example, is, when properly made, a 
 
INK GALLS. 
 
 513 
 
 Foreign GallB. 
 
 Ink Galls. 
 Hungarian Gall. 
 
 Dead Sea Apple. 
 
 GallB of Cynips polycera. 
 
 decoction of the leaf, though when made with hot, but not boiling 
 water, it has no right to the name. The solution of copperas is 
 only pale green, and that of the gall is nearly colorless, although 
 when mixed they become deeply black. The old practical joke 
 of forcing a dupe to stain his hands and face black depended on 
 the knowledge of these properties. 
 
 Before the victim went to wash his hands, some of the decoction 
 of galls was poured into the water, while the towel with which 
 he was supplied had been damped with the copperas solution 
 and then dried. The consequence of this combination was, that 
 although the hands and face might be washed perfectly clean, 
 yet, as soon as they were dried with the prepared towel, the union 
 of the two substances produced ink, and both hands and face were 
 deeply stained. 
 
 Now when a gall is cut with a knife, the slightly acid juice acts 
 upon the steel, and so a kind of ink is produced, which -is pale, 
 but still a veritable ink. There is a well-known method of secret 
 writing which depends on this property of iron and tannin, the 
 principle contained in the galls. 
 
 A quill pen is dipped in the solution of copperas, and the re- 
 quired message is written, usually between the lines or among 
 the words of a letter on unimportant subjects, so as to avoid the 
 
 Kk 
 
514 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 suspicions which would be aroused by a sheet of blank paper. 
 The almost colorless solution leaves no. mark, and the letter passes 
 without comment until it reaches the person who is in the secret. 
 He pours some decoction of galls into a wide and flat vessel, and 
 warily dips the letter into it, so as to "Vet it; or he saturates a 
 cloth with the decoction, and lays the letter upon it. The tannin 
 then acts upon the solution of iron, ink is formed by their com- 
 bination, and the formerly invisible words immediately become 
 plain and legible. 
 
 A decoction of oak bark would make ink, though of inferior 
 quality, and so would tea, inasmuch as the tea-leaf contains a large 
 amount of tannin. In fact, whenever the ink in the bottle be- 
 comes thick, it can always be restored by adding to it a little 
 strong tea, which not only gives the requisite liquidity, but does 
 so without affecting the blackness, which would probably be the 
 case if simple water were added. 
 
 The two principal ingredients of the ink which is in common 
 use are sulphate of iron' and the galls of a species of oak called 
 Quercus infectoria, which grows in large quantities in the Levant. 
 They are technically termed Aleppo galls, and are divided'into 
 several classes, according to their value. Besides these two in- 
 gredients a little gum is added, in order to give consistency, and 
 a very little corrosive sublimate or creosote, to prevent the growth 
 of mould. The proportione are generally six ounces of pounded 
 galls, four ounces of copperas, and four ounces of gum-arabic to 
 six pints of water. 
 
 In the upper left-hand corner of the illustration two of these 
 galls are seen upon a branch of the oak. 
 
 They are necessarily much reduced in size, their ordinary di- 
 mensions being about equal to those of Cynips Kollari. For the 
 purposes of trade they are divided into black, blue, green, and 
 white galls. The last-mentioned class of galls includes those from 
 which the insects have escaped, and which are consequently weak- 
 ened in astringency. They are so called because they assume a 
 paler hue than the three first classes, in which the insect still Re- 
 mains. In shape, the ink gall is nearly spherical, with a slight 
 tendency to a pear-like form, and their exterior is defended by a 
 few short, stout, and rather sharp prickles. 
 
 I can not but think that the gall insect affords a proof that the 
 most insignificant objects of creation have their uses, provided 
 that we could only discover them. Nature is a vast treasure- 
 
DEAD SEA APPLE. 515 
 
 House, or rather a city of treasure-houses, verj few of which have 
 been unlocked because no one has found the keys. No one, in- 
 deed, is likely to do so as long as he chooses to despise " little 
 things," and if the only acknowledged benefit conferred on man- 
 kind by the insect tribes had been the ink gall, it is a boon so 
 great that every insect ought to deserve our respect as the possible 
 donor of some similar aid to civilization at present unknown. 
 
 In the right-hand upper corner of the illustration is seen a gall 
 of some size, and nearly spherical. This is the celebrated Dead 
 Sea Apple, of which such strange stories have been told. 
 
 This so-called fruit was said to be lovely and beautiful to the 
 eye, but, instead of containing sweet juice, to be filled with bit- 
 ter ashes, which filled the mouth as soon as it was bitten. Of 
 course, the ashes were supposed to be drawn by the tree from the 
 sunken remnants of the three evil cities beneath the bituminous 
 waves of the Dead Sea, and to present tangible evidence of their 
 existence. 
 
 This story, which was implicitly believed for many centuries, 
 was at length as decidedly discredited, and the whole narrative 
 of the ash-filled fruit denounced as a mere fable. However, re- 
 cent researches have proved, as is often the case, that the main 
 facts of the story are true, though the inference to be derived 
 from them has been entirely mistaken. In the first'place, these 
 seeming fruits are not produced by any of those trees which are 
 known to gardeners as fruit-bearers, but are found only upon a 
 species of oak, which is, in fact, the same tree that furnishes the 
 ink galls of commerce. At the proper season of the year, the 
 oaks, which are of low stature, and more like scrubby bushes 
 than the stately trees which are suggested by the name of oak, 
 are seen to be covered with round, fruit-looking objects, beauti- 
 fully colored, and closely resembling ripe apples. If, however, 
 they are cut open, they will be found to be the habitation of a 
 species of gall-fly, which has been named by Mr. Westwood Oy- 
 nips insana. 
 
 It is evident that if any one were to bite a gall, especially on-e. 
 that was produced from the oak, the exceedingly astringent prop- 
 erties of the excrescence would produce a very rough and ash- 
 like sensation to the palate, which would be increased by the dry- 
 ness of its substance. -Except in size, they much resemble the 
 gall of commerce, and many persons have thought that they are 
 
516 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 produced by the same insect. These galls are also known as 
 Mala Sodomitioa, and Mad Apples, the latter term being the ori- 
 gin of the specific title " insana" applied by Mr. Westwood to the 
 insect. 
 
 Immediately below the Dead Sea Apple, and in the right- 
 hand lower comer, may be seen two remarkable objects, which 
 would scarcely be recognized as galls except by an experienced 
 eye. They are, however, the production of an insect called by 
 entoniologists Gynips polycera. 
 
 These galls are found in many parts of Germany upon the oak- 
 tree, and are at once recognized by their remarkable form. As 
 may be seen by reference to the illustration, they are shaped 
 something like miniature sugar-loaves, and stand boldly from the 
 branch with their broad end uppermost. The body of the gall is 
 slightly conical, so that, if cut transversely, it would present a cir- 
 cular section. The end, however, is constructed after a peculiar 
 fashion. 
 
 It is nearly flat, "abruptly truncated" according to scientific 
 language, and throws out several projections like horns or spines. 
 The reader will remember that the ink gaU also possesses short 
 and sharp projections, but they start from all parts of the surface, 
 wheireas in the present species they belong wholly to the flattened 
 end. Their number is variable, so that the end of the gall is 
 sometimes triangular and sometimes squared, besides assuming 
 other forms according to the number of projections. This re- 
 markable form has earned for the insect the name of Polycera, 
 this term being derived from two Greek words which signify 
 " many -horned." The insect which forms this curious gall is 
 about half as large as Cynips Kollari. 
 
 The last example which is represented in the illustration is 
 also found in Germany upon the oak, and is made by an insect 
 which is called Cynips Hungarica. 
 
 This gall is represented of the natural size, whereas all the 
 others are much diminished, in order to be inserted in so limited 
 a space. It is a very remarkable object, and can not be mistaken 
 for any other species. Its surface is traversed by a variable 
 number of irregular ridges, which all radiate from the stem, and 
 so pass longitudinally over the gall. The whole of the ridges 
 are rough and sharp-edged, but at intervals they shoot out into 
 
OAK GALLS. 517 
 
 hard - pointed horns, much like those which arm the preceding 
 species. Indeed, the whole substance of the gall is remarkable 
 for its hard texture, for, when cut with a knife, it offers as stub- 
 born a resistance as if it were seasoned oak or elm. 
 ' That a hymenopterous insect should be able to bore its way- 
 through so hard a substance, and to make a tunnel barely wide 
 enough for the passage of its body, and nearly three quarters of 
 an inch in length, is really surprising. The insect is not a large 
 one, and resembles GynipsKollari so closely that an inexperienced 
 observer would certainly mistake it for that insect, the distinc- 
 tions being so trifling that they can only be detected by means of 
 the microscope. 
 
 CHAPTBE XXYI. 
 
 PARASITIC NESTS-(CoBiJn«ecO. 
 
 The Oak-tree, and its, Aptitude for nourisliing Galls. — Compound Galls, or one 
 Gall within another. — ^The Sensitive Gall of Carolina. ^-The Fungus of Wine- 
 vaults.^ — Galls and the Insects which caused them. — Colors of Galls. — Whence 
 derived. — The Galls of various Trges and Plants. — The Cjnips parasites upon an 
 Insect. — Galls produced by other Insects. — Mr. Eennie's Account of the Beetle 
 Gall of the Hawthorn. — The Beetle Gall of the Thistle. — DiPTEEons Gall- 
 makers. — ^Leaf-miners and Galls. — Size of the Larvse of Leaf-miners. — The per- 
 fect Insect and their Beauty. — Method of displaying the Insect. — Social Leaf- 
 MiNEES. — DiPTEEOus Leaf-minees. — Animal Galls. — The Chigoe and its Hab- 
 its. — Its curious Egg-sac. — Difficulty of extirpating it. — The Penalty of Negli- 
 gence. — The Beeeze Flies and their Habitations. — Wuebles and their Origin. 
 — ^Their influence upon Cattle. — The Cleeus and its Eavages among the Hives. 
 — The DEiLns, its remarkable Porra, and the difference between the Sexes. — The 
 curious Habitation which it makes. 
 
 The reader can not but notice the singular aptitude possessed 
 by the oak-tree for nourishing galls. No part of the tree seems 
 to escape the presence of a gall of some sort, diverting its vital 
 powers into other channels. The tree, however, does not appear 
 to suffer from them, and it, is just possible that they may be use- 
 ful to it. The leaves are studded with galls, and so are their 
 stems. The branches are covered with galls of various shapes, 
 sizes, and colors, some bright, smooth, and softly colored, like ripe 
 fruit, others hard, harsh, spiny, and rough, as if the very essence 
 of the gnarled branches had been concentrated in them. There 
 are galls upon the flowers, galls upon the trunk, and even galls 
 upon the root. 
 
518 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 ■Some oak-galls may be called compound galls. M. Bosc men- 
 tions a small gall which is found upon the American oak. It is 
 not larger than a pea, and if shaken is found to contain some 
 hard substance loosely lodged in its interior. When the gall is 
 cut open, a very curious state of things is seen. The walls are 
 very thin, so that, in spite of the small dimensions, the cell is 
 larger than that of many Cynipidse. Within the cell no insect 
 is discovered, but in its place a little spherical object, about as 
 large as a No. 5 shot, which is very hard, and rolls about freely 
 in the interior. If this be opened, the larva is found within it, 
 reminding the adept in fairy lore of the white cat whose gifts 
 were inclosed in a succession of nuts, each within the other. How 
 these singular little cellules are made is not known, though their 
 discoverer expended great trouble and patience upon them. 
 
 The same naturalist mentions another species of gall, also found 
 upon the oak in Carolina. It is spherical, covered with prickles 
 like a thistle, and beset with a thick downy covering of rather 
 long hair. Many other galls possess these characteristics, but the 
 most curious point connected with this species is that the hairs 
 are as mobile as those of the sensitive plant, and, as soon as they 
 are touched, sink down, and never afterward regain their former 
 position. 
 
 There is a kind of fungus which is found in wine-vaults, and 
 which exhibits a similar phenomenon. When newly grown it 
 hangs in great masses, like tufts of pure cotton wool. But to 
 carry a specimen away is impossible, for, as soon as it is touched, 
 it begins to contract, and in a minute or two shrivels up into a 
 flat membranous maSs, that looks like the web of the house-spider. 
 M. Bosc was unable to rear any of the inmates of these galls. 
 
 The size of a gall is no criterion of the dimensions or numbers 
 of the insect which made it. Even in the galls which infest the 
 oak, the smallest galls often furnish the largest insects, and in 
 some specimens brought from Greece, the gall is as large as an 
 ordinary black currant, while the cell would contain a red cur- 
 rant, showing that the inhabitant of the cell must be a large one 
 in order to fill it. Again, although the oak apple and rose bede- 
 guar do contain a great number of insects, there are many exam- 
 ples where galls scarcely as large as a pea contain from ten to fif- 
 teen insects, while the ink gfill and the large Hungarian gall are 
 inhabited by a single insect. 
 
GALLS. 519 
 
 One of the most curious problems is, to my mind, that of the 
 brilliant colors with which many of these galls are decorated. 
 That the rose bedeguar should be so beautifully adorned with 
 scarlet and green is a fact which does not seem to excite any as- 
 tonishment, inasmuch as it may be said that the colors which 
 ought to have been developed in the petals and the leaves have 
 been diverted from their proper course, and forced to exhibit 
 themselves in the gall. 
 
 Botanists and physiologists will see that this idea is quite 
 groundless, but to the uninstructed and popular mind it has a 
 sort of plausibility, that often commands assent. But when we 
 come to the oak-tree the case is at once altered, and some other 
 cause must be found for the lovely colors of its galls. The cher- 
 ry galls are as bristly colored as any apple, and the soft hues 
 of the oak apple are nearly as beautiful, though not so brilliant. 
 Yet the oak possesses no such store-house of color as is popularly 
 attributed to the rose. Its leaves are simple green, and its flow- 
 erets are so colorless as scarcely to be distinguished by the unas- 
 sisted eye. 
 
 Whence, then, are derived these beautiful colors ? Some hasty 
 observers, who have neglected the first rule of logic, and drawn 
 a universal conclusion from particular premises, have said that 
 the colors of the gall are derived from the insect, adducing as a 
 proof of their assertion the brilliant colors which equally deck 
 the rose bedeguar and the Oynips rosce from which it sprang. 
 But if they had only followed the example of careful naturalists, 
 who, like Dr. Hammerschmidt, have examined and drawn be- 
 tween two and three hundred species of galls, so hasty a gener- 
 alization would never have been made. The cherry or leaf gall 
 of the oak is every whit as gorgeously colored as the bedeguar 
 of the rose, while the insect that made it is quite black. It is 
 true that the diaphanous wings glitter as if they were made of 
 polished gems; but this appearance is due, not to the wings 
 themselves, but to the myriad hairs with which they are regular- 
 ly studded, each hair acting as a miniature prism by which the 
 light is refracted and broken into the resplendent hues of the 
 rainbow. 
 
 Many other trees besides the oak are chosen by certain species 
 of gall-fly, and even the herbs and flowers do not escape the rav- 
 ages of these remarkable insects. The white poppy, from which 
 
520 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 is obtained the opium of commerce, is attacked by a species of 
 gall-fly, wbich lays its eggs in the large head, or pod, and some- 
 times does much damage to the plant, the delicate divisions be- 
 tween the seed-vessels being rendered qtiite hard and solid, and 
 the pod itself deformed. Mr. Westwood has described a species 
 of gall-fly which infests the turnips, and another species is known 
 to lay its eggs upon wheat. 
 
 As if to show that the family of Cynipidse is really related to 
 the ichneumons, it has been discovered that some species of this 
 family are actually parasitic upon other insects. In treating of 
 this remarkable fact, Mr. Westwood writes as.foUows: "The re- 
 lations of these insects with the following families {i. e., Bvanidse 
 and Ichneumonidae) have been already noticed. It had always 
 appeared to me contrary to nature that a tribe of vegetable-feed- 
 ing insects should be arranged in the midst of parasites ; nor was 
 it until I had an opportunity of ascertaining the parasitic habits 
 of some of the species of the family that I was enabled to form a 
 just notion as to the true value of the parasitic oir herbivorous 
 nature of these insects. In June, 1833, 1 detected a minute spe- 
 cies, Allotria vicirix, in the act of ovipositing in the body of a rose 
 aphis, and I subsequently succeeded in hatching specimens of the 
 perfect insect from infested aphides." 
 
 A figure of the tiny insect is given, as it appeared while in the 
 act of depositing its eggs, and has a rather remarkable effect from 
 the fact that the very minute dimensions of the parasite make 
 the aphis look quite a large insect. Other species of this family 
 are also known to be parasites. The rose aphis is certainly infest- 
 ed by two species of gall-fly, and probably more, while the aphides 
 which are found on the willow, the cow-parsnip, and other plants, 
 also fall victims to the Cynipidse. There is one genus of this 
 family, called Figites, which is parasitic on the larva or pupa Of 
 certain dipterous insects. 
 
 The Cynipidse are not the only insects that produce galls 
 upon different plants. For example, several species of beetle are 
 known to pass their earlier stages in swellings produced by the 
 puncture of the parent insect. There is a little weevil of a gray- 
 ish-brown, which is mentioned by Mr. Eennie as forming a gall 
 upon the hawthorn. 
 
 "In May, 1829, we found on a hawthorn at Lee, in Kent, the 
 leaves at the extremity of a branch neatly folded up in a bundle. 
 
THE BEETLE GALL. 521 
 
 but not quite so closely as is usual in the case of leaf-rolling cat- 
 erpillars. On opening thena up, there was no caterpillar to be 
 seen, the centre being occupied with a roundish, brown-colored 
 woody substance, similar to some excrescences made by gall in- 
 sects (Cynips). 
 
 " Had we been aware of its real nature, we should have put it 
 immediately under a glass, or in a box, till the contained insect 
 had developed itself; but instead of this, we opened the ball, 
 where we found a small yellow grub coiled up, and feeding on 
 the exuding juices of the tree. As we could not replace the grub 
 in its cell, part of the wall of which we had unfortunately bro- 
 ken, we put it in a small pasteboard box with a fresh shoot of 
 hawthorn, expecting that it might construct a fresh cell. This, 
 however, it was probably incompetent to perform ; it did not, 
 at least, make the atteiiipt, and neither did it seem to feed on 
 the fresh branch, keeping in preference to the ruins of its former 
 cell. 
 
 " To our great surprise, although it was thus exposed to the 
 air, and deprived of a considerable portion of its nourishment, 
 both from the fact of the cell having been broken off, and from 
 the juices of the branch having been dried up, the insect went 
 through its regular changes, and appeared in the form of a sma-ll 
 grayish-brown beetle of the weevil family. 
 
 "The most remarkable circumstance in the case in question 
 was the apparent inability of the grub to construct a fresh cell 
 after the first was injured, proving, we think, beyond a doubt, that 
 it is the puncture made by the parent insect when the egg is de- 
 posited that causes the exudation and subsequent concretion of 
 the juices forming the gall." Although the insect in question 
 succeeded in attaining the perfect state, it would probably be 
 of stunted growth in consequence of the .deprivation of food. 
 Such, at all events, is the case with insects of other orders, when 
 their supply of food is at all checked while they are in the lar- 
 val state. 
 
 There is another weevil, scientifically called Chonits sulciros- 
 iris, which is one of the gall-makers. It is one of the largest of 
 the British weevils, being more than half an inch in length, and 
 is very simply clad in gray and black. 
 
 If the reader desires to discover the larva of the beetle he may 
 probably be successful by going to any waste spot where thistles 
 
522 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HAKDS. 
 
 are allowed to grow, and examining them carefully about the 
 stems and roots. Nothing is more common than to find the 
 stems of thistles swollen in parts, and in many cases the root is 
 affected as well as the stem. Fortunately for the gardener, who 
 hates thistles, even though he should be a Scotchman, as is so 
 often the case with skilled gardeners, the larva of the Cleonus 
 feeds on the juices of the plant at the expense of its life, so that 
 the thistle dies just before the seed is developed, and a farther 
 extension of the plant is thereby prevented. 
 
 There are also gall-making insects among the Diptera. Such, 
 for example, is the Thistle-gall Fly {Urophora CarcZm"), which 
 produces large and hard woody galls upon the thistle, as well as 
 several species of the larger genus Tephritis, some species of 
 which live in the parts of fructification of several flowers, the 
 common dandelion being infested by them. 
 
 "We may now describe, at fuller length than has hitherto been 
 done, another group of insects, which live between the membranes 
 of leaves, and which belong to different orders. 
 
 Leaf Miners and Rollers. 
 
 If the reader will carefully examine the leaves of any rose-tree 
 which grows in the oJDen air, he will certainly remark that many 
 of them are notable for certain curious markings, which look 
 
LEAP-MINERS. 523 
 
 something like the rivers in a map, and which traverse the leaf in 
 various ways. They all, however, agree in one point, namely, 
 their gradual and regular increase in diameter. At their origin 
 they are so small that the finest thread could hardly pass through 
 them, but in proportion as they increase in length they increase 
 in width, so that at their termination they are sometimes the 
 twelfth of an inch in width. 
 
 These marks are the tracks made by very small larvae, which 
 live between the membranes of the leaves, and feed upon the pa- 
 renchyma, or soft' substance which lies between the two mem- 
 branes. They follow no rule in their meanderings, but traverse 
 the leaf in a variety of ways. Sometimes they never leave the . 
 edge, but follow every little serration of the leaf with perfect ac- 
 curacy. Sometimes they form a kind of spiral, and sometimes 
 they wander irregularly over the whole leaf. Generally, the in- 
 sect does not cross the track which it has once made, being di- 
 verted from doing so by some wonderful instinct. There are in- 
 stances, however, where the insect has crossed its own track, not 
 only once, but several times. 
 
 If the little gallery be opened at the widest extremity, one of 
 three things will be found. Sometimes there is a tiny white grub, 
 very much resembling the larva of certain beetles, and having 
 the rings which represent the thorax rather wider than those 
 which will afterward be developed into the abdomen. As the 
 little creature is able to live between the membranes of a leaf so 
 thin as that of the rose or oak, it is evident, to the most superficial 
 observer, that the insect which will be developed from it must be 
 of very minute dimensions. 
 
 The larva of all winged insects is very large in proportion to 
 the same insects when they have obtained their perfect form, 
 much of the substance being taken up by the wings. As a nat- 
 ural consequence, it follows that the larger the wings, the larger 
 must be the grub, the size of the body being quite a secondary 
 consideration. In the present case, the larvae which we are sup- 
 posed to examine belong to the lepidopterous order, in all of 
 which insects the wings, when present at all, are of great compar- 
 ative size. If, then, the full-grown larva is so small that it can lie 
 concealed between the membranes of a leaf without causing any 
 conspicuous alteration in its outline, it is evident that the perfect 
 insect must be of almost microscopical minuteness. Accordingly, 
 it has been found that the little moths which have been bred from 
 
524 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 such caterpillars are so small that they have almost escaped ob- 
 servation until comparatively late years. 
 
 How small these insects are may be imagined from the fact that 
 many species of the Micro-hpicbjptera, as they are fitly named, do 
 not occupy, even with their wings spread, a space larger than is 
 taken up by the capital letter at the beginning of this sentence. 
 To " set" these tiny creatures is necessarily an extremely difficult 
 task, and can not be accomplished by the ordinary plan of run- 
 ning a pin through the thorax, and extending the wings on the 
 "setting-board." The only method of displaying, them is to set 
 them on white cardboard by means of gum, which is strengthened 
 by many entomologists with various substances. A sheet of 
 cardboard covered with specimens of Micro-lepidoptera neatly set 
 is a very pretty sight, but needs the aid of the microscope before 
 it can be perfectly seen. 
 
 Even to the unaided eye, the tiny moths are seen to be beauti- 
 fully decorated, their wings gleaming in favorable lights like the 
 throat of the humming-bird. But when placed under the micro- 
 scope, especially if it be furnished with a binocular tube, and illu- 
 minated by a suitable light, the wings are positively dazzling in 
 their brightness, and hues that formerly seemed to be but dun 
 and bronze or brown, suddenly flash out into gold and emerald, 
 each scale distinct and shining as if of burnished metal. 
 
 Sometimes, when opening the extremity of the leafy tunnel, we 
 find a tiny chrysalis lying in the little chamber, and awaiting the 
 time for the shell to burst and the perfect insect to emerge. 
 Later in the year we shall find neither larva nor pupa, but shall 
 see a little hole in the leafy chamber, from which issues the shat- 
 tered end of an empty chrysalis shell, showing that the moth has 
 made its escape into the outer air. 
 
 Two examples of other mined leaves may be seen upon the 
 illustration, both drawn from the actual object. The specimen in 
 the right-hand upper corner was taken from the bramble, and has 
 been mined by the larva of a little moth called Nepticula anomella. 
 It is a very pretty little creature, though its hues are not brilliant 
 without the aid of the microscope. The upper wings are brown, 
 but their tips are beautifully colored with bright chestnut. The 
 lower wings are pale gray, without any of the brilliancy that dis- 
 tinguishes the upper pair. They possess, however, a compensa- 
 ting beauty in the long, feathery fringe with which they are 
 edged, and which, when subjected to the microscope, is seen to 
 
LEAF-MINEES. 525 
 
 consist of the ordinary scales of {he wings exceedingly developed 
 both in length and width. 
 
 The leaves on the left hand were taken from the garden rose, 
 and have been mined by the larva of another species of the same 
 genus, Nepticula aurella. 
 
 This beautiful little moth derives its specific name from the pe- 
 culiar coloring of the upper wings, which are bright chestnut, re- 
 lieved by a broad band of gold across their centre. The tips of 
 these wings are fringed, and the lower pair are nearly white, and 
 edged with a fringe similar to that which has already been de- 
 scribed. 
 
 As a general rule, the leaf-mining caterpillars are solitary, and 
 if even two or three are found in the same leaf, each leads an iso- 
 lated life, and does not inhabit the same burrow as its neighbor. 
 There are, however, exceptions to this rule, as to most others, and 
 certain species of leaf-miners inhabiting the henbane live harmo- 
 niously together between the membranes of the same leaf. They 
 are larger than the ordinary species, and are remarkable for their 
 power of burrowing into a fresh leaf when ejected from their for- 
 mer habitation, a power which does not seem to belong to the 
 caterpillars of the Micro-lepidoptera. 
 
 As the meandering tracks of the Micro-lepidoptera upon the 
 leaves of various plants are very similar in general aspect, I have 
 caused figures of common leaf-rollers to be inserted in the illus- 
 tration. If the reader will turn to pages 312-316, he will see an 
 account of certain moths whose larvae roll up the leaves in which 
 they reside. The lilac leaf on the left hand of the illustration has 
 been rolled up by the larva of a moth named Oradllarixi syrin- 
 gella, the generic title being given to it on account of its graceful 
 form, and the, specific name because it is fond of frequenting the 
 syringa shrub. The larva is shown just below, of its natural size, 
 and the hole through which the perfect insect has escaped can be 
 seen upon the rolled portion of the leaf 
 
 On page 315 may be seen an account of the manner in which 
 the .larva performs a task so apparently impossible as rolling up 
 a leaf of such great comparative size. "When the little caterpillar 
 is contrasted with the leaf on which it is at work, the contrast is 
 almost ludicrous, for it seems nearly as impossible for so little a 
 creature to roll up so large a leaf as for a man to roll up one of 
 the armor-plates of an iron-clad ship. The manner by which this 
 
526 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 task is achieved is described on the above-mentioned page, and 
 the reader will be the better able to understand the description if 
 he compares it with the illustration. 
 
 The moth which has inhabited this leaf is called Gracillaria 
 semifascia. 
 
 To return to our leaf-miners. 
 
 Although the greater number of these insects belong to the 
 Lepidoptera, the rule is by no means a universal one. Many 
 beetles are thus parasitic within the leaves of plants, and, as a 
 general rule, they belong to the family of Curculionidse, or wee- 
 vils. There are also several species of dipterous insects which 
 have this habit, among which may be named the Chrysanthe- 
 mum Fly {Tephritis artemisice), which burrows into the leaves of 
 the flower. There is also a genus of flies called Phytomyza, i e., 
 Plant-sucker, the different species of which select particular plants, 
 and burrow between the membranes of their leaves. The holly, 
 for example, is infested by one species, the honeysuckle by anoth- 
 er, and the common hart's tongue by a third. 
 
 We must now glance at a few of the insects that are parasitic 
 upon other animals. Their numbers are very great, but we must 
 restrict ourselves to those which construct some sort of a habita- 
 tion. 
 
 The only insect which can be said to be parasitic on man, and 
 at the same time to form a habitation, is the celebrated Chigoe 
 {Pulex penetrans), otherwise called the Jiggee, or Earth Fly. 
 This terrible pest is a native of Southern America and the West 
 Indian Islands, and is too well known, especially by the negroes 
 and natives. 
 
 This insect, which is closely allied to the common flea, and 
 much resembles it in general appearance, contrives to hide itself 
 under the nails of the fingers or toes, usually the latter. Having 
 gained this point of vantage, it proceeds very gradually to make 
 its way under the skin, and, strange to say, does so without caus- 
 ing any pain. There is a slight irritation, rather pleasing than 
 otherwise, to which a novice pays no attention, but which puts an 
 experienced person on his guard at once. 
 
 The male Chigoe is innocent of causing any direct injury to 
 man, the female being the cause of all the mischief. As soon as 
 she is settled, her abdomen begins to swell until it becomes quite 
 
THE CHIGOE. 527 
 
 globular, and of great comparative size, and containing a vast 
 quantity of tiny eggs. Pain is now felt by the victim, who gen- 
 erally has recourse to the skillful old dames, who have a kind of 
 monopoly of extracting Chigoe " nests." With a needle they care- 
 fully work round the globular body of the buried insect, taking 
 great care not to break it, as, if a single egg remains in the wound, 
 all the trouble is wasted. By degrees they gently eject the intrud- 
 er, and exhibit the unbroken sac of eggs with great glee. To pre- 
 vent accidents, however, the wound is filled with a little Scotch 
 snuff, which certainly causes rather a sharp smarting sensation, 
 but effectually destroys any egg or young insect that may per- 
 chance have escaped notice. 
 
 Europeans and natives of the better caste escape easily enough, 
 because they always take warning by the first intimation of a 
 Chigoe's attack, and generally succeed in killing her before she 
 has succeeded in burying herself. Moreover, the shoes and stock- 
 ings of civilized man prote"ct his feet, and the gloves guard his 
 hands, so that the insect does not find many opportunities of at- 
 tacking the white man. 
 
 But the negroes, and especially the children, suffer terribly 
 from the Chigoe. Children never are very apt at sacrificing the 
 present to the future, and the negro child is perhaps in this par- 
 ticular the least apt of all humanity. The Chigoe is in conse- 
 quence seldom disturbed until it has made good its entrance, and 
 even then would not be mentioned by the child on account of the 
 pain which he knows is in store for him. But the experienced 
 eyes of the matrons are constantly directed to the feet^ of their 
 children, and if one of them is seen to hold his toes off the ground 
 as he walks, he is immediately captured and carried off to the op- 
 erator, uttering dismal yells of apprehension. 
 
 He certainly has good reason for his fears. The Chigoe nest 
 is duly removed, and then, partly to prevent the hatching of any 
 egg that may have escaped during the operation, and partly to 
 punish the delinquent for his disobedience, the hollow is filled, 
 not with snuff (which is too valuable a substance to be wasted), 
 but with pounded capsicum. The discipline is certainly severe, 
 but it is necessary. After a child has once paid the penalty of 
 negligence, he seldom chooses to bring such a punishment on 
 himself a second time, and as soon as he feels the first movements 
 of a Chigoe, away he goes to have it removed before it can bur- 
 row under the skin. 
 
528 HOMES -WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 If the Chigoe be allowed to remain, the results are disastrous. 
 Swellings make their appearance among the limbs, the glands be- 
 come affected, and if the cause is permitted to remain undisturbed, 
 mortification takes place, and the sufferer dies. So the red-pepper 
 discipline, severe as it may be, is an absolute necessity with those 
 who are unable to reason rightly, or to exercise forethought for 
 the future. Every evening the negro quarter of the villages is 
 rendered inharmonious by the outcries of the children who have 
 neglected to report themselves in proper time, and who, in conse- 
 quence, are suffering the penalty of their negligence. 
 
 Theee are some insects which produce upon animals certain 
 swellings which are analogous to the galls upon trees. Such, for 
 example, is the well-known Breeze Fly {CEstrus bovis), which is 
 so troublesome to cattle. The larvae of this insect live under the 
 skin of the animal, and in some manner raise a large swelling, 
 that is always filled with a secretion on which they live. In fact, 
 the swelling is a gall produced on an animal instead of a plant, 
 and the inclosed insect feeds in a similar manner upon the abnor- 
 mal secretion which is induced by the irritation of its presence? 
 
 The larvae are fat, soft, oval-bodied creatures, and are notable 
 for the flattened end of the tail, on which are placed two large 
 spiracles or breathing-holes. 
 
 Although the larva which inhabits the vegetable gall seems to 
 have but, small need of air, and to all appearance can exist with- 
 out any apparent channel of communication with the external at- 
 mosphere, such is not the case with the inhabitant of the animal 
 gall. An opening is always preserved in the upper part of the 
 swelling, and the tail of the grub is tightly pressed against the 
 aperture so as to insure a constant supply of air. 
 
 In the months of May and June these swellings may be found 
 in great plenty. They are mostly seen upon young cattle, and, 
 as a general rule, are situated close to the spine. So common 
 indeed are they, that out of a whole farm-stock of cattle I have 
 seen almost every cow under the age of four years attacked by 
 the Breeze Fly, and counted from two or three to twelve or four- 
 teen upon a single animal. It is said that as many as forty have 
 been detected upon a single cow, but such an event has not come 
 within my own observation. 
 
 The swellings caused by the Breeze Fly are called Wurbles, or 
 Wornils, and can be easily detected by passing the, hand along 
 
THE BBEEZE FLY — PARASITIC BEETLE. 529 
 
 the back. Strangely enough, the cow does not appear to feel any 
 pain from the presence of these large parasites, nor does she suf- 
 fer in condition from them, although it would seem that they 
 must keep up a continual drain upon the system. Indeed, some 
 experienced persons have thought that, instead 'of being injuri- 
 ous, they are absolutely beneficial. 
 
 When the grub has reached its full development, it pushes it- 
 self backward out of the gall, and falls to the ground, into which 
 it burrows. Presently the skin of the pupa becomes separated 
 from that of the larva, and the latter dies, and becomes the habit- 
 ation in which the pupa lives. The head portion of the skin is 
 so formed that it flattens when dry, and can easily be pushed off, 
 like the lid of a box, permitting the perfect fly to escape. Even 
 when the insect is still in its pupal condition this lid can be re- 
 moved, so that the pupa can be seen within its curious habitation. 
 I may mention here that insects which are thus covered while in 
 their pupal state, so as to show no traces of the creature within, 
 are said to undergo a "coarctate" metamorphosis. Nearly all the 
 diptera are. examples of the coarctate insects. 
 
 Before we close the subject of parasites, it will be needful to 
 give a brief account of one or two parasitic insects which possess 
 points of peculiar interest in the habitations which they make, or 
 in the places wherein they find their abode. 
 
 One of these insects is a rather pretty beetle, termed Glerus al- 
 vearius. In its perfect state it is innocent enough, but in its lar- 
 val state it is so destructive among the hives, that all bee-keepers 
 will do well to destroy every Glerus that -they can catch. It is 
 generally to be found on flowers, licking up their sweet juices by 
 means of a brush-like apparatus attached to the mouth. The 
 wing-cases of most of the species are bright red, barred or spotted 
 with purple. 
 
 The larva is of a beautiful red, and is hatched from an egg 
 placed in the cell occupied by the bee - grub. As soon as it is 
 hatched, it proceeds to feed upon the bee-^rub, and devours it. 
 Unlike many insects with similar habits, it is not content with a 
 single grub, but proceeds from cell to cell, devouring all their in- 
 habitants. "When it has eaten to the full, it conceals itself in the 
 cell, and spins a cocoon of rather small dimensions in comparison 
 with its own size. In process of time it is developed into a per- 
 fect insect, and then breaks out of its cocoon and leaves the hive, 
 
 L L 
 
530 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 secure from the bees, whose stings can not penetrate the horny 
 mail in which it is incased. 
 
 There is another beetle which is parasitic upon snails, and 
 which, in its larval and pupal states, is only to be found within 
 those molluscs. Its scientific name is Drilus flavescens, the latter 
 name being given to it in honor of its yellow-tinted wing-cases, 
 which present a pretty contrast with the black thorax. It is a 
 'little beetle, scarcely exceeding a quarter of an inch in length, and 
 is remarkable for the beautiful comb-like antennae of the male. 
 As for the female, she is so unlike her mate that she has been de- 
 scribed as a different insect. She has no pretensions to beauty, 
 and can scarcely be recognized as a beetle, her form being that of 
 a mere soft-bodied grub. Moreover, the size of the two sexes is 
 notably different. The male is, as haS already been observed, 
 only about a quarter of an inch long, while the female is not far 
 from an inch in length, and is broader than the length of her 
 mate, antennae included. 
 
 This curious insect lives in the body of snails, the common 
 banded snail of our gardens being its usual prey. When it is 
 about to change into the perfect state, it makes a curious cocoon 
 of a fibrous substance, which has been well likened to common 
 tobacco, the scent as well as the form increasing the resemblance. 
 The grub or larva of this beetle bears a very great resemblance 
 to the perfect female, and, indeed, is so similar that none but an 
 entomologist could distinguish the two creatures. It is furnished 
 with a number of false legs, as well as with a forked appendage 
 at the end of the tail, by which it is enabled to force its way into 
 the body of its victims. The head is pointed, and the jaws are 
 very powerful. 
 
THE DORMOUSE. 531 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 BRANCH-BUILDING MAMMALIA. 
 
 The Dormouse in Confinement and at Liberty. — Nest of the Dormouse. — Its Posi- 
 tion, Materials, and Dimensions. ^Entrance to the Nest. — The winter Treasury. 
 — The Loire and the Lerot. — Man as =. Branch-builder. — Moselekatze. — His 
 Conquests. — Effects upon the People. — Branch-houses.:— Their Approaches. 
 
 We now come to another division of the subject, namely, the 
 nests that are built in branches, and, adhering to the system which 
 has been followed through the progress of the work, we shall take 
 first the branch-building mammalia. 
 
 There are but few mammals which can be reckoned in this di- 
 vision, but our little island produces two of them, namely, the 
 Squirrel and the Dormouse {Muscardinus avellanarius). , The for- 
 mer df these animals has been already described at page 217. 
 
 The pretty little brown -coated, white -bellied Dormouse is fa- 
 miliar to all who have been fond of keeping pets. There is no 
 difficulty in preserving the animal in health, and, therefore, it is 
 a favorite among those who like to keep animals and do not like 
 the trouble of looking after them. It is, however, rather an un- 
 interesting animal when kept in a cage, as it sleeps during the 
 greater part of the day, and the sight of a round ball of brown 
 fur is hot particularly amusing. 
 
 When kept in confinement, it is obliged to make for itself a 
 very inartificial nest, because it is deprived of. proper materials 
 and a suitable locality. It does its best with the soft hay and cot- 
 ton wool which are usually provided for it, but it can not do much 
 with such materials. But when in a state of liberty, and able to 
 work in its own manner, it is an admirable nest-maker. As it 
 passes the day in sleep, it must needs have some retired domicile 
 in which it can be hidden from the many enemies which might 
 attack a sleeping animal. • 
 
 One of these nests is depicted in the illustration, and the speci- 
 men from which it is drawn forms a part of my collection. It 
 was situated in a hedge about four feet from the ground, and, as 
 may be seen by reference to the illustration, is placed in the fork- 
 ing of a hazel branch, the smaller twigs of which form a kind of 
 
532 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 palisade round it. The substances of which it is composed are of 
 two kinds, namely, grass-blades and leaves of trees, the former be- 
 ing the chief material. It is exactly six inches in length by three 
 inches in width, and is constructed in a very ingenious- manner, 
 reminding the observer of the pensile nests made by the weaver 
 birds, which have already been described at page 219. 
 
 Two or three kinds of grass are used, the greater part being 
 the well-known sword-grass, whose sharp edges cut the fingers of 
 a careless handler. The blades are twisted round the twigs and 
 through the interstices until they form a hollow nest, rather oval 
 in shape. Toward the bottom the finer sorts of grass are used, 
 as well as some stems of delicate climbing weeds, which are no 
 larger than ordinary thread, and which serve to bind the mass to- 
 gether. Interwoven with the grass are several leaves, none of 
 which belorig to the branch, and which' are indeed of two kinds, 
 namely, hazel and maple, and have evidently been picked up from 
 the ditch which bounded the hedge. Their probable use is to 
 shield the inmate from the wind, which would penetrate through 
 the interstices of the loosely woven grass-blades. , 
 
 The entrance to the nest is so ingeniously concealed, that to 
 find it is not a very easy matter, even when its precise position is 
 known ; and in order to show the manner in which it is construct- 
 ed, one of the Dormice is represented in the act of drawing aside 
 the grass-blades that conceal it. The pendent pieces of grass that 
 are being held aside by the little paw are so fixed that when re- 
 leased from pressure they spring back over the aperture, and con- 
 ceal it in a very effectual manner. 
 
 Although the Dormouse uses this aerial house as a residence, 
 it does not make use of it as a treasury. Like many other hiber- 
 nating animals, it collects a store of winter food, which generally 
 consists of nuts, grain, and similar substances. These treasures 
 are carefully hidden away in the vicinity of the nest, and in the 
 illustration the animal is shown as eating a nut which it has taken 
 from one of its store-houses beneath the thick branch. During 
 the winter the animal does not feed much upon its stores, inas- 
 much as it is buried in the curious state of hibernation during the 
 cold months. At the beginning of spring, however, the hiberna- 
 tion passes off, and is replaced by ordinary sleep, with intervals 
 of wakefulness. 
 
 Now, while the animal hibernates, the tissues of the body un- 
 dergo scarcely any changej even though no nutriment be taken. 
 
DORUOUSB AMD MEST. 
 
THE DORMOUSE. 536 
 
 I 
 
 But, as soon as the creature resumes its ordinary life, waste goes 
 on, and the creature soon feels the pangs of hunger. As the, food 
 of the Dormouse consists chiefly of seeds and fruits, it could not 
 find enough nourishment to support the body, and would there- 
 fore perish of hunger but for the stores which instinct had taught 
 it to gather in the preceding autumn. 
 
 In the illustration, the stag-beetle and the golden-crested wren 
 have been introduced to show the comparative size of the ani- 
 mals. The old Dormouse does not fear the beetle, and tranquilly 
 pursues his meal, but the young one is rather discomposed at the 
 intrusion of the big black insect, and meditates a retreat into the 
 nest. - 
 
 There are several species of Dormouse, which have similar hab- 
 its, and at least two of them are found in Europe. These are the 
 LoiEE {MyoooLs glis) and the Leeot {Myoxus quercinus). The for- 
 mer of these animals is sometimes called the Fat Dormouse, be- 
 cause it was in ancient days considered as a great delicacy, and 
 carefully fattened in places called gliraria. This animal is found 
 in France. 
 
 In many parts of the same country the Lerot is a great pest to 
 the gardens, because it is fond of fruit, and has a special liking for 
 the ripest peaches, nectarines, and similar choice fruit. 
 
 Besides those which have been mentioned, several other spe- 
 cies of mammalia make aerial nests in the branches of trees, 
 though such nests are only to be considered as exceptions from 
 the general rtile. Perhaps the most singular of these exceptions 
 is that which has been discovered in Africa, where human beings 
 systematically build their houses in trees. This curious fact was 
 discovered by Mr. Moffatt, the well-known missionary, in the 
 course of his travels. 
 
 Two traders had been in the country which was ruled by the 
 ferocious chief Moselekatze, who has derived an unenviable name 
 for his relentless cruelty, which will always eclipse his well-de- 
 served reputation as a man of commanding genius and of subtle 
 intellect. He was, in fact, a savage Napoleon, and, if possible, 
 even a more wonderful man, inasmuch as he had no education, 
 and created the terrible power which he so skillfully wielded. 
 
 King of the Zulu Kafirs, he had organized a vast military 
 establishment, and had invented a system of warfare so ingen- 
 ious as to entitle him to the name of a born general. All able- 
 
536 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 bodied men were forced to serve as soldiers, drafted into different 
 regiments according to their capacities of strength, swiftness, or 
 cunnincr and when they went into action had the alternative of 
 victory or death, a fugitive being invariably killed by the exe- 
 cutioner. 
 
 When his white visitors were about to return to their homes, 
 Moselekatze thought that it would be a good opportunity of ex- 
 tending his knowledge, and consequently his influence, by learn- 
 ing the manners and customs of white men, and therefore sent 
 two of his councillors to accompany the visitors to their homes, 
 to inspect their proceedings, and then to return and report what 
 they had seen. The envoys carried out the instructions of their 
 master, though their brains could scarcely retain the vast stores 
 of new facts which were continually poured into them, and in due 
 time they wished to return to their own country. 
 
 Here, however, was a difficulty. In order to reach Zulu-land, 
 they must pass through tracts inhabited by other nations, all of 
 which had been invaded and harried by the conquering troops of 
 Moselekatze, and they knew full well that if their identity were 
 recognized they would be murdered in retaliation by the incensed 
 owners of the land. 
 
 In this strait, Mr. Moffatt offered to accompany them until they 
 had reached the boundaries of their land, and sfet off with them. 
 When he had fulfilled his promise he was about to return, but his 
 guests begged so earnestly that he should go on and visit their 
 king, that he yielded to their request. Contrary to the usual hab- 
 its of the Kafir, Moselekatze was grateful to Mr. Moffatt, saying 
 that " the kindness which had been done to his servants had been 
 done to him, Moselekatze, the son of Machobane." 
 
 On this journey Mr. Moffatt's attention was taken by a magnifi- 
 cent tree, under whose shadow were a number of human beings 
 moving about. On approaching nearer, he found that the tree 
 was close to water, and on looking upward he saw that a number 
 of little huts were among the branches. Seventeen of these huts 
 were completed, and three more were in course of erection. These 
 were the dwellings of the natives who had been seen under the 
 tree, and were constructed in a very ingenious manner. 
 
 Where two or three branches spread their forked boughs hori- 
 zontally, a number of sticks were laid 'so as to form a platform 
 about seven or eight feet in diameter. Upon this platform was 
 erected the hut, a necessarily small edifice, consisting of sticks 
 
TREE-HOUSES. 537 
 
 fastened together so as to make a conical-shaped hut, about six 
 feet in diameter at the bottom, and barely as much in height, so 
 that a tall man could hardly lie at full length even when occupy- 
 ing the very centre of it. The roof of the hut waa made of grass, 
 and the sides were wattled with the same substance. As the hut 
 was always placed at one edge of the scaffold, the opposite edge 
 afforded a small landing or platform, about a foot or eighteen 
 inches in width. The only method of approaching these curious 
 huts was by means of notches cut in the trunk of the tree, the 
 owners not daring to trust to any less difficult means of ascent. 
 
 "We now ask ourselves why the natives chose to live in such 
 small and inconvenient dwellings, when there was ample space 
 on the fertile ground for a village. Moselekatze was the cause. 
 His armed hordes, with their wonderful discipline, had swept over 
 the country, destroyed all military power, carried off the cattle, in 
 which consists the wealth of the South African, killed many war- 
 riors, and disarmed the rest. Under these circumstances, the wild 
 beasts began to increase in number and audacity, and the enfee- 
 bled members of the tribe were perforce obliged to abandon their 
 ordinary mode of life, and to reside among the branches where 
 the lions could not reach them. During the day they were toler- 
 ably safe, but at night they retired to the trees. 
 
 In one of these aerial huts Mr. Moffatt passed the night, having 
 previously shot a rhinoceros, and put the hump into a deserted 
 ant-hill which was used as an oven. During the night the lions 
 came and did their best to devour the meat, the savory smell of 
 which attracted them on all sides. Fortunately for the travelers, 
 the oven was too hot for the lions, and although they growled 
 and snarled over it all night, they dared not attack it, and retired 
 in the morning. The chief food of the people who inhabit these 
 huts consisted of locusts and roots, for their cattle were gone, they 
 could not make fences wherein to inclose a patch of cultivated 
 ground, the lions had driven away the smaller game, and the few 
 weapons which had escaped Moselekatze were insufficient for the 
 slaughter of the larger and more powerful animals. 
 
538 HOMES "WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXYIII. 
 
 FEATHERED BRAifCH-BUILDERS. 
 
 The Rook and its Nesting-place. — Materials and Structure of the Nest. — Some 
 Habits of the Rook. — The Ceow. — DifiFerence betwuen the Nest of the Rook and 
 tlie Crow. — The Heron and its Mode of Nidification. — The Heronry at Walton 
 Hall. — Rustic Ideas respecting the Heron's Nest. — The Chaffinch. — Locality 
 and Structure of its beautiful Nest. — Mode of obtaining Materials. — The Gold- 
 finch and its Home. — Distinction between the Nests of the Goldfinch and Chaf- 
 finch. — The Bullfinch. — Locality and Form of its Nest. — Variability of Struc- 
 ture. — The Blue-eyed Yellow Warbler. — Carious Materials of its Nest. — Its 
 remarkable Habits. — The Bald-headed Eagle. — Why so called. — Wilson and 
 Audubon's Account of its Nest. — The Golden Oriole and its beautiful Nest. — 
 Mode of catching the Bird. — The Red-winged Starling, its Value and Demer- 
 its. — Its gregarious Habits. — Locality and Structure of its Nest. — The Yellow- 
 breasted Chat and its odd Ways. — Its Courage and Affection for its Nest and 
 Young. — Structure of its Nest — The Ringdove and its curious Nest. — The 
 Whitethroat. — Description of the Locality and Structure of the Nest. — Reasons 
 for its various popular Names. — The Mocking-bird. — The Water Hen and its 
 Nesting. — Its habit of covering the Eggs. 
 
 We pass now to the many birds whicli build their nests^on 
 branches of trees or shrubs, and which may therefrom be termed 
 Aeeial Builders. A vast proportion of the feathered tribes 
 select branches as a site for their habitation, so that only the re- 
 markable examples will be mentioned or figured. 
 
 Perhaps the most conspicuous of all ordinary branch-nests are 
 those which are made by the Eooks and the Crows. 
 
 Every one has seen the nests of the former of these two birds. 
 They are large, dark, and are placed upon the topmost boughs 
 of the tree, so that they can be seen at a considerable distance. 
 Their position is evidently intended as a safeguard against the 
 attacks of various enemies, among which the bird-nesting boy is 
 pre-eminently the most dangerous. Scarcely would the boughs 
 endure the weight of a cat or monkey, and so slender are they in 
 many cases that the spectator wonders how they can support the 
 nest, with its living contents of a parent and three or four young. 
 
 The foundation of the nest is composed of sticks of various 
 sizes and lengths, all, however, being tolerably light and dry, the 
 
THE ROOK. 539 
 
 Eook generally carrying up the dead branches that have been 
 blown down by the winds of the preceding winter. These are 
 usually interlaced among the spreading branches of a convenient 
 spray, and thus form a rude basket-wprk, in which will lie the 
 softer materials on which the eggs and young are to repose. 
 The lining is composed almost entirely of long and delicate 
 fibrous roots, which are intertwined, so as to make an interior 
 basket very similar' in general construction to the twig basket of 
 the exterior, and being so independent of it that, with a little 
 care, it can be lifted out entire. 
 
 On this soft bed are laid the eggs, which are four or five in 
 number, and are rather variable in color, the usual tint being 
 greenish -gray, largely spotted, mottled, and splashed with dark 
 brown, in which a shade of green is visible. They vary in size 
 as well as in hue, and from the same nest I have taken eggs of so 
 different an aspect that a casual observer would probably think 
 them to be the production of distinct birds. 
 
 The principal labors of nest-building fall on the young birds, 
 inasmuch as the elders mostly return to the same domicile every 
 successive season, and are seldom obliged to make an entirely 
 new nest. The young builders are sometimes aggrieved at this 
 distribution of labor, and try to equalize it by helping themselves 
 to the sticks belonging to other proprietors. The general com- 
 munity, however, never suffer theft to be perpetrated, and are 
 sure, in such a case, to scatter the ill-gotten materials, and force 
 the dishonest birds to begin their labors anew. 
 
 When the young are launched upon the world and able to get 
 their own living, the nest is used no more, but is abandoned both 
 by parents and young, not to be again used until repaired in the 
 spring of the following year. It is a curious point in the econo- 
 my of the Eook, that when it has abandoned its temporary home, 
 it does not choose to repose among the trees on which the nest 
 was made. Mr. Waterton, who possesses invaluable opportuni- 
 ties for studying the habits of this bird, and has developed them 
 to the utmost, makes the following remarks upon the roosting of 
 this bird : 
 
 " There is no wild bird in England so completely gregarious 
 as the Eook, or so regular in its daily movements. The ring- 
 doves will assemble in countless multitudes, the finches will unite 
 in vast assemblies, and water-fowl will flock in thousands to the 
 protected lakes during the weary months of winter, but when 
 
540 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 the returning sun spreads joy and consolation over the face of 
 nature, these congregated numbers are dissolved, and the individ- 
 uals retire in pairs to propagate their respective species. The 
 Eook, however, remains in society the year throughout. In flocks, 
 it builds its nest, in flocks it seeks for food, and in flocks it re- 
 tires to roost. 
 
 "About two miles to the eastward of this place are the woods 
 of Nostell Priory, where from time immemorial the Books have 
 retired to pass the night. I suspect, by the observations which 
 I have been able to make on the morning and evening transit of 
 these birds, that there is not .another roosting-place for at least 
 thirty miles to the westward of Nostell Priory. Every morning, 
 from within a few days of the autumnal to about a week before 
 the vernal equinox, the Books, in congregated thousands upon 
 thousands, fly over the valley in a westerly direction, and return 
 in undiminished numbers to the nest an hour or so before the 
 night sets in. i 
 
 "In their morning passage some stop here; others in other 
 favorite places, farther and farther on ; some repairing to the 
 trees for pastime, some resorting to the fields for food, till the de- 
 clining sun warns those which have gone farthest that it is time 
 they should return. They rise in a mass, receiving additions to 
 their numbers from every intervening place,' till they reach this 
 neighborhood in an amazing flock. Sometimes they pass on 
 without stopping, and are joined by those which have spent the 
 day here. At other times they make my park . their place of 
 rendezvous, and cover the ground in vast profusion, or perch 
 upon the surrounding trees. After tarrying here for a certain 
 time, every Book takes wing. They linger in the air for a while, 
 in slow revolving circles, and then they all proceed to Nostell 
 Priory, which is their last resting-place for the night. 
 
 "In their morning and evening passage, the loftiness or lowli- 
 ness of their flight seems to be regulated by the state of the 
 weather. "When it blows a hard gale of wind, they descend the 
 valley with astonishing rapidity, and just skim over the tops of 
 the intervening hills a few feet above the trees; but when' the 
 sky is calm and clear, they pass through the heavens at a great 
 height, in regular and easy flight." 
 
 This custom of the Books is the more curious because it is 
 hardly possible to conceive any roosting-place which would be 
 more acceptable to a sensible bird than the woods within the con- 
 
THE CROW. 541 
 
 fines of Walton Hall. As has already been mentioned, the birds 
 will occasionally rest for a wbile in those pleasant woods, though 
 they ultimately take wing for the accustomed roosting -placa 
 There is plenty of space for them ; they have their choice of trees 
 on which to settle, and the lofty wall which surrounds them in- 
 sures their freedom from all disturbance. 
 
 Yeey similar in general aspect to the rook, the Ceow {Gorvus 
 coTone) builds a nest which resembles that of the rook in outward 
 form, but is easily distinguished by an experienced eye. The 
 lining of the nest is made of animal instead of vegetable sub- 
 stances, hair and wool taking the place of fibrous roots. 
 
 Viewed from the foot of the tree, the nest of the Crow is noth- 
 ing but a large and nearly shapeless bundle of sticks, but when 
 the enterprising naturalist has climbed to the summit of the tree 
 in which it is placed, and can look into the nest, he is always 
 gratified by the peculiarly neat and smooth workmanship of 
 the aerial home. The outside of the nest is rough and rugged 
 enough, but the inner nest, which is made of rabbit's-fur, wool, 
 and hair, is woven into a basin-like form, beautifully smooth, soft, 
 and elastic. On this bed repose the eggs, which are somewhat 
 like those of the rook, but darker and greener, and more thickly 
 spotted, though they are extremely variable in size and color, 
 and sometimes resemble so closely those of the rook that the dis- 
 tinction can hardly be detected. 
 
 The Crow always builds at the tops of trees, and has a wonder- 
 ful knack of choosing those which are most difficult of ascent. 
 The nests are plentiful enough, but the proportion of eggs taken 
 is very small in comparison. There are some nests which baffle 
 almost any one to rob successfully. An experienced nest-hunter 
 is always endowed with a strong head, and ought to be perfectly 
 at his ease on the summit of the loftiest trees, even though he 
 should be obliged to crawl in fly-fashion under a branch, to hang 
 by one hand while he takes the eggs with the other, or to sus- 
 pend himself by his legs in order to get at a nest below him. 
 That a nest should escape a properly qualified hunter is simply 
 impossible, but to secure the eggs is quite another matter. 
 
 In many cases the nest of the Crow is placed on branches so 
 long and so slender that they will not .endure the weight of a 
 small boy, much less of a man, and the only method of getting 
 at it is by bending down the branches. But, when the branches 
 
542 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 are bent, the nest is tilted over, and out fall the eggs, so that the 
 disappointed hunter loses all his time and trouble. 
 
 Possibly this extreme caution may be the result of sad experi- 
 ence, for, although the generality of Crows' nests are placed in 
 the most inaccessible positions, I have seen and taken many 
 which were so easy of attainment that in a very few minutes I 
 had ascended the tree and returned with the eggs. There are 
 generally four or five eggs, although in some exceptional cases 
 six eggs are said to be laid in a single nest. I never saw more 
 than five, though I have examined very many nests. High as 
 the nest of a Crow may be, it is always worthy of an ascent, for, 
 even should it be an old nest and deserted by the original inhab- 
 itant, there is always a possibility that it may have been usurped 
 by some hawk, whose beautiful eggs are always considered as 
 prizes. 
 
 There is a splendid British bird, which is becoming scarcer 
 almost yearly, which makes a nest something like that of the 
 crow and rook, but much larger. This is the Hbeon {Ardea cine- 
 rea), one of the very few large birds which still linger among us. 
 
 On account of its own great size, the Heron makes a very large 
 and very conspicuous nest, built chiefly of sticks and twigs, and 
 placed on the summit of a tree. 
 
 Like the rook, the Heron is gregarious in its nesting, so that a 
 solitary Heron's nest is very seldom seen, though now and then 
 an exception to the general rule is discovered. To watch the 
 manners and customs of this bird is not a very easy task, because 
 the number of heronries in England is very small, and the shy 
 nature of the birds renders them difficult of approach. At Wal- 
 ton Hall, however, the Herons are so fearless, through long-con- 
 tinued impunity, that they will allow themselves to be watched 
 closely, provided that the observer is quiet, and does not make a 
 noise, or alarm the birds by abrupt movements. 
 
 It is a. very pretty sight to watch the great birds as they go to 
 and from their nests, bringing food to their young, or flying to 
 the lake in search of more fish. Numbers of the Heron may be 
 seen at the water's edge, sometimes standing on one foot, with 
 their long necks completely hidden, and their bayonet-like beaks 
 projecting from their shoulders. For hours the birds will retain 
 this attitude, which to a human being would be the essence of 
 discomfort, and it is really wonderful how they can keep up for 
 
THE HERON. 543 
 
 SO long a time the muscular energy which is expended in holding 
 up the spare leg and keeping it tucked under their belly. 
 
 Now and then one of the Herons seems to wake up, and after 
 a stretch of the neck and a flap of the wings, walks statelily and 
 deliberately into the water, through which it stalks, examining 
 every inch of bank and every cluster of weeds as it passes along. 
 Presently the bird pauses, and remains quite still for some time, 
 when the long neck is suddenly darted forward, the beak disap- 
 pears for a second among the reeds, and presently emerges with 
 a fish, frog, or water-rat in its gripe. The real beauty of the Her- 
 on can never be appreciated until it is seen at liberty, and in the 
 enjoyment of its natural life. It suits the locality so well that, 
 when it flies away, the spot has lost somewhat of its charms. As 
 it stands in the water, intent upon catching prey, the drooping 
 feathers of its breast wave gracefully in the breeze, and the rip- 
 ples of the sunlit water are reflected in mimic waves upon its 
 gray-plumed wings. 
 
 Generally it cares little for exerting itself until toward the 
 , evening, but then it becomes impatient and restless,, and is not 
 quieted until it has obtained some food. 
 
 Some anglers have an idea that the Heron is one of the birds 
 that ought to be ranked as "vermin," thinking that it destroys so 
 many fish that it ruins an angler's sport. Consequently they 
 kill the bird whenever they can manage to do so, and flatter 
 themselves that they are doing good service in preserving the 
 breed of fish. Now, even were the entire diet of the Heron to 
 consist of fish, the bird would really do but little harm, because it 
 can only take food in shallow water, and is seldom to be seen 
 more than a yard or two from the bank. But the diet of the 
 Heron is by no means exclusively of a fishy nature, inasmuch as 
 the bird eats plenty of frogs and newts, and will often secure a 
 water-rat even when fully grown. It is seldom that fish which 
 are of any value to the angler come into water in which the Her- 
 on could catch them, and even if they did so, their size would pre- 
 vent the bird from taking them. 
 
 At "Walton Hall, where the Herons breed largely, and where 
 they procure nearly all the food for themselves and young out of 
 the lake, there is no lack of fish, as may be practically proved by> 
 any one who is permitted to cast a line into the water. I am a 
 very poor fisherman, and yet I never found any difficulty in tak- 
 ing in the course of the morning quite as many fish as could 
 easily be carried home. 
 
544 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 So far, indeed, is the Heron from injuring the interests of the 
 angler, that it is a positive benefactor. Mr. Waterton, who was 
 obliged by the continual burrowing of water-rats to drain and fill 
 up a series of large ponds, makes the following remarks on the 
 bird : " Had I known then as much as I do now of the valuable 
 services of the Heron, and had there been a good heronry near 
 the place, I should not have made the change. The draining of 
 the ponds did not seem to lessen the number of rats in the brook ; 
 but soon after the Herons had settled here to breed, the rats be- 
 came exceedingly scarce, and now I rarely see one in the place 
 where formerly I could observe numbers sitting on the stones at 
 the mouth of their holes as soon as the sun had gone below the 
 horizon." 
 
 "When the Heron flies to its nest from any great distance, it gen- 
 erally ascends to a considerable height, and is in the habit of ut- 
 tering a curious and very harsh cry, which at once tells the nat- 
 uralist that a Heron is on the wing. When a Heron passes im- 
 mediately over the observer the effect is very remarkable, the 
 long, stretched-out legs and neck and slender body looking lik;^ a 
 large knitting-needle supported on enormous wings. 
 
 To see the Heron alight on its nest or on a branch is rather a 
 curious sight. The bird descends^ drops its long legs, places its 
 feet on the branch, and then flaps its huge wings as if to get its 
 balance before it settles down. The rustics have an idea that a 
 Heron is obliged to allow its legs to dangle on either side of the 
 nest while it sits on its eggs, and some will aver that a hole is 
 made in the nest through which the legs can be thrust. It is 
 scarcely necessary to say that the construction of a bird's legs pre- 
 vents it from assuming such an attitude, and that the long Heron 
 can sit as easily upon its pale green eggs as the short-limbed do- 
 mestic fowl on her white eggs. 
 
 Some of our common British birds build nests that can vie, in 
 point of beauty and delicacy, with any nest made by birds of oth- 
 er lands. It is scarcely possible to conceive a nest which is more 
 worthy of admiration than that of the Long-tailed Titmouse, 
 which has already been described; and in their own way, the 
 houses erected by the Chaf&nch and Goldfinch are quite as beau- 
 tiful. As there are some points of similarity in the two nests, 
 they will be mentioned in connection with each other. 
 
 First we will take the nest of the Chaffinch {Fringilla ccelebs). 
 
THE CHAFFINCH, 
 
 545 
 
 Although, the beautifully-spotted eggs are plentiful in the col- 
 lection of every nest-hunting school-lDoy, they do not come into 
 his little museum for some time. The eggs of the blackbird, 
 thrush, and hedge-warbler are generally the first to be found, 
 because the nests in which they are contained are so conspicuous. 
 But the nest of the Chaffinch is never easily seen, and its discov- 
 ery requires a special training of the eye. 
 
 Nest of the Chaffinch. 
 
 An experienced nest-hunter will always detect it, and it is 
 amusing to watch the bewildered expression of a novice to whom 
 a Chaffinch nest is pointed out, and who can not see it in spite of 
 all the indications of his instructor. The bird likes to find the 
 fork of a tree or bush, where several branches are thrown out 
 from one spot, and so as to form a kind of cup in which the nest 
 can lie. Tall hawthorns, or even sloe or crab-trees, especially if 
 they grow in thick hedges, are favorite trees with the Chaffinch, 
 
 M M 
 
546 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 and a luxuriant and untrimmed hedgerow is always prolific in 
 Chaffinch nests. 
 
 Within the forked branches the bird constructs its nest, and 
 does so in rather a singular manner. The chief material is wool, 
 which is matted together so as to form a kind of loose felt, and 
 with this felt are woven delicate mosses, spider-webs, cottony 
 down, and lichens. The last-mentioned materials are stuck most 
 ingeniously upon the outside of the nest, and have the effect of 
 making it look exactly like a natural excrescence from the tree 
 in which it is placed. 
 
 This pretty nest is generally deep in proportion to its width, 
 and is lined with hairs, arranged in a most methodical manner, so 
 as to form a cup for the eggs. The hair of the cow is much used 
 by the Chaffinch, which may be seen collecting its stock of hairs 
 from the fields wherein cows are pastured ; not plucking them di- 
 rectly from the body of the animal, but searching for them in the 
 crevices of the trees and posts against which the cattle are accus- 
 tomed to rub themselves. Mostly, the bird can only procure 
 single hairs; but when it is fortunate enough to find a tuft^or 
 bunch of hairs, it pulls them out, and works them^ separately into 
 the nest, so as to insure the needful uniformity. The hair of the 
 horse is largely used by the Chaffinch, as is the fur of several 
 other animals ; but in the generality of nests the hairs of the cow 
 predominate. 
 
 The texture of the nest is very strong, and, owing to the nature 
 of the materials, is very elastic, returning to its original shape even 
 after severe pressure. Boys seldom take the eggs of the Chaffinch, 
 because they are so plentiful; but they are too apt to take the 
 nest itself, knowing that it makes a safe and convenient basket 
 for the eggs of rarer birds, and forgetting that they cause much 
 sorrow to the poor birds that have spent so much .trouble in pre- 
 paring their home. 
 
 As I have already mentioned, there is some resemblance be- 
 tween the nest of the chaffinch and that of the Goldfinch {Frin- 
 gilla carduelis). 
 
 In point of beauty neither yields to the other, for the materials 
 are much the same, and the mode of structure is nearly identical. 
 The nest of the Goldfinch, however, is shallower than that of the 
 chaffinch, and the lichens and moss of which it is partly made are 
 not stuck on the outside, but are woven so deeply into the walls 
 that the whole surface is quite smooth. 
 
THE GOLDFINCH. 
 
 547 
 
 Nest of the Goldfinch. 
 
 The position of the two nests, however, is very different. In- 
 stead of choosing the forks of a bough, the Goldfinch likes to 
 make its nest near the end of a horizontal branch, so that it waves 
 about and dances up and down as the branch is swayed by the 
 wind. It might be thought that the eggs would be shaken out 
 by a tolerably sharp breeze, and such would indeed be the case 
 were they not kept in their place by the form of the nest. If one 
 of the best examples be examined, it will be seen to have the edge 
 thickened and slightly turned inward, so that, when the nest is 
 tilted on one side by the swaying of the bough, the eggs are still 
 retained within. I have seen the branches of a tree violently 
 agitated by ropes and sticks, and noticed that the eggs in a Gold- 
 finch's nest retained their position until the branch was struck 
 upward close to the spot on which the nest was made, all the 
 previous agitation having failed to dislodge them. 
 
548 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The lining of the Goldfinch's nest is unlike that which is used, 
 by the chaffinch. The latter bird mostly employs hair, while the 
 former makes great use of vegetable down, such as can be ob- 
 tained from the willow, the coltsfoot, and other plants. Like 
 other birds, the Goldfinch will not take needless trouble, and if it 
 can find a stray tuft of cotton wool, will carry it off and work it 
 into the nest. Sheep wool is also used for the same purpose ; but 
 the bird likes nothing so well as down, and will use it in prefer- 
 ence to any other material. On this soft bed repose the five 
 pretty eggs, white, tinged with blue, and diversified with small 
 grayish-purple spots. Now and then a small streak is seen ; but 
 the spots are the rule, and the streaks the exception. 
 
 Altogether, it is hardly possible to find a more beautiful group 
 than is made by a pair of Goldfinches, their nest, and eggs. 
 
 The nest of the Bullfinch {Pyrrhula vulgaris) is unlike that 
 of the goldfinch, though it is sometimes found in similar localities. 
 This bird seems to be rather capricious in its ideas of nest-making, 
 sometimes preferring trees, and sometimes building in shrubs. 
 
 There was a little spinney which I once knew, in which were 
 any number of Bullfinch nests, the underwood being very attract- 
 ive to the birds. All the nests were built very low, seldom more 
 than four feet from the ground, and, to the best of my recollection, 
 were placed among the branches of hazel and dogwood. The 
 nest of the Bullfinch is by no means so neat and smooth as that 
 of the goldfinch, but is made in a much looser manner, the foun- 
 dation being formed of slender twigs, usually those of the birch, 
 and the inner wall of the nest woven of delicate fibrous roots. 
 This wall is flimsy in structure, rather shallow, and neither so 
 deep nor so round as that of the goldfinch. The lining is made 
 of similar materials, but of a finer kind. 
 
 The quantity of sticks used as the foundation for this nest 
 varies according to the kind of branch on which it is placed ; for 
 when the bird selects a forked twig, such as that of the hazel or 
 dogwood, it uses a considerable quantity of sticks ; but when it 
 places its nest on the nearly horizontal spray of the fir, it finds a 
 sufficient foundation ready made, and only just lays a few twigs 
 to fill up a blank space. The egg of the Bullfinch is something 
 like that of the goldfinch, but larger and more conspicuously 
 spotted. 
 
 In some works upon the eggs and nests of birds, the Bullfinch 
 
THE BLUB-EYED YELLOW WABBLEB. " 549 
 
 is said to build in bushes of considerable height and size. Now 
 this is not necessarily the case, inasmuch as the spinney which 
 *has just been mentioned was composed entirely of trees and low- 
 brushwood, and the Bullfinches always preferred the latter. I cer- 
 tainly have often found their nests in tall bushes, and sometimes 
 in trees ; but they were always placed at so low an elevation that 
 the height of the tree or bush had no eflfect on that of the nests. 
 
 If the reader will refer to page 199, he will see a short account 
 of the Hoop-shaver Bee, which strips off the down that clothes 
 the stem of the common bladder campion, or white-bottle {Silene 
 inflata), and uses it for the lining of her nest. 
 
 There is a bird found in North America which has a similar 
 habit, peeling off the downy hairs of plants, and using them in 
 the structure of its nest. This is the pretty little Blue-eyed 
 Yellow Waeblek {Sylvia dtrinella), remarkable for the contrast 
 afforded by its blue bill and eyelids with the golden yellow of its 
 head and breast. 
 
 When the bird builds her nest, she places it in the foot of a 
 shrub, either among briers of under them, and weaves its outer 
 walls of vegetable fibre, using flax or tow whenever she can find 
 it. The walls of the nest are strongly made, and woven firmly 
 into the twigs that support it. When she has finished the outer 
 nest, the bird goes to the fields, and carries off the hair of cattle 
 and other animals, and weaves them into a lining, which is made 
 softer and warmer by the downy hairs which grow on the stems 
 of certain ferns, and which the bird plucks off with great address. 
 
 It is not only a pretty, but a useful and interesting bird. It is 
 usefal, because it is one of the insect-eaters, and may be constantly 
 seen at work among the leaves, picking up the little green cater- 
 pillars which destroy the trees, and which form its chief food. 
 Moreover, it brings up two broods of young during the year, each 
 brood being four and five in number, so that the havoc which it 
 makes among the caterpillars may be imagined. It is interesting 
 on account of the love which it bears toward its young, and ita 
 undaunted courage in defending them. When it is free from the 
 cares of a family it is as timid as any other bird, and makes the 
 best of its way -from the danger ; but if its nest be apprcfeched 
 while the eggs or young are still in it, the little bird seems to lose 
 all fear, and devotes itself to the task of decoying away the ap- 
 proaching foe. It pretends to be very ill or lame, stretches out 
 
550 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 its neck, trails its wings, drops its tail, and flutters feebly along 
 the branches, in order to delude the enemy into an idea that it is 
 so lame that it can easily be caught. The male is even a greater 
 adept than the female at this practice, and, if he thinks that he 
 has not decoyed the intruder far enough, he will slip through the 
 branches, fly round, and repeat the process. 
 
 Another North American bird is a mighty nest-maker, trust- 
 ing for safety to the inaccessible nature of the tree on which its 
 home is placed. This is the well-known Bald-headed Eagle, 
 sometimes called the Bird of Washington {Falco leucoc^halus), 
 which has been accepted as the emblem of the United States of 
 America. The nest of this bird has been admirably described by 
 the two great masters of American ornithology, Audubon and 
 Wilson ; and as it is not easy to improve upon the language of 
 those who were at the same time good observers and practiced 
 writers, their accounts will be given in their own words. The 
 reader will perceive that the two histories are placed side by 
 side, because the points that are omitted by one are supplied by 
 the other. ' 
 
 I may mention that the term " bald-headed," as applied to this 
 splendid bird, is by no means correct, because the head is feather- 
 ed as densely as any other part of the body ; but as the head of 
 the adult bird is white, it produces an effect, when viewed at a 
 distance, as if it were deprived altogether of feathers, and covered 
 with a white skin. The following account is by Wilson : 
 
 " The White-headed Eagle is seldom seen alone, the mutual at- 
 tachment which two individuals form when they first pair seem- 
 ing to continue until one of them dies or is destroyed. They hunt 
 for the support of each other, and seldom feed apart, but usually 
 drive oif other birds of the same species. They commence their 
 amatory intercourse at an earlier period than any other land bird 
 with which I am acquainted, generally in the month of Decem- 
 ber. 
 
 " At this time, along the Mississippi, or by the margin of some 
 lake not far in the interior of the forest, the male and female birds 
 are observed making a great bustle, flying about and circling in 
 various ways, uttering a loud cackling noise, alighting on the 
 dead branches of the tree on which their nest is already prepar- 
 ing, or in the act of being repaired, and caressing each other. In 
 the beginning of January incubation commences. I shot a female 
 
THE BALD-HEADED EAGLE. 551 
 
 on the 17th of that month, as she sat on her eggs, on which the 
 chicks had made considerable progress. 
 
 "The nest, which in some instances is of great size, is usually 
 placed on a very tall tree, destitute of branches to a considerable 
 height, but by no means always a dead one. It is never seen on 
 rocks. It is composed of sticks from three to five feet in length, 
 large pieces of turf, rank weeds, and Spanish moss in abundance, 
 whenever that substance happens to be near. When finished, it 
 measures from five to six feet in diameter ; and so great is the 
 accumulation of materials, that it sometimes measures the same 
 in depth, it being occupied for a great number of years in suc- 
 cession, and receiving some augmentation each season. When 
 placed in a naked tree, between the forks of the branches, it is 
 conspicuously seen at a great distance. 
 
 " The eggs, which are from two to four, more commonly two 
 or three, are of a dull white color, and equally rounded at both 
 ends, some of them being occasionally granulated. Incubation 
 lasts for more than three weeks ; but I have not been able to as- 
 certain its precise duration, as I have observed the female, on dif- 
 ferent occasions, sit for a few days on the nest before laying the 
 first egg. Of this I assured myself by climbing to the nest every 
 day in succession during her temporary absence — a rather peril- 
 ous undertaking when the bird is sitting. 
 
 " I have seen the young birds not larger than middle - sized 
 pullets. At this time they are covered with a soft cottony kind 
 of down, their bills and legs appearing disproportionately large. 
 Their first plumage is of a grayish color, tinted with brown of 
 different depths of tint, and before the parents drive them off 
 from the nest they are fully fledged. 
 
 " I once caught three young eagles of this species, when fully 
 fledged, by having the tree on which their nest was cut down. It 
 caused great trouble to Secure them, as they could fly and scram- 
 ble much faster than any of our party could run. They, howev- 
 er, gradually became fatigued, and at length were so exhausted 
 as to offer no resistance when we were securing them with cords. 
 This happened on the border of the Lake Pontchartrain, in the 
 month of April. The parents did not think fit to come within 
 gunshot of the tree while the axe was at work." 
 
 We will now turn to the second of these celebrated ornitholo- 
 gists, and see what he has to say on the nesting of this splendid 
 bird: 
 
552 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 " The nest of this species is generally fixed on a very large and 
 lofty tree, often in a swamp or morass, and difficult to be ascend- 
 ed. On some noted tree of this description, often a pine or cy- 
 press, the Bald Eagle builds, year after year, for a long series of 
 years. "When both male and female have been shot from the nest, 
 another pair has soon after taken possession. The nest is large, 
 being added to and repaired every season, until it becomes a black 
 prominent mass, observable at a considerable distance. It is form- 
 ed of large sticks, sods, earthy rubbish, hay, moss, etc. 
 
 "Many have stated to me that the female lays first a single 
 egg, and that, after having sat on it for some time, she lays an- 
 other; when the first is hatched, the warmth of that, it is pretend- 
 ed, hatched the other. Whether this be correct or not I can not 
 determine, but a very respectable gentleman of Virginia assured 
 me that he saw a large tree cut down, containing the nest of a 
 Bald Eagle, in which were two young, one of which appeared 
 nearly three times as large as the other. 
 
 " As a proof of their attachment to their young, a person near 
 Norfolk informed me that, in clearing a piece of wood on his 
 place, they met with a large dead pine-tree on which was a Bald 
 Eagle's nest and young. The tree being on fire more than half 
 way up, and the flames rapidly ascending, the parent eagle dart- 
 ed round and among the flames until her plumage was so much 
 injured that it was with difficulty she could make her escap6, and 
 even then she several times attempted to return to relieve her 
 offspring." 
 
 The bird next on our list is rather variable in its nesting. 
 
 The Golden. Oeiole {Oriolus gaTbula) is seldom seen in En- 
 gland, and its nest even more seldom. Every year, however, a 
 few stray nests are built in this country, as there are few years in 
 which the journals devoted to natural history do not contain a 
 notice of the bird bejng seen, and occasionally of its nest being 
 found. In the warmer parts of the Continent it is plentiful, and 
 in Italy is regularly exposed in the markets toward the middle of 
 autumn, when it has indulged in fruit for some time, and has be- 
 come very plump and fat. 
 
 In this condition it is well known to epicures under the name 
 of Becquafiga, corrupted into Beccafico. It is not easily procured, 
 as it is a very wary bird, and does not like to venture far from 
 covert. In the autumn, however, its love of fruit conquers its fear 
 
THE GOLDEN ORIOLE. 
 
 558 
 
 of man, and it haunts the orchards in numbers, making no small 
 havoc among the fruit. Even under such circumstances it is not 
 easy of approach, and the gunner will seldom manage to secure 
 his prey except by imitating its peculiar and flute-like notes. He 
 must, however, be very careful in his mimicry, for the bird has a 
 critical ear, and if it detects the imitator, is sure to slip through 
 the foliage and fly off to its forest strong-hold. 
 
 
 
 Golden Orioles and Nest. 
 
 The nest of the Golden Oriole is always placed near the ex- 
 tremity of a branch, and in some cases is so constructed that it al- 
 most deserves to be ranked among the pensiles. It is always a 
 pretty nest, and the accompanying illustration conveys a good 
 idea of its general form. It is always more or less cup -like in 
 shape, but the comparative depth of the cup is very variable, as 
 
554 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 in some cases it is scarcely deeper in proportion thain that of the 
 goldfinch, and rather saucer -shaped, while in others the depth 
 even exceeds the width. Perhaps the nest may be altered in 
 shape after the female begins to deposit her eggs, as is known to 
 be the case with many birds, the additions being always made to 
 the margin. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that this enlargement of the nest should 
 be common both to birds and insects. The reader may perhaps 
 remember that the wasp, as well as other hymenoptera, lays an 
 egg in the cell while it is yet shallow, and adds to the cell in pro- 
 portion to the growth of the grub. The time of year, therefore, 
 at which the nest of the Golden Oriole is found will have an in- 
 fluence on its shape, as the nest which is taken in the early spring, 
 before the eggs are laid, will probably be shallower than that 
 which is found in autumn, after the eggs have been hatched and 
 the young reared. 
 
 The object for deepening the nest may probably be traced to 
 the weather which happens to prevail. If the winds be light, 
 the nest may remain in its flat and saucer- like form without 
 endangering the safety of the eggs ; but if the season shoiild 
 be inclement and tempestuous, a deeper nest is needed in order 
 to prevent the eggs or young from being flung out of their 
 home. 
 
 The body of the nest is formed chiefly of vegetable substances, 
 usually the stems of different grasses, which are interwoven with 
 wool, and thus made into a tolerably strong fabric. The female 
 bird is said to be very affectionate, and to sit so closely on her 
 nest that she will almost suffer the hand to be laid upon her be- 
 fore she will leave her post. In the illustration, the female bird 
 is standing upright on the branch, and looking upward, while the 
 male is bending over the bough, and peering downward, as if at 
 some fancied foe. He can always be distinguished from his mate 
 by the brighter gold of his plumage, the black spot between the 
 eye and the beak, and the deeper black of his wings ; whereas in 
 the female a tinge of blue invades the yellow, changing it to yel- 
 lowish-green, the wings are brown, edged with gray, and the black 
 spot in front of the eye is altogether absent. Moreover, the 
 breast and belly are marked with many longitudinal dashes of 
 grayish-brown. 
 
 One of the most variable of birds in its nesting is the well- 
 
THE EED-WINGED STABLING, 555 
 
 known Eed- winged Stabling of Northern America {Icterus 
 Phceniceus). 
 
 This beautiful bird derives its popular name from the fiery 
 scarlet of the lesser wing-coverts, contrasting so boldly with the 
 jet black of the remaining plumage. It is known by several op- 
 probious names in its own country, such as Corn -thief. Maize- 
 thief, etc., because it is popularly thought to live upon corn, 
 whereas, like our starling, it is a most insatiable eater of the 
 grubs, caterpillars, and other creatures which infest the corn- 
 fields, and only eats corn at a certain time. There is, however, 
 one season in the year in which the Eed-winged Starling becomes 
 an arrant thief. 
 
 It is said that every living creature can be bribed, if the right 
 bribe can only be found, and in the case of this bird, the newly- 
 developed maize-grains present a temptation which it can not re- 
 sist. It is not alone in this predilection, for there are many other 
 birds, and some quadrupeds, the bear being the most conspic- 
 uous, which revel in the sweet, pulpy, succulent Indian corn. 
 Even mankind is overcome with this delicacy. The white man 
 fills his pockets with the plump ears, and munches them as he 
 goes on with his business, and the copper -skinned native half 
 stupefies himself by gorging the cream-like grains. Small blame, 
 therefore, to the bird for following an example which is set by its 
 superiors. But before the maize is developed, and after it is 
 hardened, the Eed-winged Starling depends chiefly on insect food 
 for its subsistence, and is, therefore, a truly useful bird, deserving 
 to be protected rather than destroyed, and only requiring to be 
 driven out of the maize -plantations for a ,week or two in the 
 course of the year. 
 
 The nest of this bird is almost always built in morasses where 
 reeds are plentiful, and in such places it almost invariably roosts, 
 flocking to them toward nightfall in vast masses that absolutely 
 blacken the air, now appearing as a vast dull cloud, and now 
 suddenly flecked with blood-red patches, as the black bodies and 
 scarlet wings are alternately turned to the spectator. 
 
 Somewhere about the end of April the Eed-winged Starling 
 begins to make its nest. This is sometimes placed on the ground, 
 sometimes on a grass tussock, and sometimes in a branch, thus 
 being more variable in position than is the nest of any other bird. 
 The mode of structure and materials of the nest differ with the 
 locality. 
 
556 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 When the nest is placed on the ground, it is composed of a 
 few rushes and grass-stems, the chief care of the bird being to 
 secure a soft lining of grass-blades. When it is built in a grass 
 or rush tussock, the stems are drawn together and held in their 
 places by long grasses, so as to make a hollow wherein the nest 
 may repose. 
 
 But when it is placed on a branch it is much more compli- 
 cated. The bushes which are found in swampy places are always 
 so slender and flexible that much care is required in order to 
 render them capable of bearing the nest. The bird, therefore, 
 takes a quantity of wet rushes and long grasses, and twists them 
 round a number of twigs, intertwining them so as to bring these 
 twigs into a rudely-shaped hollow cylinder. From the same ma- 
 terials the body of the nest is formed, and the lining is made 
 from dry grass-blades. Little pains are taken to hide the nest, 
 because the swampy nature of the grou,nd prevents the intrusion 
 of many foes, and in some cases three or four nests are seen close 
 to each other on a single bush. 
 
 One of the common American birds, the Yellow-breasted 
 Chat {Icteria viridis), is not only remarkable for its really pretty 
 nest, but for the manner in which it defends its home. 
 
 Although so chary of being seen that an experienced ornithol- 
 ogist may follow it for an hour by its voice, and never catch a 
 glimpse of the bird, it is full of talk, and as soon as a human 
 being approaches, it begins to vociferate reproaches in an odd 
 series of syllabic sounds, which can be easily imitated. Mocking 
 the bird is an unfailing method of doubling its anger, and will 
 cause it to follow the imitator for a long distance, although it 
 will, even under these circumstances, keep itself hidden in the 
 foliage. Wilson's account of the curious sounds which it utters 
 is very graphic and interesting. "On these occasions his re- 
 sponses are constant and rapid, strongly expressive of anger and 
 anxiety, and while the bird itself remains unseen, the voice shifts 
 from place to place among the bushes, as if it proceeded from a 
 spirit. First is heard a repetition of short notes, resembling the 
 whistling of the wings of a duck or teal, beginning loud and 
 rapid, and falling lower and lower, till they end in detached 
 notes. Then a succession of others, something like the barking 
 of young puppies, is followed by a variety of hollow, guttural 
 sounds, each eight or ten times repeated, more like those proceed- 
 
THE YELLOW-THEOATED CHAT. 557 
 
 ing from the throat of a quadruped than that of a bird, which 
 are succeeded by others not unlike the mewing of a cat, but con- 
 siderably hoarser. 
 
 " All these are uttered with great vehemence, in such different 
 keys and with such peculiar modulation of voice as sometimes 
 to seem at a considerable distance, and instantly as if just beside 
 you ; now on this side and now on that ; so that, from these ma- 
 noeuvres of ventriloquism, you are utterly at a loss to ascertain 
 from what particular spot or quarter they proceed. If the weath- 
 er be niild and serene, with clear moonlight, he continues gab- 
 bling in the same strange dialect, with very little intermission, 
 during the whole night, as if disputing with his own echoes. 
 
 " While the female is sitting, the cries of the male are still 
 more loud and incessant. When once aware that you have seen 
 him, he is less solicitous to conceal himself, and will sometimes 
 mount up into the air, almost perpendicularly, with his legs hang- 
 ing, descending, as he rose, by repeated jerks, as if highly irri- 
 tated, or, as is vulgarly said, ' dancing mad.' All this noise and 
 gesticulation we must attribute to his extreme affection for ,his 
 mate and young ; and when we consider the great distance from 
 which in all pi^obability he comes, the few young produced at a 
 time, and that seldom more than once in the season, we can see 
 the wisdom of Providence very manifestly in the ardency of his 
 passions." 
 
 The nest which the bird defends with such skill and courage 
 is very well concealed in a dense thicket, and the bird is always 
 best pleased if it can find a bramble-bush thick in foliage and 
 well beset with thorns. Sometimes it is forced to content itself 
 with a vine or a cedar, and in any case it is seldom more than 
 four or five feet from the ground. The outer wall is made of 
 leaves, within which is a layer formed of the thin bark of the 
 grape-vine, and the lining is formed of dried grasses and fibrous 
 roots of plants. 
 
 An allied bird, the Yellow-theoated Chat {Vireo flavifrons), 
 makes a nest somewhat similar in materials, though not in locali- 
 ty, to that of the preceding bird. It is usually fixed in the hori- 
 zontal branch of a tree or bush, and is made from the bark of 
 the grape-vine, moss, and lichens, and is lined with fine vegetable 
 fibres. 
 
 Of our four British pigeons, two are branch -builders. The 
 
558 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Stockdove places its nest in holes in trees, in holes in the ground, 
 or on the tops of pollard oaks, willows, and similarly crippled 
 trees. The Eockdove makes its rude nest in the crevices of the 
 rocks which it frequents. But the Eingdove and the Turtledove 
 are true branch-builders, and are therefore noticed in this place. 
 
 We will first take the,ElN6D0VE {Columba palumbus), some- 
 times called the Wood-pigeon, the Woodquest or queest, and the 
 Cushat. 
 
 The nest of the Eingdove is placed in a variety of localities, 
 for the bird is not in the least particular in this respect. Some- 
 times it is situated near the top of a lofty tree, and sometimes it 
 is found in a hedge only a few feet from the ground. I have seen 
 nests in both localities. 
 
 Mr. Waterton mentions a curious circumstance connected with 
 this bird. In a spruce fir-tree there was a nest of a magpie con- 
 taining seven eggs, which were removed, and those of the jack- 
 daw substituted. Below this nest a Eingdove had chosen to fix 
 her abode, and so the curious fact was seen, that on the same tree, 
 in close proximity to each other, were magpies, jackdaws, gjid 
 Eingdoves, and all living in perfect amity. It might have been 
 sup'posed that the magpies and jackdaws would have robbed the 
 nest of the Eingdove, but such was not the case. Moreover, the 
 bird knew instinctively that she would not be endangered by her 
 neighbors, for she came to the tree after the magpie had settled 
 in it. 
 
 The nest of the Eingdove is of so simple a character as scarcely 
 to deserve the name. The bird chooses a suitable spray, and lays 
 upon it a number of sticks, which cross each other so as to make 
 a nearly flat platform. Many birds make a similar platform as 
 the foundation of their nest, but with the Eingdove it constitutes 
 the entire nest. So slight is the texture of the platform, that 
 when the two white eggs are laid upon it they can be discerned 
 from below by a practiced eye, and it really seems wonderful that 
 they can retain their position on such a structure. 
 
 Moreover, the open meshes of the nest allow the wind to blow 
 freely between the sticks, so that nothing would seem to be more 
 iincorafortable for the young. Above, they can certainly be shel- 
 tered by the warm body and protecting wings, but below they 
 seem to be exposed to every blast. Yet they find shelter enough, 
 and not only find it, but make it. With the generality of birds 
 the droppings are conveyed away by the parents, but with the 
 
THE EINGDOVE. 
 
 559 
 
 Eingdove they are allowed to remain, when they rapidly fill up 
 all the open interstices, and form a dry scentless plaster, which 
 effectually defends the tender bodies of the young from the wind, 
 and has the farther effect of consolidating and strengthening the 
 
 nest. 
 
 ■_'^vi»i,,3Kj3 
 
 Riugduye uud Neat. 
 
 Although the nests are plentiful enough, and the eggs are com- 
 mon in the cabinet of oologists, it is not very easy to find a nest 
 that is furnished with this curious plaster, probably because some 
 one of the many foes which persecute the Eingdove has discov- 
 ered the nest, stolen the eggs, or killed the parent before the 
 young birds were hatched. 
 
 It has already been mentioned that, with many branch-building 
 birds, the thickness of the nest, or of the platform on which it is 
 placed, is regulated by the exposed or sheltered position of the 
 branch, and such is the case with the Eingdove. Although, in 
 some instances, the platform is so flimsy that the eggs can be seen 
 through the interstices, in other cases it is from half an inch to an 
 entire inch in thickness. In all cases, the longest twigs are first 
 laid, and followed by those of smaller size ; and, although the 
 whole structure is very rude, it is always made with sufficient 
 care to assume a tolerably circular shape. 
 
 The Turtledove {Columba turtur) builds a nest of very similar 
 form, and, if possible, even slighter in construction. 
 
560 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Evert one knows the common catohweed so plentiful in waste 
 ground. The long trailing stems of this plant are used by a pret- 
 ty little bird in making its nest, and are most ingeniously twined 
 among the branches into the needful shape. The bird which uses 
 this plant is the Whitethroat ( Gurruca cinerea), sometimes called 
 the Haychat and Nettle-creeper. Its ordinary name is due to the 
 white feathers of the throat, and it is called Nettle-creeper because 
 it is so active among the weeds that fringe the hedgerows. The 
 nest is always placed low, and I have mostly found it toward the 
 top of some stubby bush or shrub, about three feet from the 
 ground. Although placed in such localities, it is not very easy 
 of discovery, as it is well hidden by the foliage, and in most in- 
 stances the boughs must be pressed aside before the nest can be 
 made clearly visible. Although the catchweed is used by the 
 bird in making the frame-work of the nest, it does not consider 
 itself bound to employ no other substance, but uses grass-blades 
 and vegetable fibres. The lining of the nest is simply made of 
 fine hay, among which are twined a variable number of horse- 
 hairs, sometimes only twenty or thirty, and sometimes in such a 
 quantity as almost to conceal the hay. It is in allusion to the 
 linibg of the nest that the bird is called Haychat. The nest va- 
 ries much in thickness, probably in proportion to the density of 
 the bush in which it is placed. 
 
 The celebrated Mocking-bird of America {Tardus [or Mimus] 
 polyglottus) is also one of the branch-builders. 
 
 The situation chosen by the bird is always variable, depending 
 almost entirely on the nature of the district and the character of 
 the inhabitants. Should the bird be resident in some wild part 
 of the country, it takes some pains to conceal its nest, choosing 
 the most impenetrable thicket that can be found. A thick thorn- 
 bush is a favorite spot, because the sharp points serve to deter in- 
 truders from forcing their way to the nest ; and the cedar is some- 
 times chpsen, because its dark masses of foliage afibrd^such a cov- 
 er for the nest that it can scarcely be detected even by one who 
 is looking for it. 
 
 But, should the bird build in some inhabited locality, where it 
 is taught by instinct that it will not be molested, it makes its nest 
 close to the house, and cares not to hide it. Six or seven feet from 
 the ground is the usual height at which the nest is placed, and the 
 bird has so little anxiety about its nest that it often builds upon 
 
THE MOCKING-BIRD — THE WATER HEN. 561 
 
 the branches of a pear or apple tree. The nest itself is rather a 
 pleasing specimen of bird architecture, and is mostly built upon a 
 slight foundation of delicate twigs, intermixed with dry weeds of 
 the preceding year. The body of the nest is formed of straw, 
 grass, wool, and vegetable fibres, and the lining is almost wholly 
 composed of very finfe fibrous roots. 
 
 Although the bird is so careless about concealing its nest, it is 
 jealously anxious about intruders, and attacks indiscriminately 
 any beast, reptile, or bird that approaches the favored spot. Dogs 
 are forced to run away from the sharp beak and buffeting wings 
 of the angry bird ; the cat finds that the ascent of a tree while a 
 pair of infuriated birds are pecking her nose and blinding h^r 
 eyes is an impracticable task, and even man himself is attacked 
 by the fearless defenders of the home. 
 
 The worst and most treacherous foe, however, is the black- 
 snake ( Ooryphodon constrictor), a harmless reptile, but one that is 
 much dreaded by uninstructed pedestrians, because it imitates the 
 manners of the rattlesnake with such fidelity that it is generally 
 reckoned among the poisonous serpents. This snake lives mostly 
 on rats, mice, young birds, and eggs, and in pursuit of the last- 
 mentioned dainties will ascend trees and traverse any branch 
 which holds a nest. 
 
 The very sight of the blacksnake inflames the Mocking-bird 
 with fury, and he instantly darts at it, avoiding its stroke with ad- 
 mirable quickness, and dealing a rapid succession of blows on the 
 reptile's head. The blacksnake is peculiarly vulnerable about 
 the head, and even tries to retreat, but is prevented from escaping 
 by the Mocking-bird, which redoubles his efforts, and easily beats 
 the reptile down. As soon as he sees his advantage, he seizes 
 the snake by the neck, lifts it from the ground, buffets it with his 
 wings, pecks it again as it drops, and ceases not until the hated 
 enemy is left dead on the ground. ' 
 
 The well-known Water Hen or Moor Hen {Gallinula Chlo- 
 rojpus) is nearly, though not quite, as variable in its nesting as the 
 red-winged starling lately described. The nest is always placed 
 near the water, but the bird seems to be very indifferent about 
 the precise locality. 
 
 Sometimes it is made on the ground, and in that case is laid 
 among sedges and rushes where the water can not reach it. The 
 Water Hen, however, is not averse to nesting in a warm and com- 
 
 Nn 
 
562 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 fortable place, for Mr. "Waterton mentions that on one occasion, 
 when he had built a neat little brick house for a duck, and fur- 
 nished it with dry hay for a nest, a Water Hen took possession 
 of it, and the duck had to find a home elsewhere. 
 
 Water Hea and Neat. 
 
 Sometimes the nest is made on a branch, and in that case the 
 bird selects a. very low bough which overhangs the water. I have 
 found several nests thus placed, and in one case the only method 
 of getting at the nest was to enter the water and swim round to 
 it. It is a large and rudely-made nest, and from its size appears 
 to be more conspicuous than is really the case. When it is placed 
 on a bough, the twigs of the same branch often dip into the wa- 
 ter, and the nest looks like a bunch of weeds and other dSbris that 
 have floated down the stream and been arrested by the branch. 
 
 The similitude is increased by a curious habit of the bird. 
 
THE WATER HEN. 563 
 
 When she leaves her nest, she pulls over her eggs a quantity of 
 the same substances as those which form the materials of the 
 nest, so that they are completely hidden from sight, and the form 
 of the nest is quite- obscured. It is true that the nest is not un- 
 frequently found with the eggs exposed, but this apparent negli- 
 gence is always caused by the frightened bird dashing off at the 
 approach of the intruder, and having no time to cover her eggs 
 properly. The object of covering the eggs was once thought to 
 be the retention of heat, the neighborhood of water being imag- 
 ined to be injurious. As, however, many birds build as close to 
 the water as does the Water Hen, and do not cover the eggs, it is 
 evident that concealment, and not warmth, is the object to be at- 
 tained. 
 
 I may mention that the illustration was sketched from a nest 
 before it was removed, and that most of the nests have beeil 
 drawn in the same manner from actual objects. 
 
 The eggs are many in number, seldom less than six, and often 
 eight, and their united weight is far from inconsiderable, as they 
 are fully proportioned to the size of the bird. The young are the 
 oddest little beings imaginable, looking like spherical puffs of 
 black down rather than birds. They take to the water at once, 
 and if the reader can manage to watch the mother and her little 
 family, he will see one of the quaintest and prettiest groups that 
 our country can supply. The little black balls swim about quite 
 at their ease, keeping within a short distance of their parent, and 
 traversing the water with a rapidity that reminds the observer of 
 the gyrini, or whirligig beetles. In spite of the prolific nature of 
 the bird, it is not so numerous as it might be, having many ene- 
 mies in its youth, the worst of which is the pike, which comes up 
 silently from below, opens its terrible jaws, and absorbs the un- 
 suspecting bird. 
 
564 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIX. 
 
 FEATHEEED BRANCH-BUILDERS (Continued). 
 
 The Sedge Waebler. — Its Nest and Loquacity. — ^The Reed Warblee. — Use of 
 its peculiar Tail. — Localities haunted hy the Bird. — Song of the Reed Warbler. 
 — Its deep and beautifully-balanced Nest. — Color of the Eggs. — The Ikdigo 
 Bird. — The Capocier. — Familiarity of the Bird. — Le Vaillant's Experiments. — 
 How the Nest is made. — Division of Labor. — Lover's Quarrels. — Structure of the 
 Nest. — Humming-birds again. — The Fieet Topaz. — ^Its nocturnal Habits. — Ap- 
 pearance of the Nest. — Its Shape, and the Materials of which it is made. — The 
 
 feEMIT HtFMMDIG-BlEDS and thBir Nests. — The RuBY-THEOATED HnUMING-BIED. 
 
 ' — Variable Dimensions of the Nest. — Concealment. — Mr. Webber and his Dis- 
 coveries. — Variable Form and Positions of the Nest. — Materials of which it is 
 made. — Its deceptive Exterior. — Feeding of the Young. — The Vervain Hum- 
 MiNG-BiED. — How the Nest assumes its Shape. — The Red-backed Sheike. — Use 
 of the Shrike in Falconry. — Their singular Mode of Feeding. — ^Impaled Prey. — 
 ' Conspicuous Character of the Nest. — Popular Ideas concerning the Red-hacked 
 Shrike. — Structure of the Nest. — ^The Hedge Sparrow. — Its proper Title. — 
 Carelessness about its Nest. — ^Foes of the Hedge Sparrow. — Its Fecundity. 
 
 Another bird that loves to build near water is the pretty lit- 
 tle Sedse Warbler {Salicaria phragmitis). 
 
 The nest of this bird is placed at a very low elevation, usually 
 within a foot or so from the ground, and raised upon rushes, reeds, 
 or other coarse herbage, which is found abundantly in such places. 
 There is more material in the nest than might be supposed from 
 the size of the bird and the slender stems by which it is support- 
 ed. Viewed from the exterior, it seems to have the ordinary cup- 
 shaped form which is so prevalent among small birds, but looked 
 at from above, the apparent depth is seen to be owing to the mass 
 of material, the hollow being singularly small and shallow. It is 
 a well-made nest, the general frame- work being formed of leaves 
 of grass-blades, while strength, warmth, and density are attained 
 by the quantity of wool and hair which are woven into the fabric. 
 
 The Sedge Warbler is well known for its loquacity and its 
 ceaseless chatter. Should it be silent, a stone flung among the 
 reeds and sedges will always induce it to recommence its little 
 song. 
 
 The remarkably beautiful nest which is here shown is built by 
 
THE EEED WAEBLER. 
 
 665 
 
 one of the BritisH birds, but is not often found, on account of the 
 localities where it is placed. 
 
 Nest of the Eced WaiWei. 
 
 The architect of this nest is the Reed Waebler {Salicaria [or 
 Gurruca] arundinacea). It is a pretty little bird, bright brown 
 above, yellow-brown below. In some respects it resembles the 
 sedge warbler, but does not possess the remarkable wedge-shaped 
 tail of that bird. E. Mudie, in his History of British Birds, offers 
 the following suggestion respecting this difference of form. When 
 treating of the sedge warbler, he remarks that the slender head, 
 pointed bill, and wedge-shaped tail are useful to the bird by ena- 
 bling it to glide between the tall aquatic plants among which it 
 resides and finds its food. Of the Eeed Warbler he writes as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 " That the bird is not adapted for so many situations as the 
 sedge bird might be inferred from the different form of the tail, 
 which is more produced and not wedge-shaped, so that while it 
 answers better as a balance on the bending reeds or other flexible 
 aquatic plants, it would not be so convenient among the unyield- 
 ing sprays of a hedge or brake. The bird rarely, if ever, perches 
 upon the tops of reeds, even on its first arrival, and when the 
 song of invitation to a mate is given, its place is on a leaf or a 
 
566 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 leaning stem, though upon an emergency it can cling to an up- 
 right one, the stiff feathers of the tail acting as a sort of prop. 
 
 " It is not easily raised, and remains but a very short time upon 
 the wing, but it is by no means timid on its perch, upon which, 
 if it be very flexible, it sits with its wings not quite closed, but 
 recovered, so as to have a little hold on the air, and thereby either 
 prevent its fall, or be ready, When a gust comes, to bear it to a 
 more secure footing. Its food is found wholly over the stagnant 
 waters. The Eeed Warbler does not come in until the reeds are 
 considerably advanced, and it departs before they are cut, so that 
 it dwells in peace ; and especially in the mornings, about the end 
 of May and the beginning of June, it may be observed with the 
 greatest ease." 
 
 Still, although the bird be common, and although it is bold 
 enough to admit of approach, it is not generally familiar, simply 
 because none but professed naturalists are likely to look for it in 
 the spots which it frequents. The Eeed Warbler loves a large 
 patch of marshy land almost wholly covered with stagnant water, 
 and full of the reeds among which its home is made. Such a 
 place is not agreeable to the pedestrian ; -for, although an hour 
 spent in wading through water knee-deep is no difficult or even 
 unpleasant task, yet no one likes to meet also with mud of vari- 
 ous and unknown depths, as is the case in the great reed swamps 
 where the birds most love to build. Even the song of the Eeed 
 Warbler does not attract attention. Though musical in tone, it is 
 very feeble in power and monotonous in character, consisting of 
 several hurried notes in a low warble, which can only be heard at 
 a little distance. 
 
 The nest of this bird is supported between three or four reeds, 
 as is shown in the illustration, and is remarkably deep in propor- 
 tion to its width. The object of this depth is evident. ' To bend 
 as a reed before the wind is a proverbial saying, and any one who 
 has seen a large mass of reeds on a stormy day must have been 
 impressed with their graceful curves. As the blasts of the wind 
 pass over them, they bend in successive waves like the billows 
 of the sea, and are sometimes bowed so low that their tips nearly 
 reach the water. 
 
 A nest, therefore, which rests on such pliant supports must be 
 thrown out of its perpendicular by every breath of wind, and un- 
 less it were very deep the eggs would be flung out. The great 
 depth, however, of the nest counteracts the deflection of the 
 
THE EEED WABBLEB — THE INDIGO BIED. 567 
 
 reeds ; and, however fiercely the storm may rage, the Eeed War- 
 bler sits securely in her nest, even though it be sometinies nearly 
 bowed to the surface of the water. The materials of the nest are 
 generally taken from the immediate neighborhood, the body of 
 the nest being composed of broken rushes and moss bound to- 
 gether with reed leaves, and the lining made almost wholly of 
 cows' hair. 
 
 In the illustration the nest is represented as it appears during 
 a rather smart breeze. The reeds are all bowed down by the 
 force of the wind, and the nest is leaning so much to one side that 
 its contents would be flung into the water were it of the ordinary 
 cup-shaped form. The tiny inmates, however, are perfectly se- 
 cure in their home, and crouch in the bottom of the nest, so that 
 there is no fear that they may be thrown out. The parent birds 
 are busily attending on their little family, one having just brought 
 an insect which all the gaping mouths are eager to devour, while 
 the other is setting off in its turn to perform the like office. The 
 little eggs are rather pleasing in color, being very pale green, al- 
 most fading to whitish -gray in parts, and being mottled and 
 speckled with brown or green darker than the ground hue of the 
 shell. As is usually the case with similar birds, they are four or 
 five in number. 
 
 Many foreign birds are excellent branch-builders. 
 
 One of the best known is a lovely little bird, which is familiar 
 to us through the mediumship of taxidermists, who are always 
 glad to insert a few specimens in their glass cases of brightly 
 plumaged birds. This is the Indigo Bied, or Blue Linnet of 
 America {Spiza cyanea), which derives its name from the hue of 
 its feathers. Yiewed in some lights, the plumage is a rich, deep 
 azure, shining with a satiny lustre in the direct light of the sun- 
 beams, and deepening into indigo in the shadows. But the most 
 remarkable point in the hue is, that in certain lights it changes 
 to that peculiar green which is known to artists as " verditer," so 
 that the bird seems absolutely to change its color if its position 
 be shifted for only a few inches. Consequently, a well-arranged 
 group will have two specimens placed in such a manner that one 
 glows in all the glory of its azure dress, while another is vivid 
 green-. The wings .are black, and retain their color in all lights. 
 
 The nest of the Indigo Bird is set in a bush, and, according to 
 Wilson, is upheld by two twigs, one passing up each side, so as to 
 
568 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 preserve the balance. To the twigs it is firmly bound with the 
 strong flaxen fibres of which the walls are formed, and its lining 
 is made of ^fine grasses. 
 
 In Southern Africa there is a small, simply colored, but inter- 
 esting bird, called by Le Vaillant the Capocier {Drymoica .macu- 
 losa), because it builds in a cotton-yielding tree, called by the Dutch 
 colonist Capoc-bosche. , 
 
 The attention of that naturalist was directed to the bird in the 
 following manner. 
 
 Being, in common with all true naturalists, a lover of birds in 
 their living state, and being in no wise disposed to kill them 
 without necessity, he had contrived to tame a pair of little brown 
 birds, which at last became so familiar that they would enter his 
 tent. On these terms fhey remained until the beginning of the 
 breeding season, when they began to come less regularly, and 
 then to absent themselves for several successive days. About 
 this time they became thieves. M. Le Vaillant was accustomed 
 to keep on his table a quantity of tow and cotton wool, which he 
 used in stuffing and otherwise preparing the skins which he had 
 procured for his collection. The birds seemed suddenly to take 
 a, wonderful fancy to the tow and cotton wool, and were continu- 
 ally flying off with them, sometimes stealing a piece that was 
 nearly as large as both the birds together. 
 
 Struck with this sudden fancy of the birds, Le Vaillant de- 
 termined to watch them, and soon traced them to a capoc-bosche- 
 tree which grew at some distance, and in a remarkably retired 
 spot. Among the branches of this tree they had already begun 
 their nest, which consisted of a quantity of moss pressed tightly 
 into the forks of a bough, and which was at the time only in a 
 rudimentary condition. The moss, in fact, was the foundation of 
 the nest, upon which the beautiful ' walls were intended to be 
 built, just as in the habitation of many other birds there is a 
 foundation of substances more solid than the materials of which 
 the walls are made. 
 
 Into this nest the Capociers were weaving the stolen stores of 
 cotton wool, working it in a manner that will be presently de- 
 scribed. Le Vaillant soon discovered that the legitimate sub- 
 stance of the nest- walls was the sofb white down produced by 
 certain plants, and that the birds used an enormous amount of 
 materials in comparison with their own size. As, however, they 
 
THE CAPOCIEB. 569 
 
 found that upon the naturalist's table was always a plentiful sup- 
 ply of vegetable down and fibres ready plucked, they ingeniously 
 saved themselves the trouble of collecting, and simply resorted to 
 the hospitable tent. 
 
 The male was the principal -collector of materials, and the fe- 
 male the chief architect. He used to fly off, and return with a 
 mass of cotton wool, moss, or tow, and deposit it close to the spot 
 where his mate was at work. Then she would take the materials, 
 arrange them, press them into form, and only ask his assistance 
 in carrying out her plans. He pressed, and pecked, and pulled 
 the cotton wool so as to reduce it to a kind of felt, but did not 
 seem to originate any architectural ideas, leaving them to his more 
 ingenious mate. 
 
 Le Vaillant's account of the mode of working is so interesting 
 and elegant, that, in justice to himself, it must be given in his 
 own words. After describing the process of fetching materials 
 and laying them in their places, he proceeds as follows : 
 
 "This agreeable. occupation was often interrupted by innocent 
 and playful gambols, though the female appeared to be so active- 
 ly and anxiously employed about her building as to have less 
 relish for trifling than the male, and she even punished him for 
 his frolics by pecking him well with her beak. He, on the other 
 hand, fought in his turn, pecked, pulled down the work which 
 they had done, prevented the female from continuing her labors, 
 and, in a word, seemed to tell her, ' On account of this work you 
 refuse to be my playmate, therefore you shall not do it.' 
 
 " It will scarcely be credited that, entirely from what I saw and 
 knew respecting these little altercations, I was both surprised and 
 angry at the female. In order, however, to save the fabric from 
 spoliation, she left off working, and fled from bUsh to bush, for 
 the express purpose of teasing him. Soon afterward, having 
 made matters up again, the female returned to her labor, 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 ardor carried such materials as his 
 companion required, till the spirit of frolic again became buoy- 
 ant, 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 creat- 
 ures of nature, thus to work and sport alternately, as fancy 
 prompts them. 
 
570 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 " On the third day the birds began to rear the side walls of the 
 nest, after having rendered the body compact by repeatedly press- 
 ing the materials with their breasts, and turning themselves round 
 upon them in all directions. They first formed a plain border, 
 which they afterward trimmed, and upon this they piled up tufts 
 of cotton, which was fitted into the structure by beating and press- 
 ing 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 envel- 
 oped 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 anx- 
 ious 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, while 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 inclose ; but 
 the inside exactly resembled a pullet's egg placed with the small- 
 er end upward. 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 cot- 
 ton 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 FIERY TOPAZ., 
 
 571 
 
 The oddly- shaped nest which occupies the upper part of the 
 drawing is made by the Fiebt Topaz {Topaza pyra), one of the 
 most magnificent of these lovely birds. Indeed, Prince Lucien 
 BoDaparte calls it the most beautiful of the Trochilidse, 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 glitter- 
 ing 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 pel- 
 la), a bird which is nearly allied to it, and which much resembles 
 it in general coloring. It may, however, be distinguished by the 
 color 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, be- 
 ing seldom seen as long as the sun is above the horizon, and pre- 
 
572 HOMES "WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 ferring to seek its food while the world is shrouded in darkness. 
 Perhaps the reader may remember that the sea-mouse, whose iri- 
 descent 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 wonder- 
 ful structure. 
 
 Its shape is remarkable, and is well shown in the illustration. 
 It is fastened to the branch with extreme care, as is clearly nec- 
 essary 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 sur- 
 rounded 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-bo- 
 tanical 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 eurynome), belonging to the 
 pretty little group which are popularly called Hermits, and which 
 may be recognized by the peculiar shape of the tail, which is reg- 
 ularly 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 rath- 
 er various, consisting of vegetable fibres, especially those downy, 
 cotton -like filaments which are furnished by so many plants, of 
 
HUMMING-BIRDS. 573 
 
 small herb3, 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 
 EuBY-THEOATED HuMMlNG-BiRD {Trochilus colubris), which is gen- 
 erally accepted as the typical species. This lovely bird is plenti- 
 ful 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 color of the body 
 is green, and the wings are purple-brown. The two sexes are 
 colored 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 mu- 
 seums and ornamental cases than this, because it is as plentiful as 
 it is lovely. That it should be plentiful, or indeed that any spe- 
 cies of Humming-bird should be any thing but scarce, is matter 
 of wonder, inasmuch as they never lay more than two eggs, and, 
 in all probability, 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 
 nest is necessarily small. But, although we so often find that 
 little birds build large nests, we can not but notice that the nest 
 of this Humming-bird is even smaller than the size of its occu- 
 pant seems to require. It i^ round, neatly made, and has thick 
 walls and a small hollow. 
 
 The bird has a wonderful power of concealing the nest, which 
 can not be discovered except by a practiced nest-hunter, so close- 
 ly 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 can not 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 Euby-throats, and 
 determined to find a nest, so that he might obtain the young. 
 
574 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 After finding that a pair of Humming-birds had been seen near 
 a certain spot on a river, he set himself determinately to dis- 
 cover 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 Euby-throat. He had been in yain looking for a nest, when 
 " chance favored 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- 
 bird and its darting form reached my senses at the same instapt. 
 I was sure I saw it light upon the limb of a small ironwood-tree 
 that happened to be exactly in the line of my vision at that in- 
 stant. 
 
 " In about five minutes another chirp, and another bird darted 
 in. I saw this one drop upon what seemed to be a knob or an 
 angle of the limb. I heard the soft chirping of greeting and love. 
 I could scarcely contain myself for joy. I would have given any 
 thing in the world to have dared to scream, ' I've got you, I've 
 got you at last !' By a great struggle I choked down my ecstasy 
 and kept still. One of them now flew away, and after waiting 
 fifteen minutes, that seemed a week, I rose, and with my eyes 
 steadily fixed on that important limb, I walked slowly down the 
 bank, without, of course, seeing where I placed my feet. 
 
 " But the highest hopes are sometimes doomed to a fall, and a 
 fall mine took with a vengeance ! I caught my foot in a root, 
 and tumbled head foremost down the bank into the river ! I sup- 
 pose that such a ducking would have cooled the enthusiasm of 
 most bird-nesters, but it only exasperated mine. I shook off the 
 water, and vowed that I would find that nest if it took me a week. 
 But how to begin was the question, for I had lost the limb, and 
 how was I to find it among a hundred others just like it? 
 
 " The knot that I had seen was so exactly like other knots 
 
HUMMING-BIEDS. 575 
 
 upon other limbs all round it, that the prospect of finding it 
 seemed a hopeless one; but 'I'll try, sir,' is my favorite motto. 
 I laid myself down as nearly as possible in the position which I 
 had originally occupied, but, after some twenty minutes' experi- 
 ment, came to the conclusion that my head had been too much 
 confused by the shock of my fall and ducking for me to hope to 
 make much out of this method. Then I went under the tree, and 
 commencing at the trunk with the lowest limb which leaned over 
 the water, I followed it slowly and carefully with my eye out to 
 the extremest twig, noting carefully every thing that seemed like 
 a knot. This produced no satisfactory result after half an hour's 
 trial, and with an aching neck I gave it up in despair, for I saw 
 half a dozen knots, either one of which seemed as likely to be the 
 right one as the other. 
 
 " I now changed my tactics again, and, ascending the tree, I 
 stopped with my feet upon each one of those limbs and looked 
 down along it. It was a very tedious proceeding, but I perse- 
 vered. Knot after knot deceived me ; but at last, when just above 
 the middle of the tree, I caught a sharp gleam of gold and purple 
 among the leaves, and, looking down upon the last limb to which 
 I had climbed, almost lost my footing for joy as I saw, about three 
 feet out from where I stood, the glistening back and wings of the 
 little bird just covering the top of one of these mysterious knots, 
 that was about half the size of a hen's egg. 
 
 " The glancing head, long bill, and keen eyes were turned up- 
 ward, and perfectly still, except the latter, which surveyed me 
 from head to foot with, the most dauntless expression. It seemed 
 not to have the slightest intention of moving, and I would not 
 have disturbed it for the world. It was sufficient for me to gaze 
 on my long-lost treasure, its pure white breast — or throat rather, 
 for the breast was sunk in the nest — forming such a sweet and in- 
 nocent contrast with the splendor of its back, head, and wings." 
 The capture of the little birds which were afterward hatched in 
 that nest served to set at rest the question of the Humming-bird's 
 food. They lived mostly on sirup, but were obliged to fly off 
 and eat the tiny garden spiders as they lay in the middle of their 
 radiating webs. 
 
 The nest of the Euby-throated Humming-bird seems to be 
 rather variable in form, and material, and situation, but has al- 
 ways a peculiar character which enables the experienced observer 
 to recognize it. According to Wilson, it is sometimes fixed on 
 
576 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 the upper part of a horizontal branch, as was the case with the 
 nest so graphically described by Mr. Webber. Sometimes it is 
 seen actually upon the trunk of a tree, attached to the bark by its 
 side ; and in a few rare instances it has been found in a garden, 
 attached to some strong-stalked herb. Generally, however, the 
 bird selects a white oak sapling if it builds in the woods, and a 
 pear-tree if it prefers the garden. 
 
 The tiny nest is scarcely more than one inch in width and the 
 same in depth, so that its size is very small when compared with 
 that of its occupants, which, when full grown, are more than three 
 inches in total length. The materials of which the nest is made 
 are principally the delicate cotton-like fibres which form the 
 "wings" of certain seeds, such as those of the thistle, and which 
 are so carefully woven together that they form a tolerably stout 
 wall. Upon this wall are stuck quantities of a light gray lichen 
 which is found on old fences and trees, so that the external ap- 
 pearance of the nest is rendered very similar to that of the branch 
 on which it is placed. The lining is composed of the fine hairs 
 which clothe the stalks of mullein, and ferns, and other pubescent 
 plants, and forms a thick, soft bed, on which repose the two "mi- 
 nute pearly eggs. 
 
 The nest is not merely placed upon the branch, because in that 
 case it would present a decided outline, and be comparatively easy 
 of recognition. On the contrary, the base of the nest is partly 
 continued round the branch, so that the whole fabric rises gradu- 
 ally from the bough, as if it were a natural excrescence. 
 
 When the young are hatched they are fed by thrusting their 
 beaks into the opened mouths of their parents, and extracting 
 the supply of liquid sweets which have been collected from the 
 flowers. 
 
 There is another species of this group that builds a very pret- 
 ty branch-nest. This is the Yeevain Hdmming-bied {Mellisuga 
 minima), one of the minutest of the feathered race. From the 
 point of its beak to the end of its tail it only measures two inches 
 and three quarters, so that when stripped of its feathers it seems 
 more like an insect than a bird. 
 
 Its popular name is derived from its fondness for the West In- 
 dian vervain {Stachyarpheia), a very common weed in neglected 
 pastures, with a slender stem, a blue flower, and averaging a foot 
 in height. Wherever the vervain is plentiful the Humming-bird 
 
RED-BACKED SHRIKE. 577 
 
 is sure to be found, darting here and there, now poising itself be- 
 fore a flower, and probing its recesses with the long, slender 
 tongue, and now shooting for hundreds of feet into the air, and 
 then descending diagonally, as if shot from a gun, toward the 
 flower from which it started, and balancing itself before its blue 
 petals as if it had not moved. 
 
 The nest of this bird is proportionately small, and is beautifully 
 made of vegetable fibres, such as the silk-cotton of the bombax, 
 and, when the eggs are laid, is only just large enough to contain 
 them and to retain the body of the mother bird. When, how- 
 ever, the young are hatched, the parents add to the walls of the 
 nest, which, by degrees, alters its shape . completely. At first it 
 very much resembles an immature acorn-cup, but when the young 
 are ready for flight it is deep like an ordinary coffee-cup. This 
 pretty little bird is common in Jamaica. 
 
 In the hedgerows of our own country may often be found a 
 nest which is not only pretty in itself, but remarkable for its ac- 
 cessories. This is the home of the Eed-backed Shrike {Unneoc- 
 tonus collurio). 
 
 The predatory habits of the Shrikes are well known, and one 
 species, the Great Gray Shrike {Lanius excubitor), was formerly 
 used as a falcon for the purpose of catching winged game. True, 
 the bird was not considered as a veritable hawk, and in the old 
 days of sumptuary laws, when each degree of rank had its own 
 particular species of hawk, this was a fact of some significance, 
 showing that those who thus employed the Shrike were not of 
 gentle blood. 
 
 The popular notion of the time supplied another reason why 
 the Shrike was looked upon with disdain as a bird-catcher. It 
 was supposed to use guile in securing its prey, instead of openly 
 conquering in fair chase. "Sometimes," writes an old sporting 
 author, " upon certain birds she doth use to prey, whome she doth 
 entrappe and deceive by flight, for this is her desire. She will 
 stand at pearch upon some tree or poste, and there make an ex- 
 ceeding lamentable crye and exclamation, such as birds are wonte 
 to do, being wronged or in hazard of mischiefe, and all to make 
 other fowles believe and thinke that she is very much distressed 
 and stands in need of ayde ; whereupon the credulous sellie birds 
 do flocke together presently at her call and voice, at what time if 
 any happen to approach neare her she out of hand ceazeth on 
 
 Oo 
 
578 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 them, and devoureth them (ungrateful subtill fowle !) in requital 
 for their simplicity and pains. 
 
 " Heere I end of this hawke, because I neither accompte her 
 worthy the name of a hawke, in whom there resteth no valor or 
 hardiness, nor yet deserving to have any more written upon her 
 propertie and nature. For truly it is not the property of any oth- 
 er hawke, by such devise and cowardly will to come by their 
 prey, but they love to winne it by main force of wings at random, 
 as the round winged hawkes doe, or by free stooping, as the 
 hawkes of the Tower doe most commonly use, as the falcon, ger- 
 falcon, sacre, merlyn, and such like." 
 
 The Shrikes have a peculiarity which is not shared by any oth- 
 er predaceous bird. When they have slain their prey, no matter 
 whether it be bird, beast, reptile, or insect, they take it to some 
 thorn-tree and there impale it, pressing a long and sharp thorn 
 into the body, so as to hold it firmly. The Great Gray Shrike 
 will thus impale the smaller birds, frogs, field-mice, and other 
 creatures which are nearly as large as itself, and in some instances 
 it has been known to kill and impale the thrush. It does not al- 
 ways employ thorns for this purpose, but will use sharply-pointed 
 splinters of wood, or even an iron spike if no better instrument 
 can be found. 
 
 Why it should have recourse to such a singular mode of hold- 
 ing its prey is quite a mystery. Some have said that the digest- 
 ive organs of the Shrike are incapable of dissolving fresh meat, 
 and that the bird is obliged to render its prey semi-putrid by ex- 
 posure before it can venture to make a meal. But, as the Shrike 
 frequently eats a little bird or insect as soon as caught, this the- 
 ory falls to the ground. 
 
 Whatever theory may be right or wrong, the fact remains that 
 the Shrikes impale the creatures which they have killed, and pre- 
 fer to hang them near their nests. The Red-backed Shrike is not 
 so formidable a foe to birds as its larger relative, but makes in- 
 sects its chief prey. The nest of this Shrike always affords a cu- 
 rious sight, and as the bird is plentiful it may easily be seen. 
 
 There is not the least difficulty in finding a Shrike's nest, for 
 the owner really seems to use every means which can attract at- 
 tention. In the first place, it is a bird of insatiable curiosity. It 
 will follow, or rather precede, a human being for half an hour at 
 a time, keeping always some thirty or forty yards in front, set- 
 tling near' the top of a hedge, and wagging its long tail up and 
 
RED-BACKED SHRIKE. 579 
 
 down as if to make itself more conspicuous. Last year I amused 
 myself by making a Shrike move up and down a long hedge for 
 a very long time, while I was insect-hunting among the flowers. 
 Whenever the Shrike begins to act in this manner, it may gener- 
 ally be presumed that a nest is at no great distance. 
 
 Then, if perchance the careful observer should note these signs 
 and approach the spot where the nest is placed, the bird sets up a 
 hideous squall, just as if it intended to inform the searcher that he 
 was right at last. The alarm cry of the blackbird is quite enough 
 to draw attention as the bird flies through the underwood; but, 
 at all events, it is only a short cry, and the bird is soon out of 
 sight ; but the Shrike remains on or near the nest while it con- 
 tinues to utter its harsh screams, and flies away noisily when the 
 intruder is close at hand. 
 
 The nest itself is large, and not concealed with any care, while 
 around it are stuck humble-bees, cocktail beetles, ground beetles, 
 and a variety of other insects, each impaled upon a thorn, and 
 forming admirable indications to the nest-hunter. Sometimes, 
 but seldom, young birds are impaled instead of insects, and in 
 such cases they are always callow nestlings, and are fixed by a 
 thorn run between the skin and the flesh, instead of being pierced 
 through the body, as is the method employed with insects. 
 
 There is a popular idea that the bird alw.ays has nine impaled 
 creatures at hand, and that when it eats one it catches another, 
 and with it replaces the one which has been eaten. In conse- 
 quence of this notion, which prevails through several counties, 
 the bird is called Nine-killer. The generic name, Enneoctonus, 
 is composed of two Grreek words which have a similar significa- 
 tion. So strongly is this idea held by some persons, that I have 
 seen a treatise upon instinct, where the Shrike was gravely pro- 
 duced as an example of arithmetical powers possessed by birds. 
 These theories generally fail when confronted by facts. I have 
 seen numberless Shrikes' nests ; and though in some cases there 
 may have been nine impaled animals, in some there were more 
 and in others less. 
 
 The nest itself is neatly, though loosely built of roots, moss, 
 wool, and vegetable fibres, and is lined with hair. I have mostly 
 noticed it about five feet from the ground ; and, although it is 
 said to be closely hidden, have always found it a peculiarly con- 
 spicuous nest. 
 
580 HOMES ■WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 The last branch-building bird wMch 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 be- 
 longs 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 rath- 
 er remarkable on account of the exposed situation and conspicu- 
 ous form of its nest. The red-backed shrike is remiss enough in 
 placing its nest ; but the Hedge Sparrow seems to be utterly heed- 
 less 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-fin- 
 ished 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 de- 
 tect 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 them- 
 selves about eggs so common as those of the Hedge Sparrow, the 
 novices, and even many who ought to know better, can never re- 
 sist 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, peer- 
 ing 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 
 
THE HEDGE SPAKECWV. 581 
 
 not cherish. There is, perhaps, no nest which is' easier to be seen 
 or more accessible when discovered than that of the Hedge Spar- 
 row, 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 sup- 
 posititious ofifspring, 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. Wow 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. 
 
582 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HAKDS. 
 
 Pensile Spider's Npst. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 BEANCH-BUILDEKS. 
 
 SPIDERS AND IHSBOTS. 
 
 Kemarkable Spider Nests in the British Museum. — Seed-nests and Leaf-nests. — 
 Nests of the Tutted Spidek. — 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 Mischoctttaehs and its 
 remarkable Form. — Nest of the Eaphigasteb. — Summary of the Argument. — 
 
 • The Peocessionart Moth. — Reasons for its Name. — How the Larva march. — 
 Damage done by them to Trees. — A natural Remedy. — The Calosoma and its 
 Habits. — The Gipsy Moth. — Its Ravages upon Trees Snd Mode of destroying it. 
 — The Social Principle among Caterpillars. — Mr. Bennie's Experiments. — The 
 Laoket Moth. — Supposed derivations of its popular Name. — The Eggs, Larvte, 
 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 appeal- 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 
 
SPIDEES. 583 
 
 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 il- 
 lustration 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' to- 
 gether as seen in the drawing. The seed-pods are fastened firm- 
 ly 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- 
 mens. 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 iiistance 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 
 
684 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Other, very much as children in the streets biiild 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. 
 
 Tufted Spider. 
 
 Spherical Spider Nesta. 
 
 The large, oval, cocoon-like nests which are seen in the ac- 
 companying illustration are made by the Tufted Spider of the 
 West Indies, a creature which derives its name from the remark- 
 able tufts of stiff, bristle-like hairs which decorate the limbs. A 
 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 meas- 
 urement the abdomen alone occupies two thirds. The average 
 circumference of the abdomen is five sixths of an inch ; and, as it 
 
SPIDERS. 585 
 
 varies very little throughout its entire length, that portion of the 
 body is very solid and heavy. The color is deep chocolate-brown, 
 curiously marked with circular dots of bright yellow, and farther 
 diversified with stripes of the same color, especially over the fore 
 part of the abdomen. Two bold yellow bars are also drawn 
 transversely across the under surface of the abdomen. The tho- 
 rax is deep brown, and clothed with short hairs of grayish-yellow, 
 set so densely that the dark color of the thorax can not be seen 
 without close inspection. There are, however, three black squared 
 spots on each side, and a black spot occupies the centre. The 
 .animal is armed with a formidable pair of poison-jaws, of a deep 
 shining black, at the ends of which the curved fangs are benf in- 
 ward like the venomous teeth of the rattlesnake. On the front 
 of the thorax, and looking directly forward,' are the eight eyes, 
 the four smallest being arranged closely together in the centre, in 
 the form of a square, and the four largest being set on bold promi- 
 nences so as to form a largei oblong, in the centre of which is the 
 square. 
 
 The limbs are of considerable length. The first pair of legs, 
 which are the longest, measure two inches and a half in length, 
 and the expanded second pair measure four inches and* a half. 
 The most remarkable point about the spider is the peculiarity 
 from which it derives its name. The first, second, and fourth 
 pairs of legs are adorned with dense hairy tufts, the first pair hav- 
 ing two tufts each, and the others only one. The third pair of 
 legs are much shorter and smaller than the others, and are desti- 
 tute of tufts. As the legs themselves are bright yellow-brown 
 and the tufts are deep black, the contrast of color is very bold and 
 agreeable to the eye. The entomological reader may perhaps 
 remember that social exotic beetles are also decorated with tufts 
 upon their antennae and limbs. Of the curious spherical spider- 
 nests, with their black cross-bars, nothing is known except the 
 mere fact of their existence. They are about as large as full-sized 
 black currants. 
 
 In the following illustration three most remarkable nests are 
 given, .all of them the work of hymenopterous insects, and all 
 serving in some degree to illustrate the hexagonal system of cell- 
 building, so common among the Hymenoptera. 
 
 Of these, perhaps, the central figure is the most interesting, 
 because it entirely sets at rest a question which is periodically 
 
586 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 MiBChocyttarus. 
 
 Raphigaster. 
 
 agitated. It is made by an insect belonging to the genus Icaria. 
 Perhaps my readers may remember that on page 450 the cele- 
 brated bee-cell problem is described, and that mention is made of 
 the many theories which have been invented to solve the riddle. 
 Among them the two most conspicuous are those which are known 
 as the equal pressure theory and the excavation theory. Differing 
 as they do in many respects — one attempting to prove that each 
 cell is forced into the hexagonal shape by the pressure of six cells 
 surrounding it, and the other that the cell is made hexagonal by 
 the cutting away of material from six surrounding cells — they 
 both agree in one point, namely, that the normal shape of the cell 
 is cylindrical, and that it only assumes the hexagonal form by 
 mechanical means. 
 
 These questions were briefly mentioned, because an entire omis- 
 sion of them would appear negligent, but they were not followed 
 
THE HEXAGONAL PRINCIPLE. 587 
 
 up because the nests that would set them at rest belonged to an- 
 other group. "We will first take the central nest. 
 
 The specimen from which this was drawn was fortunately in 
 an unfinished state, only eight cells being made, and some of these 
 but partly finished. As the reader may see by reference to the 
 illustration, all the cells are hexagonal, whether finished or in- 
 complete, and, moreover, that the edges of the hexagon are quite 
 sharp and well defined. 
 
 Now, if either of the two theories were true, the cells would not 
 have assumed this shape. Where are the six surrounding cells 
 that are needed to compress the outermost cell into an hexagonal? 
 Or where are the six surrounding cells from which the hexagon 
 was excavated ?• There are none. The outermost cell, for exam- 
 ple, is perfectly free on five of its sides, being only attached to the 
 neighboring cell by the sixth side. Compression, therefore, has 
 not been employed, because there is nothing that can compress it ; 
 neither has excavation been used, because there is no material to 
 be excavated. ISTo one, on looking at this group of cells, can deny 
 that the hexagonal form is produced by the direct labors of the 
 insect, and not by any secondary mechanical means. 
 
 Perhaps some one who has not examined the actual object 
 might say that the materials of which the cells are made are suf- 
 ficiently stiff to need no support of contiguous cells. Now the 
 substance of this remarkable nest is singularly slight, the walls 
 being not thicker than the paper on which this account is printed, 
 and the material is quite soft, as may be seen by the curvature 
 produced by the mere weight, of the structure. Yet none of the 
 cells are united by more than three sides, the greater number by 
 two only, and the external cells merely by a single side, leaving 
 five sides and four angles perfectly free. 
 
 In this particular specimen the material has evidently been va- 
 ried, the insect having been forced to employ different substances 
 in forming its home, as is seen by the pale and dark rings altern- 
 ately surrounding the cells. The insect which makes this curious 
 home is of moderate size, and is grayish-black, banded with yel- 
 lowish-white. The abdomen is tolerably stout and sharp-pointed, 
 and is attached to the thorax by a short brownish foot-stalk. This 
 insect is a native of Natal. Other species of the same group wil] 
 be mentioned in the course of the following pages. 
 
 In the left-hand upper corner naay be seen a very remarkable 
 
588 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 triple nest depending from a branch. This is the work of an 
 insect called Misckocytiarus labiatus, which belongs to the family 
 Polistidse. Like the nest of the preceding insect, it is attached 
 to the bough by a slender and tolerably long foot-stalk, and the 
 mouths of the cells are downward, as is always the case with 
 these insects. 
 
 Generally the group of cells is single, but occasionally a more 
 perfect nest is found, which, like the specimen figured in the illus- 
 tration, has three distinct cell groups, each pendent from the centre 
 of the group above. This may seem rather a dangerous method 
 of suspending the nest, but it is not more so than that which is 
 employed by the common wasp, which buiMs tier under tier of 
 cells, hanging each tier from its immediate predecessor by little 
 pillars of the same paper-like material as that of which the cells 
 are constructed ; or very much, indeed, as the roadway of a sus- 
 pension bridge is hung from its arch instead of being placed upon 
 it. The insect itself is smaller than the preceding, and is almost 
 uniformly brown. 
 
 The last of these three groups is particularly entitled to notice, 
 on account of its bearing upon the hexagonal principle, which 
 has been so often mentioned. The name of the insect is Eaphi- 
 GASTER GrUiNiENSis, and, as its name implies, it is a native of 
 Western Africa. 
 
 The nest consists of a group of long cells, and is suspended 
 from a foot-stalk. The material of which the nest is composed is 
 peculiarly soft and flimsy, reminding the observer of the worst 
 and most porous French paper. The cells are so thin that the 
 light shines through their delicate walls, and they are so soft 
 that they yield to the least pressure. Each cell is small at the 
 base, and increases regularly toward the mouth like a reversed 
 sugar-loaf 
 
 Wow, if the real cause of the hexagonal form were to be found 
 in the equal pressure of surrounding cells, the central cells of this 
 group ought to be hexagons, for they are soft, pliable, and their 
 conical form renders them peculiarly liable to be squeezed out of 
 shape. Yet, on examining the nest, we find that all the cells re- 
 tain their conical f6rm, the central cells being as rounded as those 
 on the exterior, and their mouths being as circular. 
 
 These examples entirely destroy both theories. 
 
 In the first instance we have nests of which the cells are per- 
 
THE PROCESSIONARY MOTH. 589 
 
 » 
 
 feotly hexagonal throughout, although some of them are only at- 
 tached by one side, and are not pressed upon at either of the five 
 remaining sides. We find that the external angles are as sharp, 
 and their internal measurement as true, as those which occupy 
 the very centre of the bee-comb ; so that pressure is clearly not 
 the cause of the hexagon. That excavation is not the cause is 
 also evident, from the fact that the external cells can not have 
 been excavated, and yet are hexagonal. 
 
 These examples, therefore, show that the hexagonal form can 
 exist without pressure. But, as if to show that pressure can exist 
 without producing the hexagonal form, we have the nest of the 
 Mischocyttarus, whose long, delicate, soft- walled cells are grouped 
 round each other, and yet retain their conical form, so that at any 
 part of them a transverse section would show a circular edge. 
 
 The insect which makes this nest is rather long, measuring per- 
 haps an inch in length. The color is pale yellow and the abdo- 
 men is much elongated, and attached to a slender foot-stalk or 
 peduncle nearly as long as itself. Several of the cells have been 
 occupied by larvae which have begun to assume the pupal condi- 
 tion, as is shown by the white covers over their mouths. 
 
 One of the most remarkable of these branch-building insects 
 is that which has been appropriately named the Pbocessionaet 
 Moth {Cneethocampa processioned). This curious moth lays a 
 number of eggs, mostly upon the oak, and as soon as they are 
 hatched the little creatures begin to form their home. 
 
 Externally it is not unlike that of the brown-tailed moth, but it 
 differs in one respect, namely, that it is' not divided into separate 
 chambers, and has only one aperture. When the larvae sally out 
 for the purpose of procuring food, they spin guide-lines, as is the 
 case with many . other caterpillars. But, instead of going out 
 singly into the world, each to find its own food in its own way, 
 they march out in regular order, like a military party on a fora- 
 ging expedition. 
 
 A single caterpillar is always the leader, and often is followed 
 by one or two others in Indian file. Presently, however, the cat- 
 erpillars march two deep, and, if a large number should be on the 
 move, the line is sometimes from five to six deep. They are all 
 very close to each other, so that the procession flows on in one 
 unbroken line, and, until the observer is close to it, he can not see 
 that its component parts are moving at all. 
 
590 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 On referring to the illustration, the reader will see that the 
 artist has represented a nest of the Processionary Moth, part of 
 which has been torn open so as to show the absence of partitions 
 in the interior. A number of the caterpillars are also shown, but 
 in the middle of the nest is one grub of very great size, being, in 
 fact, six or seven times as large as the caterpillars. This creature 
 has been introduced because it is generally to be found in the 
 nest of the Processionary Moth, and because it is one of the most 
 useful insects that a careful agriculturist can protect. 
 
 Processionary Moth and Calosoma. 
 
 It is the larvae of a beautiful beetle, called scientifically Calo- 
 soma sycophanta, which is represented below in the act of ascend- 
 ing the tree. The beetle is a lovely blue-green, but the larva is 
 as unsightly a being as can well be conceived, its body being fat, 
 flattish, and scaly, and its color black. This creature feeds en- 
 tirely upon the various caterpillars and other larvae, even eating 
 those of the destructive sawflies. At the end of the tail are two 
 horny spines, and the head is furnished with a pair of curved, 
 sharp, and powerful jaws, by means of which it seizes its prey. 
 
 Instinct teaches these grubs to find their prey, and it may easily 
 
THE PROCESSIOKAEY AND GIPSY MOTHS. 591 
 
 be imagined that when they approach a nest of the Processionary 
 Moth they are not slow to avail themselves of the opportunity. 
 Indeed, so sure are they of discovering their prey, that Reaumur 
 asserts that he never opened a nest of the ^recessionary Moth 
 without finding one or more specimens of their rapacious enemy, 
 as many as five or six having been seen in a single nest. They 
 are most voracious creatures, as indeed is evident from their strud: 
 ture ; and, as each grub will eat several large caterpillars in a day, 
 the havoc which is made in the nest may easily be imagined. The 
 caterpillars have no means of defense or escape. They can not 
 leave their home, and they can not kill or expel the intruder. All 
 that they can do is to go out and eat, and come back and be eaten, 
 their numbers ever diminishing, like the companions of Ulysses 
 in the Cyclops' cave. 
 
 But for the exertions of this most useful insect, the ravages of 
 the Processionary Caterpillars would be greatly increased, for the 
 creature does not only eat them while in the larval condition, but 
 feeds upon them after they have become pupse. Sometimes, how- 
 ever, this extreme voracity defeats its own purpose. It occasion- 
 ally happens that a grub of the Calosoma habitually gorges itself 
 to such an extent with Processionary Caterpillars that it becomes 
 fat, unwieldy, and scarce able to move. If, when it is in this con- 
 dition, leaner and hungrier grubs should come across it, they are 
 too apt to seize upon it and devour it in sheer wantonness, even 
 though the nest be full of their legitimate prey. 
 
 Knowing the habits of this grub, a French entomologist, M. 
 Boisgerard, managed very ingeniously to avail himself of its de- 
 vouring capacities. There is a well-known insect, Bomhyx dis- 
 par, popularly called the Gipsy Moth, which is very common in 
 France, though scarce in most parts of England. The larva of 
 this moth is destructive to trees, feeding on their leaves, and then 
 retreating to a cunning little hiding-place in some crevice of the 
 bark. - Finding that his trees were infested with these caterpil- 
 lars, M. Boisgerard procured a number of female Calosomas, and 
 placed them on the trees. They laid their eggs, and in due sea- 
 son the larvae were hatched. In process of time the destructive 
 grubs increased so much that they ate all the noxious caterpillars, 
 and at the end of the third year the trees were cleared, and the 
 Calosoma beetles had to go" elsewhere for a living. 
 
 In England the Calosoma is exceedingly rare, all specimens 
 hitherto captured having been apparently blown over the sea 
 
592 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 from the Continent or brought in ships. Toward the south of 
 France it is plentiful enough, as is needed from, the enormous 
 multitudes of crop - destroying caterpillars on which it feeds. 
 There is, however, a closely allied speqies, Calosoma inquisitor, 
 which is not so scarce, and, although comparatively seldom seen, 
 may be captured by those who know where to look for it. I 
 have taken it in Bayley Wood, near Oxford. 
 
 The reader may remember that two species of wasp, namely, 
 Vespa vulgaris and Vespa, germanica, will work harmoniously at 
 the same nest. This curious sociability, which is contrary to the 
 usual custom of nature, is shared by moths as well as wasps. 
 When experimenting upon the nests of this species, M. E^aumur 
 found that several distinct broods of caterpillars would spin a 
 common web and live in peace together, just as if they had been 
 the offspring of one mother. Mr. Eennie, however, carried the 
 experiments still farther, and found that two different species 
 would act in the same social manner. 
 
 "We ourselves ascertained during the present summer (1829) 
 that this principle of sociality is not confined to the same species, 
 nor even to the same genus. The experiment which we tried 
 was to confine two broods of different species to the same branch, 
 by placing it in a glass of water to prevent their escape. The 
 caterpillars which we experimented upon were several broods of 
 the brown-tailed moth {Porthesia auriflua) and the lackey {Clisio- 
 campa neustria). These we found to work with as much industry 
 and harmony in constructing their common tent as if they had 
 been at liberty in their native trees; and when the lackeys en- 
 countered the brown-tails they manifested no alarm or uneasiness, 
 but passed over the backs of one another as if they had made only 
 a portion of the branch. 
 
 " In none of their operations did they seem to be subject to 
 any discipline, each individual appearing to work in perfecting 
 the structure from individual instinct, in the same manner as was 
 remarked by M. Huber in the case of the hive-bees. In making 
 such experiments, it is obvious that the species of caterpillars ex- 
 perimented with must feed upon the same sort of plant." 
 
 One remark ought to be made on this interesting narrative. 
 The author lays some stress on the fact that the two insects be- 
 longed not only to different species, but to different genera. It 
 must, however, be remembered that, although the distinction of 
 
THE LACKEY MOTH. 593 
 
 insects into species is easy enough, their grouping into genera is 
 quite arbitrary, depending entirely on the classifier. Linnseus, 
 for example, divided all the butterflies into two genera, while the 
 modern classification admits some thirty genera. While, there- 
 fore, we may lay every stress on the species, we need not trouble 
 ourselves much about the genus. 
 
 The two moths mentioned in this history are very diflFerent in 
 appearance, and the larvse are still more unlike. They have, 
 however, this point of similarity, that they construct large dwell- 
 ings upon branches, spinning them of silk, and making them large 
 enough to contain a whole brood at once. The Lackey Moths 
 axe so called on account of the bright colors of the caterpillars, 
 which are striped and decorated like modern footmen. Some 
 species, however, derive the name from a different source. 
 
 "When the mother insect lays her eggs, she deposits them on a 
 small branch or twig, disposing them in a ring that completely 
 encircles the twig, as a bracelet surrounds a lady's wrist. When 
 she has completed the circle, she covers the eggs with a kind of 
 varnish, which soon hardens, and forms a perfect defense from 
 the rain. The varnish is so hard, and binds the eggs so firmly 
 together, that, if the twig be carefully severed, the whole mass of 
 eggs can be slipped off entire. As this varnish produces the same 
 effect on eggs as lacquer does upon polished metal, preserving the 
 surface and defending it from moisture, the insect is called the 
 Lacquer, a word which has been corrupted into Lackey. 
 
 In wet weather the Lackey Caterpillars prefer to remain in 
 their silken home, leaving it only for the purpose of feeding. 
 They never lose their way, because, like the larvse of the little 
 ermine moth, which has been already described, they continually 
 spin a single silken thread as they go along, and are therefore pro- 
 vided with an infallible guide to the track. Before they change 
 to the pupal state they leave the nest. 
 
 The larva of this species is a very prettily-marked creature, 
 the body being striped with blue, and yellow, and white. The 
 moth itself is yellow, with a slight tinge of orange, and across 
 the upper pair of wings runs a dark band edged on either side 
 by a paler streak. As there is another allied species, which 
 lives on various sea-side plants, the present insect ought more 
 properly to be called the Tree Lackey. The moth seems to be 
 rather periodical and local ; for, although specimens are found 
 annually in most years, they swarm to such an extent in certain 
 
 Pp 
 
594 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 places that whole rows of fruit-trees are denuded of their leaves, 
 and covered with the silken webs of the pretty but destructive 
 caterpillars. 
 
 The Beown-tailed Moth is another of the arboreal insects, 
 and spins a web very like that of the gold-tailed inoth, which has 
 already been described. In some seasons it is more numerous 
 than in others, and occasionally seen in vast multitudes. This 
 phenomenon is often observable among insects, as is well known 
 to all practical entomologists, and in more than one instance the 
 caterpillars of the Brown-tailed Moth have been so plentiful as to 
 become a positive pest. 
 
 They are social larvae, and, as they are hatched late in the au- 
 tumn, they spin a joint web, in which they can be secure through- 
 out the winter months. As the brood is mostly numerous, and 
 as two or more broods may unite in forming a common dwelling, 
 their habitation is extremely large, often enveloping several 
 branches, together with their twigs and leaves. Like the nest of 
 the gold-tailed moth, it is divided into chambers, and is externally 
 irregular in form, depending entirely for its shape upon the local- 
 ity in which it is constructed. 
 
 Even in this country it is sometimes plentiful enough to annoy 
 the farmer, who does not like to see his hedgerows disfigured by 
 the silken tents spun by these caterpillars ; but in France it has 
 occurred in such hosts as to entail a serious loss upon the agricul- 
 turist, whole rows of trees having been stripped of their leaves, 
 and the denuded branches covered with the sheets of web in 
 which lay the destroying armies. 
 
 On the accompanying illustration may be seen a number of 
 curious nests, composed of long hexagonal cells set side by side. 
 These are made by several species of a hymenopterous insect be- 
 longing to the genus Icaria, and may be advantageously compared 
 with the central figure in the illustration on page 586. 
 
 These nests, or rather these series of cells, are made after a sin- 
 gular fashion. First, the insect attaches to the branch a foot-stalk 
 composed of the same material as that with which the cells are 
 formed. This foot-stalk, although slender, is very hard, solid, 
 and tough, and can uphold a considerable weight, as is necessary 
 from the manner of constructing the nest. She then makes a cell 
 after the ordinary wasp-fashion, attaching it to the foot-stalk with 
 
ICARIAS. 
 
 595 
 
 Icariaa. 
 
 its mouth downward, and at first making it comparatively short. 
 When the cell has nearly attained its due length, a second is 
 placed alongside the first, and a third is added in like manner, 
 each being lengthened as required. As the cells at the base of 
 the series are finished first, it is evident that they gradually di- 
 minish toward the end, those at the extremity being often not one 
 quarter so long as those at the base. 
 
 The material employed in making these cells is woody fibre, 
 like that which is used by our common British wasps, and the 
 color is rather dark yellowish-brown, so that, in spite of the curi- 
 ous method in which the nest-groups project from the branches, 
 they are not seen so readily as might be imagined from their ec- 
 centric form. 
 
 In these, as in many other forms of cells made by hymenopter- 
 o'us insects, is to be found an enigma which as yet is unsolved, 
 and for the mention of which I am indebted to Mr. P. Smith, of 
 the British Museum : all the cells are of equal size. 
 
 Now this point, which would not particularly strike an ordi- 
 nary observer, is of the greatest importance to those who have 
 studied the economy of insects, and have bestowed much thought 
 upon them. If we examine the nest of a hive-bee, and take any 
 single comb, we shall find that the cells are extremely variable in 
 size — the latgest being those which are occupied by the future 
 
596 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 queens, the smallest those which are the nurseries of the worker 
 bees, and the intermediate cells those in which the drones or males 
 are hatched. 
 
 If we examine the nest of the common wasp or hornet, we still 
 find the cells of various sizes, corresponding with the sexes and 
 uses of the occupants ; and if we look at that of any species of 
 humble-bee, the same fact is clearly perceptible. But in the nests 
 of the Icarias and similar insects no such variation is discovera- 
 ble, and no distinction can be found between the male and fe- 
 male cells. The natural question therefore arises, whether all 
 the members of each brood, or rather each cell group, are of the 
 same sex; or whether one nest produces males and another fe- 
 males, just as one portion of the comb is given to males, another 
 to females, and another to neuters, in the case of the hive-bee ? 
 No matter how large may be the nest of an Icaria, or how full 
 of cells it may be, the cells are all so alike in shape and size 
 that they must apparently be the cradles of insects belonging to 
 the same sex. 
 
 This fact is curiously brought out in a remarkable series of 
 cell groups which have been placed on a single leaf, some of 
 which are shown in the lower part of the illustration. The leaf 
 is rather long, and, being dry, is now curved by its own force. 
 This leaf seems to have possessed some fascination for the Icarias, 
 as upon the upper surface no less than fifteen nests have been 
 established, none of great length, and all nearly or quite com- 
 pleted. In none are the cells perfectly straight, all having a 
 slight curve downward on account of the delicate material of 
 which they are made. 
 
 The insect which builds these curious cells is a commonplace- 
 looking creature, of a soft grayish-brown color, with a moderately 
 large head and a little rounded abdomen, not very unlike the 
 Gynips KoUari, which has already been described. It is a native 
 of India, and the nests which have been mentioned were sent 
 from Bareilly. 
 
 There is also a nest made by an allied insect belonging to the 
 genus Sphex, and coming, as far as is known, from the same lo- 
 cality. As in the preceding case, the habitation is placed in the 
 hollow of a leaf, which has either curled in the process of wither- 
 ing, or has been bent by the insect and retained in its cylindrical 
 form by silken threads. On inspecting the nest it is seen to con- 
 
THE POLISTES ATERKIMA. 597 
 
 sist of a mass of delicate threads that are not unlike those of the 
 common silkworm, which cross and recross each other so as to 
 fill up the hollow of the leaf, and to form a receptacle for the fu- 
 ture young. 
 
 The insect is a large one, being a full inch in length, and of 
 rather a formidable appearance. In color it is black, with the 
 exception of a few narrow transverse streaks of bright yellow 
 upon the fore part of the thorax, and the abdomen is placed at 
 the end of a long foot-stalk. 
 
 In connection with this branch of the subject, I must call the 
 attention of the reader to the curious cell group of Polisies aterri- 
 ma, a figure of which is given on page 482. 
 
 At first sight it looks as if the winged architect had intended 
 to make a cell group like that of the Icaria, and had been brought 
 abruptly to a conclusion. A close inspection, however, shows 
 that the structure is intentional, and not merely the result of ac- 
 cident. The cells are all placed with their mouths downward, 
 and are set in a very peculiar manner. 
 
 In the Icaria nests the cells are arranged so as to form a more 
 or less elongated mass, widest in the middle and tapering to the 
 end, the variation in width being caused by the different ar- 
 rangement of the cells, which are two deep at the commence- 
 ment, reach three or four deep at the middle, and are reduced 
 at the end to a single row of cells. But in the nest of the Po- 
 listes all the cells are two deep, being arranged in two regular 
 rows. 
 
 On reference to the illustration, which is exactly one half the 
 length of the original specimen, the reader will see that the cells 
 are of different sizes, and might therefore fancy that the upper or 
 larger cells are those which nurture the larvse that are destined 
 to be perfect males and females, and that the lower or smaller 
 cells are intended for the workers or neuters. But a careful ex- 
 amination shows that such a supposition would not be correct. 
 It is true that the upper cells are larger than the lower, but this 
 increase of size is simply owing to the fact that they are com- 
 pleted, while the five lower cells are still unfinished. 
 
 The attention of the reader is particularly called to the dark 
 bars which are at regular intervals across the cells. These are 
 not merely intended to represent effects of light and shade, nor to 
 show that the little architect has used materials of different colors 
 
598 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 SO as to form alternate bands ; but each dark line represents a 
 distinct and well-marked ridge, and each ridge is evidently the 
 result of an addition made to the cell. 
 
 Here, then, we have a clew to the manner in which the insect 
 builds its curious home. The cells at the upper part of the nest 
 were originally in the same unfinished state as those at the lower 
 extremity. The insect made a tolerably deep cell, laid an egg 
 therein, and then proceeded to lay the foundation of other cells, 
 placing an egg in each. 
 
 When, however, she has formed the third or fourth cell, the 
 eggs in the first and second chambers have been hatched into 
 larvse, and need to be fed ; so the mother insect has now to sus- 
 pend her architectural labors, and to divide her time between the 
 erection of fresh cells and the feeding of the larvse in those which 
 were first made. Soon, however, her labors become more oner- 
 ous and more complicated. The larvse or grubs which inhabited 
 the first two or three cells have grown so rapidly that they are 
 fast becoming too large for their pendent cradles. Their cells 
 must therefore be enlarged to suit the increased dimensions of the 
 inhabitants. This also is done, each addition being marked by 
 the ridge which has been already mentioned. 
 
 Thus, then, the hard-worked mother insect is forced to engage 
 in three distinct labors, namely, the building of new cells, the en- 
 largement of existing cells, and the nurture of the larvse. A 
 short reference to the illustration will now give the reader a clear 
 idea of the cell group. Above is a series of completed cells, each 
 occupied by a full-grown larva, one of which is being fed by the 
 mother insect, and below is a series of incomplete cells, each of 
 which has received an egg, but neither of which is fit to sustain 
 the weight of the larvse. If, however, the nest had been allowed 
 to remain in the forest, instead of being carried off to the British 
 Museum, the five lower cells would have been completed like 
 their more perfect predecessors above. 
 
 The observant reader will probably have noticed that from the 
 mouths of several cells a scoop-like projection is seen to issue. 
 These projections have been faithfully rendered by the draughts- 
 man, although they denote a certain imperfection in the speci- 
 men. They are evidently the result of hard usage, and show that 
 part of a completed cell has been broken away. As is often the 
 case, the fracture has its value, inasmuch as it shows that the nor- 
 mal form of the cell is hexagonal, and that the angles are quite 
 
THE POLISTES ATERRIMA. 599 
 
 sharp and firm, without needing either pressure or excavation to 
 make them so. 
 
 It is much to be regretted that in England there is no repre- 
 sentative of this interesting group of insects by which the above- 
 mentioned problem might be solved. We might then know 
 whether males and females belong to the same brood, are nur- 
 tured in the same cells, and are of the same size. We might 
 learn whether or not the males are bred in separate establish- 
 ments, divided from the other sex like dioecious plants. As it is, 
 however, we are in ignorance respecting these points, and no one 
 resident in tropical countries seems to have the energy to con- 
 duct a series of experiments which would involve expenditure 
 of time and labor. Travelers and residents in tropical countries 
 are often admirable collectors, but, with few exceptions, are poor 
 observers, except of facts that pass immediately under their ob- 
 servation. They make valuable collections, and record many 
 useful isolated facts ; but, unfortunately, they seldom appear able 
 to carry on a series of experiments that would occupy several 
 successive years, and thus we lose much valuable as well as in- 
 teresting knowledge, and waste much time in trying to discover 
 by inference that which we ought to know from observation. 
 
 The last point which will be noticed in connection with this 
 remarkable cell group is that it is perfectly protected from rain. 
 Slight and delicate as is the structure, appearing scarcely thicker 
 than the silver paper with which engravings are guarded, it may 
 be deluged with water without being wetted. Over the whole 
 of the cells the insect contrives to lay a thick coat of some var- 
 nish-like substance, which at the same time gives the exterior of 
 the cells a polish, binds them more firmly together, and renders 
 them water-proof. The varnish is nearly transparent, but has a 
 blackish hue, which gives to the whole cell group a uniformity 
 of aspect which would be wanting if the protecting substance 
 were itself colorless. 
 
 The insect is, at first sight, black in color, as is expressed by 
 its specific title. A clear examination in a more favorable light 
 shows -that the true color is a green so deep as to appear black, 
 but having a perceptible bronze gloss in certain lights. The 
 wings are equally sombre in aspect, looking as if they had been 
 held above the flame of a badly -trimmed lamp, and received all 
 the soot upon their translucent membranes. Indeed, their pecul- 
 iar color can only be expressed by the word "smoky." 
 
600 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 It is hardly possible to overrate the wonderful varieties of 
 form that are assumed by the nests of insects — varieties so bold 
 and so startling that few would believe in the possibility of their 
 existence without ocular demonstration. No rule seems to be 
 observed in them ; at all events, no rule has as yet been discov- 
 ered by which their formation is guided, neither has any conjec- 
 ture been formed as to the reason for the remarkable forms which 
 they assume. 
 
 Perhaps, of all the nests in the splendid collection of the Brit- 
 ish Museum, there are none that cause so much surprise as the 
 wonderful group which is represented in this illustration. Many 
 
 Apoica. 
 
 persons pass through the room, and even take some notice of the 
 various nests with which they are surrounded, but they seldom 
 notice the peculiarities of this group until pointed out to them. 
 When, however, their attention is directed toward it, they never 
 
NESTS OF APOICA. 601 
 
 fail to express tbeir surprise at so curious a structure, and their 
 admiration of the manner in which these natural homes are con- 
 structed. 
 
 In a recent portion of this work the hexagonal principle of con- 
 struction has been mentioned as applied to separate cells of cer- 
 tain hymenoptera, and that no explanation has been given of the 
 mode by which the six-sided cells are made. It is always easier 
 to explode previous theories than to supplant them with one that 
 really explains the enigma, and such is certainly the case with 
 these 'cells. But when we come to examine the group of nests 
 which are made by an insect called A^poica pallida, the subject 
 takes a wider range, and we are even more hopelessly bewildered 
 than before. In the nests already mentioned the cells are hexag- 
 onal, but, in these specimens the entire nests assume a form more 
 or less hexagonal, as may be seen by reference to the illustration. 
 
 In order to prevent misunderstanding, I must here remark, that 
 the seven nests or cell groups were not all found adhering to a 
 single branch, as seems to be the case, but that they have been 
 placed near each other in such a manner as to allow of easy com- 
 parison, and to show their peculiar form. The large mushroom- 
 shaped nest in the centre, and the small cell group which occu- 
 pies the extremity of the bough, appear as they were formed by 
 the insects, but the others have only been arranged for the con- 
 venience of comparison. 
 
 Even their position has been necessarily altered. Nests of this 
 kind are always placed with the mouths of the cells downward ; 
 but, as their peculiar form could not easily be seen if they were 
 allowed to retain their natural position, some of them have been 
 set on their edges, so as to exhibit their outline to the spectator. 
 This is notably the case with that nest which occupies the left 
 hand of the illustration, and which is the most striking of all the 
 specimens. 
 
 If the reader will refer to the illustration, he will see that the 
 nests are by no means uniform in size or shape. The larger one, 
 for example, which occupies the centre, rather exceeds ten inches 
 in diameter, while the small nest at the end of the same branch is 
 scarcely half as wide, and the others are of all the intermediate 
 sizes. In shape, too, they differ, some being perfectly hexagonal, 
 others partly so, while others, again, are nearly circular, though 
 on a careful inspection they show faint traces of the hexagonal 
 form. 
 
602 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 We will now examine these nests, and see where they agree 
 with and differ from each other. 
 
 In the first place, their upper surfaces are more or less convex, 
 according to their size ; and whether they are circular or hexag- 
 onal, the convexity remains the same. This form is evidently 
 intended for the purpose of making them weather-proof, for the 
 rain torrents that occasionally deluge the country would soon 
 wash to pieces any nest whereon the falling drops could make 
 a lodgment. The surface is therefore as smooth as that of the 
 various pasteboard wasps which build in the forests of tropical 
 America. 
 
 The upper surface being convex, it naturally follows that the 
 under surface is concave, inasmuch as the cells are of tolerably 
 equal length. In fact, the nests somewhat resemble very shallow 
 basins with very thick sides, and bear an almost startling resem- 
 blance to the cap of a very large and very well-shaped mushroom, 
 the central specimen being so fungus-like in form that, if it were 
 laid on the ground in a waste and moist spot, it would soon be 
 picked up as a veritable mushroom. The color, too, is yellowish- 
 brown, and the surface has a kind of semi-polish that increases 
 the resemblance. 
 
 In the nests of our common wasp, or hornet, the sheets of paper 
 which form the exterior show plainly where each successive flake 
 has been deposited, and the sweep of the insect's jaws is marked 
 distinctly upon the yielding material. Even in the case of the 
 few British species which build pensile nests in the open air, the 
 separate flakes can be distinguished, though they are not so clear- 
 ly marked as in those homes which are defended from the weath- 
 er by earth or wood. Our temperate region knows no such sud- 
 den vicissitudes of weather as take place near the equator, and 
 there is no need for insect habitations to possess very great 
 strength or powers of resisting water. But in these nests the 
 cover is so beautifully uniform, that no trace of a jaw can be de- 
 tected upon it. 
 
 Agreeing in general appearance, the nests vary somewhat in 
 color. Of the eight specimens, the generality are of the mush- 
 room-like hue which has already been mentioned. Others, how- 
 ever, rather vary in this respect, and the uniform yellowish-brown 
 is pleasingly diversified by patches of red. One of the nests, how- 
 ever, boldly departs from the general uniformity, the surface be- 
 ing not only reddish-brown over its whole extent, but as rough 
 
NESTS OF APOIOA. 603 
 
 as if made of sand-paper, or from the skin of a dogfish. One or 
 two, again, are much darker than the others ; while one is almost 
 white, with only a tinge of gray. 
 
 Another point in these nests is, that although they vary so 
 much in diameter, their thickness is almost uniform. The reason 
 is evident enough. As the young larvae attain a tolerably uni- 
 form size, and are not boldly divided into large males, larger 
 queens, and little workers or neuters, the cells are of equal length. 
 Therefore, whether the number be great or small, the thickness 
 of the cell group remains unchanged, though the diameter may 
 increase to any reasonable amount;. 
 
 All the nests are fixed in the same manner, a branch or twig 
 passing through the upper surface. When the nest increases in 
 size, the original support is often found to be too slight, and in 
 that case others are added. The smaller nests are upheld by a 
 single twig only, but the largest is supported at no less than three 
 points, two tolerably stout branches passing through the side of 
 the cover, and a smaller twig supporting the top. 
 
 Another point to be noticed is, that the size of the nest is no 
 criterion of its shape. It is not necessarily circular because it is 
 large, nor horizontal because it is small. The eight examples in 
 the British Museum show every gradation of shape between the 
 hexagon and the circle, without the least reference to size. 
 
 How the insect forms these wonderful cell groups is an enigma 
 to which not the least clew can be found. In proportion to the 
 size of the architect, they are simply enormous, and yet the sides 
 and angles are as true and just as if they were single cells. It is 
 very clear that neither the theory of excavation or of equal press- 
 ure can apply to these nests, and an additional reason is afforded 
 why these theories should be abandoned. It is to be regretted 
 that the only reasoning is of the destructive kind ; but at present 
 we have no data on which to found a theory that seems in the 
 least tenable. 
 
 In the nest to which reference has been made, the insects have 
 carried out the hexagonal principle in a curious manner. A 
 number of cells whose mouths are closed with a white silken cov- 
 er prove that the inmates are undergoing their metamorphosis, 
 and are in a transitional state between the larva and the perfect 
 insect. Instead, however, of being scattered at random through- 
 out the nest, the inhabited cells are arranged in the most system- 
 atic manner, a group occupying the centre, and being surrounded 
 
604 HOMES WITHOOT HANDS. 
 
 at a little distance with a row of covered cells which follow the 
 shape of the exterior outline, and therefore take the shape of a 
 hexagon. 
 
 The insect well deserves its scientific title. The generic name 
 Apoica is formed from two Greek words, which signifies a colony, 
 and the specific title pallida is given in reference to the hue of 
 the body. It is not a handsome nor even a striking insect, being 
 long, slender, and very pale yellow, looking as if it had once been 
 decorated with a brighter covering. • It has altogether a faded and 
 semi-bleached look, suggesting to a practical entomologist that it 
 had been subjected to sulphur-fumes, and thereby lost its color- 
 ing. Even the wings have the same pallid hue as the body, but 
 with a white cast, and altogether the insect seems far too purpose- 
 less of aspect to construct houses which demand so much energy 
 as those which we have just examined. 
 
 The last example of insect pensile nests is, I believe, one that 
 has not yet been described, owing to its recent arrival in this 
 country. 
 
 While I was examining some specimens in the insect-room of 
 the British Museum, two gentlemen brought for examination a 
 box full of insect habitations which they could not identify with 
 those of any known species. At first sight they appeared to be 
 specimens of galls, but a more careful inspection soon showed 
 their real character. They were formed very much like those of 
 the House-builder Moth (see page 302), but with a singular addi- 
 tion. Several specimens are now before me, which will be briefly 
 described. 
 
 The foundation of the nest is a structure of leaf-stems and frag- 
 ments of leaves, varying much in size, some being thicker than 
 crow-quills, and others as fine as ordinary needles. These are 
 arranged crosswise upon each other, so that the nest might easily 
 be mistaken for that of a large caddis-worm. The nests, howev- 
 er, differ much in form, size, and material, some being half as large 
 again as others, and some being made almost entirely of large 
 pieces of leaf, and others chiefly of stems, among which the leaf- 
 fragments are closely pressed. 
 
 We will now proceed to cut open one of these nests in order 
 to view its structure. 
 
 The outer covering is remarkably close, stiff, and tough, al- 
 though very thin, and crackles like parchment as the scissors pass 
 
SOME CUEIOUS NESTS. 605 
 
 througli it. When cut, it is found to be almost distinct from the 
 nest which it covers, being only attached to the projecting ends 
 of the leaf-stems, and so slightly fastened to them that it can be 
 lifted off without injury, only leaving a few threads adherent to 
 the stem. 
 
 We now turn back the severed flap, and the body of the nest 
 comes to view. In the dry state the leaf-stems are so hard that 
 they require a strong and sharp pair of scissors to penetrate them. 
 I nearly broke a moderately fine pair of scissors in a vain endeav- 
 or to open the_ nest. Even in their fresh state the stems must 
 have been tolerably strong, and the architect must have possessed 
 a powerful pair of jaws for their severance. The stems are cross- 
 ed upon each other, much as confectioners cross sticks of choco- 
 late, so that the ends slightly protrude, and a hollow space is left 
 in the centre. Pressed tightly among the sticks are fragments of 
 leaves, not torn from the small delicate portions, but cut com- 
 pletely through the largest nervures, and seeming, indeed, as if 
 the strongest parts of the leaves were intentionally selected. In 
 the specimens now before me the upper surface of the leaf is al- 
 ways toward the exterior of the nest. 
 
 We now take a very strong and sharp pair of scissors, push 
 one point into the neSt, and carefully cut a flap corresponding 
 with the severed portion of the silken cover. The flap is easily 
 turned back, and discloses a smooth and silken lining, much re- 
 sembling that which forms the cover. The lining, however, is 
 softer than the cover, and does not crackle when bent. Thus we 
 see that the nest consists of four distinct layers : first, the soft 
 silken lining, then a cover of leaf- fragments, then a protecting 
 chevaux-de-frise of stems, and lastly a cover of silk, so that the 
 inhabitant is as well protected from weather and foes as can be 
 imagined. 
 
 The next proceeding is to discover the architects of the nests. 
 This is easily done, for some of the architects have assumed their 
 perfect state during the voyage home, while others are preserved 
 by spirits, in which their discoverer has thoughtfully placed some 
 specimens. 
 
 Here I may be allowed to mention that the example set by Mr. 
 W.J.Tomkinson, who sent over these interesting objects, is one 
 which is well worthy of imitation. Eesidents in other countries 
 are too apt to forget the interests of their own, and they soon be- 
 come familiar with' the objects which at first are new and strange 
 
606 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 to them, and at last become entirely indifferent. Even when they 
 do take the trouble to collect and send home a few objects, they 
 do so in such a manner that they are almost uselessj no descrip- 
 tion being given of them, and no clew afforded which can help 
 the home-staying student 
 
 Here, however, proper pains have been taken, and the value of 
 the objects is in consequence multiplied a hundred-fold. A num- 
 ber of nests were sent as they were collected from, the branches, 
 and, in order to show that the architect is not confined to one spe- 
 cies of tree, they have been carefully selected from several trees, 
 such as the oak, acacia, and alder. My specimens are taken from 
 the last-mentioned tree. Knowing that the pupse would become 
 moths in the course of the voyage, Mr. Tomkinson placed a num- 
 ber of them in the box, so that a perfect series of the insect has 
 been obtained, namely, the male and female, pupa and larva, some 
 in the dried state and others in spirits, in order that the internal 
 anatomy might be examined. 
 
 Before the male caterpillar changes into a chrysalis it reverses 
 its position, so that the head is close to the orifice which was pre- 
 viously occupied by the tail. When it has completed its change, 
 and is about to issue into the world, it forces itself out of the nest 
 as far as the base of the abdomen. The female never leaves her 
 home, and never changes her attitude, and scarcely changes her 
 form. After she has emerged from the pupal state she seems to 
 return to her former condition, and would be taken by any ordi- 
 nary observer for a caterpillar of more than ordinary fatness. 
 She has no wings, and no legs to speak of, these members being 
 needless in a creature that never changes her position. It is rath- 
 er curious that the males should ever be able to find their spouses, 
 but they are probably led by an instinct which we can not com- 
 prehend, as is the case with several of the larger British moths. 
 
 The male is a rather small though stoutly-made insect, and is 
 not at all attractive in color, being simple brown, with a few black 
 markings on the wings. The antenn£e, however, are very bea,u- 
 tiful, being doubly feathered, like those of the House-builder Moth, 
 the feathering being widest at the base, and narrowing gradually 
 to the tip. The whole of the body is clothed with long, dense, 
 and soft hair, of a pale brown, and having a silken lustre. These 
 beautiful nests were brought to the Museum by B. H. Armitage, 
 Esq., who kindly presented me with the specimens which have 
 been described. 
 
CONCEALMENT AND PROTECTION. 607 
 
 A SOMEWHAT similar nest, but of a much more formidable as- 
 pect, was discovered by "W. B. Lord, Esq., K.A., and has been fig- 
 ured in the Boyi Own Magazine for August, 1864. The shape of 
 the nest is very j-emarkable, and is exactly that of a soda-water 
 bottle suspended by its neck. A very tolerable imitation of this 
 curious nest could be made by coating a soda-water bottle with 
 clay, and sticking it full of porcupine quills, with the points radi- 
 ating on every side. The following is Mr. Lord's own description : 
 
 " On looking closely at the thorny, sinuous branches, we shall 
 see a number of little pendent prickly things, each hanging to its 
 own silken cord, like juvenile hedgehogs 'lynched' by the fairies 
 of the spring. 
 
 " These are a peculiar species of ' tree-caddis,' which, as far as 
 I know, are as yet undescribed by any one. Their cases are cu- 
 riously armed with thorns, nipped from the tree on which they 
 hang. The thorns are all disposed with their points outward, 
 and are stuck into a strong, glutinous njaterial of which the body 
 of the case is composed, and they look for all the world like the 
 spikes of chevaux-de-frise. A web-like skein of singularly strong 
 material serves as a rope whereby to swing the caddis-case from 
 the branch to which it is»attached. And a nest more difficult to 
 swallow, and hard to digest, its enemies would be rather puzzled 
 to find." 
 
 As is frequently the case with such nests, the peculiar form 
 serves a double purpose, namely, protection and concealment, the 
 sharp points of the thorns performing the former duty, and their 
 similarity to surrounding objects the latter. Acacias are conspic- 
 uous for the thorns with which their branches and sometimes 
 their trunks are studded, and in several species the wooden bay- 
 onets are several inches in length,^and as large and sharp as por- 
 cupine quills. These thorns are crowded thickly on the branch- 
 es, and always diverge from each other, so that the hand can 
 scarcely be insinuated among the boughs without suffering sev- 
 eral wounds. The nest being surrounded with these thorns, it is 
 evident that all ordinary foes would be bafiled by such an array 
 of points, no matter how anxious they might be to get at the 
 creature within. 
 
 The thorns are equally efficient as a means of concealment, for, 
 as they are taken from the tree itself, they cause the nest to har- 
 monize so perfectly with surrounding objects that it is not very 
 easily perceived. 
 
608 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 •As long as the caterpillar remains in its larval state, and is 
 obliged to feed, it traverses the branches freely, carrying with it 
 the prickly home, and bearing the whole of its weight as it moves. 
 But when the pupal stage has nearly arrived, the nest is suspend- 
 ed to the branch by strong silken threads, and thenceforth re- 
 mains immovable. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 MISCELLANEA. 
 
 The PoLTZOA and their varied and beautiful Forms. — The Kaft Spidee. — Why so 
 called. — Mode of obtaining Prey. — Mice and their Homes. — The Campagnol or 
 Harvest-mouse. — Its general Habits. — Its winter and summer Nest. — Its Store- 
 house and Provisions. — Entrance to the Nest. — The Wood Mouse and its Nest. 
 — Uses of the Field-mice. — The Domestic Mouse. — Various Nests. — Rapidity 
 of Nest-building. — A Ne^t in a Bottle. — The Cell of the Queen Teemite. — Its 
 Entrances and Exits. — Size of the Inmates. — The Fungus Ant and its singular 
 Home. — Material, Structure, and Size of the Nest. — The Clothes Moths and 
 their various Species. — Habitations of the Clothes Moth, and the Method of For- 
 mation and Enlargement. — The Elk and its winter Home. — The Snow Fortress 
 and its Leaguers. — Its Use, Advantages, and Dangers. — The Albateoss and its 
 Mode of Nesting. — Strange Scenes. — The Edible Svi^allow. — ^ItsMode of Nest- 
 ing. — Origin of its Name. — Description of the Nest. — Curious Legend respecting 
 the Bird. — The Eagle and its Mode of Nesting. — Difficulty of reaching the Eyrie. 
 — The Nightingale and its Nest. — Other ground-building Birds and their tem- 
 porary Homes. — The Noddy. — Perilous Position of the Eggs and Young. — ^The 
 Coot, and its semi-aquatie Nest. 
 
 In this, the concluding chapter, are described sundry habita- 
 tions which can not well be classed in any of the previously men- 
 tioned groups, and which present some peculiarities which render 
 them worthy of a separate notice. 
 
 We will begin with two aquatic habitations, one fixed, and set 
 below the surface of the water, and the other movable and float- 
 ing upon it. 
 
 Any one who is in the habit of frequenting the sea-shore must 
 have observed certain rough, leaf-like objects, which are popu- 
 larly called Sea Mats, one of which is shown, of its natural size, 
 at Fig. 13. These objects are popularly supposed to be sea-weeds, ' 
 and are therefore called Letnon-weeds, because they give forth an 
 odor which somewhat resembles the fragrant oil of the Lemon- 
 peel. Their origin, however, is of an animal and not a vegetable 
 
THE COMMON SEA MAT. 611 
 
 nature, for they are the submarine houses of a vast class of ani- 
 mals technically called Polyzoa, because many distinct animals 
 are associated together in one community. 
 
 For many years their place in the scale of creation was ex- 
 tremely dubious, but they are now acknowledged to be allied to 
 the molluscs, and to be really of a higher nature than the bright 
 and active insects. In general form they so resemble the zoo- 
 phytes that the two great groups have been confused together, 
 although they are in reality farther apart than the monkey and 
 the snail. They assume various forms, which may be reduced to 
 three, namely, a flat, leaf-like shape, a form as of delicate branch- 
 ing twigs, and a flat series of cells spreading over other substances, 
 such as the stem or frond of a sea- weed, an empty shell, or sub- 
 merged plant, and similar objects. 
 
 The most familiar of these Polyzoa 'is the common Sea Mat, 
 which has already been mentioned, and which is called by the 
 scientific name of Flustra foliacea. If the finger be passed over 
 one of these leaf-like objects, a decided roughness is felt, like the 
 surface of a file, and if it be drawn through the hand from base 
 to tip, the roughness becomes so marked that the leaf can hardly 
 pass. The reason for this roughness may be seen by reference to 
 Fig. 12, which is a magnified representation of a part of the same 
 object. It will be seen that the Flustra is composed of a vast 
 number of cells, each cell being furnished with little tooth-like 
 projections, which produce the roughness already mentioned. 
 
 The cells are formed by their inhabitants, and very much re- 
 semble in outward form the polypi which fill the cells of the zoo- 
 phytes, each of which possesses a beautiful plume of tentacles, as 
 is seen in the uppermost cell. When the animals are at rest they 
 are withdrawn so closely into their cells that they can not be seen ; 
 but when they are hungry and desirous of feeding, they push 
 themselves out of their houses, like so many snails out of their 
 shells, expand their beautiful plumes, and await the food which is 
 brought to them by the action of the water. Under the micro- 
 scope they are lovely objects, and even when they are dead their 
 empty habitations are full of beauty. 
 
 A detailed description of all the species which are represented 
 in the illustration would occupy too much space, even if it were 
 desirable. Suffice it to say, that they have been selected in order 
 to show the wonderful variety that exists among them, and the 
 exceeding beauty of their forms. Perhaps the most elegant forms 
 
612 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 are to be found among the Lepralia, plenty of which are to be 
 found on any sea-coast, spreading over the fronds and stems of 
 sea-weeds, and sometimes entirely hiding their surface. Farther 
 information may be obtained by reference to works on Natural 
 History, and especially to the admirable monograph on this sub- 
 ject, written by Mr. Bush, which forms part of the Catalogue of 
 the British Museum. 
 
 The names of the different objects are as follows : 
 
 1. Farciminaria aculeata. 
 
 2. Lepralia reticulata. 
 
 3. Gattyas. 
 
 4. Cupularia Lowei. 
 
 5. Bicellaria gracilis. 
 
 6. Buskia nitens. 
 
 T. Lepralia alata, 
 
 8. Gateaicella perforata, 
 
 9. Lepralia epiDifera. 
 
 10. Griaia eburaia (magnified). 
 
 11. (natural size). 
 
 12. Flustra foliacea (magnified). 
 
 13. (nat. size). 
 
 The second aquatic habitation is of a very curious character, 
 and is made by a spider. The reader will remember that the 
 water spider is in the habit of constructing beneath the water a 
 permanent home, to which it retires with the prey which it has 
 caught, and in which it brings up its young. There is another 
 spider which frequents the water, but which only makes a tem- 
 porary and movable residence. This is the Eaft Spider {Bob- 
 ■medes Jimbriaim), which is represented in the illustration of its 
 natural size. 
 
 Raft Spider. 
 
 As may be seen by reference to the figure, it is a large species, 
 being, in(ieed, one of the largest British spiders, its size depend- 
 
THE RAPT SPIDER. 613 
 
 ing more upon the dimensions of the body than the length of 
 the limbs. It is a remarkably handsome spider, its general color 
 being chocolate-brown, and a broad orange band being drawn so 
 as to mark the outline of the abdomen and thorax There is a 
 double row of small white spots upon the surface of the abdomen, 
 and a number of short dark transverse bars give variety to the 
 coloring. The limbs are pale red. 
 
 This creature belongs to that group of spiders which do not 
 live in a web, and wait for casual insects, but which chase their 
 prey after the manner of carnivorous vertebrates. Indeed, it may 
 fairly be said to belong to the large group of wolf spiders, and is 
 nearly allied to them. 
 
 The Eaft Spider is only to be found in fenny or marshy places, 
 and is mostly seen in the fens of Cambridgeshire, where its re- 
 markable habits have long been known. Not content with chas- 
 ing insects on land, it follows them in the water, on the surface 
 of which it can run freely. It needs, however, a resting-place, 
 and forms one by getting together a quantity of dry leaves and 
 similar substances, which it gathers into a rough ball, and fastens 
 with silken threads. On this ball the Spider sits, and allows it- 
 self to be blown about the water by the wind. Apparently it has 
 no means of directing its course, but suffers its raft to traverse the 
 surface as the wind or current may carry it. 
 
 There is no lack of prey, for the aquatic insects are constantly 
 coming up to breathe the air; and although they may only re- 
 main on the surface for a second or two, the Spider can seize them 
 before they can gain the safe refuge of the deeper water. Then 
 there are insects, such as the gnat, which attain their wings on the 
 surface of the water, and can be taken by the Spider before they 
 have gained strength for flight. Also, there are insects which 
 habitually traverse the water in search of prey, and which are 
 themselves seized by the more powerful and equally voracious 
 Spider. More than this, moths, flies, beetles, and other insects are 
 continually falling into the water, and these a,ffordthe easiest prey 
 to the Eaft Spider, who pounces upon them as they vainly strug- 
 gle to regain the air, and then carries them back to its raft, there 
 to devour them in peace. 
 
 The Spider does not merely sit upon the raft, and there capture 
 any prey that may happen to come within reach, but when it sees 
 an insect upon the surface, it leaves the raft, runs swiftly over the 
 water, secures its prey, and brings it back to the raft. It can even 
 
614 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 descend below the surface of the water, and will often crawl sev- 
 eral inches in depth. This feat it does not perform by diving, 
 as is the case with the water spider, but by means of the aquatic 
 plants, down whose stems it crawls. Its capability of existing for 
 some time beneath the surface of the water is often the means of 
 saving its life ; for, when it sees an enemy approaching, it quietly 
 slips under the raft, and there lies in perfect security until the 
 danger has passed away. 
 
 There is, living in the same localities, a closely-allied species, 
 the Pirate Spider {Lycosa piratica), which has similar habits, 
 chasing its prey on the water, and descending as well below the 
 surface. It does not, however, possess the power of making a raft. 
 
 In a previous chapter of this work, the beautiful pensile nest 
 of the Harvest - mouse has been described and figured, and the 
 burrows of other species of mouse have been cursorily mentioned. 
 I shall now proceed to describe the nests of the common Field 
 Mice, together with the habitation of the little brown-coated, long- 
 tailed, sharp-nosed rodent that is so familiar in houses unguard^ 
 by cats or traps. 
 
 We will first take the nest of the Short-tailed Field-mouse, 
 otherwise termed Campagnol, or Field Vole {Arvicola arvensis). 
 This pretty little creature, whose red back, gray belly, short ears, 
 and blunt nose might be seen daily if human eyes were more 
 accustomed to observation, is extremely plentiful in the fields, 
 especially those of a low - lying and marshy character, such as 
 water meadows and hay-fields near rivers. 
 
 Though more nocturnal than diurnal in their habits, the little 
 creatures are not afraid of daylight, and I have often captured 
 them when the sun was at its meridian height. But they are so 
 smooth and easy in their movements, harmonize so well with the 
 color of the soil, and glide so deftly between the grass, that they 
 can scarcely be distinguished even when the blades are only a 
 few inches in length. I have known them to traverse the ground 
 while a game of cricket was proceeding, and to cross the closely- 
 mown space between the wickets as if serenely conscious of their 
 invisibility. 
 
 They seem to glide rather than to walk, and thread their way 
 silently and without noise. Even when the grass is short, a little 
 patch of reddish earth attracts no attention, and the red-brown fur 
 of the mouse is so similar to such earth that few would notice it. 
 
THE SHOET-TAILED FIELD-MOUSE. 615 
 
 But if a more attentive olaserver finds that in a few seconds the 
 ruddy patch has changed its place, his suspicions are at once 
 aroused, and he examines the moving tint more curiously. He 
 must, however, keep his eye upon it as he moves toward it, for if 
 he once lose sight of it he will in all probability miss it altogether, 
 and think that his eye must have deceived him. 
 
 Toward the evening, however, the Campagnol is less fearful, 
 and not only traverses the fields, but ascends the shrubs and 
 plants in search of food. It climbs, nearly as well as a squirrel, 
 its sharp nails hooking themselves into every irregularity of the 
 bark, and jts long, finger-like toes clasping round the grass stems 
 and little twigs like the paws of a monkey. An autumnal even- 
 ing is the best time for watching the. Campagnol, and if the ob- 
 server will only remain perfectly quiet, and keep a good opera- 
 glass in readiness, he will be greatly interested by the little ani- 
 mal. A hedge in which are plenty of dog-roses is a likely place 
 for the Campagnol, as the animal is very fond of the ripe hips, 
 and ascends the shrubs in search of its daily food. When it 
 reaches the branch, bending with the scarlet load, the mouse runs 
 swiftly and sure-footed as a rope-dancer, and carries off a store of 
 the fruit, partly for present consumption and partly for a stock of 
 winter food. 
 
 For the little creature is not one of the hibernating animals, 
 or, at all events, the semi-sleep is of so light a character that the 
 mouse comes often abroad, even in the depth of winter. It is 
 undeterred by severe frost, and takes little heed of snow, as is 
 proved by its tiny footmarks being tracked in the white and 
 yielding substance. 
 
 This little mouse makes two kinds of nest, one for the winter 
 and another for the summer. The winter nest is helbw ground, 
 and is approached by a hole varying much in length. As the 
 cavity in which the nest reposes is larger than the tunnel, and of 
 a globular form, it is mostly usurped by the wasp when the Mouse 
 deserts it for summer quarters. Sometimes it is placed at some 
 depth in the ground, but usually is only a few inches from the 
 surface. This is the pest to which Burns refers in his well-known 
 poem upon the Field-mouse whose nest he had inadvertently 
 plowed up. 
 
 Besides the winter nest itself, the animal has a store-house or 
 cellar in which are placed the provisions intended for winter use, 
 when the weather prohibits the Mouse from leaving its home, or 
 
616 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 when the surrounding shrubs and bushes are plundered of their 
 fruits and denuded of their bark. In this store-house the animal 
 conceals quantities of hips and other provisions, among which are 
 found numbers of cherry-stones. 
 
 The summer nest is of entirely a different construction, being 
 placed above ground, though tolerably well concealed. The fol- 
 lowing account of it, by Mr. J. J. Briggs, appeared originally in 
 ih.Q Field newspaper. "No wonder that in districts where they 
 are difficult to keep down* they increase with rapidity, for, like 
 the common Mouse, they are prolific breeders. I have found 
 nests of this mouse in almost every week from the end of May to 
 the middle of August, and each containing from one to ten young, 
 usually from five to seven. The young look poor helpless creat- 
 ures, being both blind and naked. They leave the nest in about 
 a month, but remain with their parents for some time afterward. 
 
 " The nest i^ placed on the ground in a pasture or meadow ; a 
 field of mowing grass is preferred, but I have found it among 
 corn, where the long herbage affords the coveted quiet and con- 
 cealment ; but when the crop is cut the nest is laid bare, and the 
 young frequently fall a prey to hawks and other depredators. 
 The nest is built in a little hollow on the surface of the earth, 
 just concealed at the bottom of the stems of grass. If you pull 
 it out it looks like a lump of herbs or flax, being composed of 
 numerous small pieces of grass nibbled to a fine texture with care 
 by the parent animals. 
 
 " I have taken up dozens of nests to examine, but in no single 
 instance could I ever find an entrance to the interior. How the 
 parents gain admittance to it seems extraordinary. This remark 
 applies to the nest of the White-bellied Field-mouse, and White, 
 of Selborne, notices the same fact with reference to the harvest- 
 mouse. How the young are suckled seems marvelous, unless the 
 conjecture be correct that the female opens a fresh aperture in 
 the nest each time she visits her young, and closes it again when 
 she departs. 
 
 " The parents show considerable affection for their young. If 
 a nest be exposed by the mower they do not desert it, but, on the 
 contrary, endeavor to conceal it from observation as well as they 
 can by drawing round it the neighboring grasses and plants." 
 
 The same writer remarks that he has several times caught the 
 Short-tailed Field-mouse in the hedges while "bat -fowling" at 
 night for small birds. He has also found that when the Mouse 
 
THE LONG-TAILED FIELD-MOUSE. . 617 
 
 eats hips, it nibbles off one end and extracts the seeds, rejecting 
 the husks as uneatable. Man, however, acts in just the reverse 
 manner, rejecting the seeds with their cottony envelopes, and eat- 
 ing the sweet husk, or sometimes boiling it up with sugar and 
 making it into a conserve. 
 
 The cherry-stones are mostly obtained through the agency of 
 blackbirds, thrushes, and other feathered fruit - lovers. These 
 birds pluck the cherries, often leaving the stones adhering slight- 
 ly to the stalks, or dropping them on'the ground. In the former 
 case the stones are sure to be thrown down when the legitimate 
 owner gathers the fruit, so that the Mouse who is fortunate 
 enough to live in a cherry-growing district is sure of a winter 
 stock of food. Several hundred cherry-stones are sometimes 
 placed in a single store-house, affording sustenance to several 
 mice. 
 
 The animal eats them in a peculiar manner. Instead of split- 
 ting them open by using the chisel-edged teeth or wedges, after 
 the manner of school-boys opening nuts and peach-stones with 
 their pocket-knives, the Mouse nibbles off one end of the stone 
 so as to make a little hole, and through this small aperture it con- 
 trives to extract the solid kernel. 
 
 The Long-tailed Field-mouse or Wood Mouse {Mm sylvat- 
 icus) also makes a winter nest, in which it lives, but to which it 
 does not absolutely confine itself, making several nests in the 
 course of a season, and selecting suck spots as appear to please 
 its fancy at the time. Mr. Briggs remarks that he has known one 
 of these mice to make a nest in three days. 
 
 One species of Field-mouse sometimes does good service td 
 mankind, through its habit of storing up its winter stock of pro- 
 visions. Lately in the country about Odessa vast armies of mice 
 were seen, and evidently did much damage. Not only did they 
 eat the crops, but they swarmed into the houses in such numbers 
 that traps could hardly be set fast enough, twenty or thirty being 
 often taken in a single day. 
 
 Hurtful though they were in some senses, they nevertheless 
 had their uses. The country is liable to the attacks of locusts, 
 which in that year happened to be particularly numerous. These 
 destructive insects, as is the case with many of their order, lay 
 their eggs inclosed in capsules, something like the well-known 
 egg-cases of our too common cockroach. The mice were very 
 fond of the egg capsules, and not only devoured them as part of 
 
618 • HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 their daily food, but carried them away, laid them up in their 
 treasuries for a winter store, thus thinning the locust armies far 
 more effectually than man could have done. 
 
 We now come to the Common Mouse of our houses {Mm 
 musculus). 
 
 This little animal is a notable house-builder, making nests out 
 of various materials, and placing them in various situations. 
 There seems to be hardly iany place in which a Mouse will not 
 establish itself, .and scarcely any materials of which it will not 
 make its nest. Hay, leaves, straw, bitten into suitable lengths, 
 roots, and dried herbage, are the usual materials employed by 
 this animal when it is in the country. 
 
 When it becomes a town mouse and lives in houses, it accom- 
 modates itself to circumstances, and is never in want of a situa- 
 tion for a nest or materials wherewithal to make a comfortable 
 house. It will .use up old rags, tow, bits of rejected cord, paper, 
 and any such materials as can be found straggling about a house; 
 and if it can find no fragments, it helps itself very unceremo- 
 niously to, and cuts to pieces books, newspapers, curtains, or gar- 
 ments. 
 
 Many instances of remarkable Mouse-nests are recorded, among 
 which the following are worthy of mention. 
 
 As is usual at the end of autumn, a number of flower-pots had 
 been set aside in a shed, in waiting for the coming spring. To- 
 ward the middle of winter the shed was cleared out and the flow- 
 er-pots removed. While carrying them out of the shed the own- 
 er was rather surprised to find a round hole in the mould, and 
 therefore examined it more closely. In the hole was seen, not a 
 plant, but the tail of a mouse, which leaped from the pot as soon 
 as it was set down. Presently another mouse followed from the 
 same aperture, showing that a nest lay beneath the soil. On re- 
 moving the earth, a neat and comfortable nest was found, made 
 chiefly of straw and paper, the entrance to which was the hole 
 through which the inmates had fled. 
 
 The most curious point in connection with this nest was, that 
 although the earth in the pot seemed to be intact except for the 
 round hole, which might have been made by a stick, none was 
 found within it. The ingenious little architects had been clever 
 enough to scoop out the whole of the earth and to carry it away, 
 so as to form a cavity for tlje reception of their nest. They did 
 
THE COMMON MOUSE. 619 
 
 not completely empty the pot, as if knowing by instinct that 
 their habitation would be betrayed. Accordingly, they allowed 
 a slight covering of earth to remain upon their nest, and had la- 
 boriously carried out the whole of the mould through the .little 
 aperture which has been mentioned. The flower-pot was placed 
 on a shelf in the shed, and the earth was quite hard, so that in the 
 process of excavation there was little danger that it would fall 
 upon the architects. 
 
 Another nest was discovered in rather an ingenious position. 
 A bird had built a nest upon a shrub in a garden, .and, as is usual 
 in such cases, had placed its home near the ground. A Mouse 
 of original genius saw the nest, and perceived its value. Accord- 
 ingly, she built her own nest immediately below that of the bird, 
 so that she and her young were sheltered as by a roof So close- 
 ly had she fixe.d her habitation, that, as her young ran in and out 
 of their home, their bodies pressed against the floor of the bird's 
 nest above them. No less than six young were discovered in 
 this ingenious nest. 
 
 Another very remarkable nest of the Common Mouse has been 
 chronicled in the same journal to which reference has repeatedly 
 been made. " Early in March we set a hen ; and, as her nest 
 was a basket, a sack was placed under and around it; so as to 
 keep in the heat. When the hen was set she was in good feath- 
 er, wearing an ample tail, according to her kind (the Brahma); 
 but as the three weeks went on, her tail seemed much broken, 
 assumed a dilapidated appearance, and finally became a mere 
 stump. This excited notice and surprise, as there was nothing 
 near her against which she was likely to spoil her tail. 
 
 " When the chickens were hatched, and they and their mother 
 were taken to a fresh nest, and the old one removed, it was 
 found that a Mouse had constructed a beautiful nest under the 
 basket. The body of the nest was made of tow scraped from the 
 sack, and chopped or gnawed hay from the hen's nest ; while the 
 lining was made of the feathers of her tail, which had evidently 
 been removed, a small bit at a time, as wanted, until all the feath- 
 ers were reduced to stumps, showing marks of the Mouse's teeth. 
 We should have liked to have heard the hen's remarks on the 
 transaction when the Mouse was nibbling her tail." 
 
 In this case the Mouse improved on the conduct of her rela- 
 tive that built in the garden ; for, by placing her nest in such a 
 position, she not only secured the very best materials for her 
 
620 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 home, but enjoyed the advantage of the regular and high tem- 
 perature which proceeded from the body of the sitting hen, and 
 which was admirably adapted for the well-being of her young 
 family. 
 
 The last example of a remarkable Mouse-nest is that which is 
 figured in the .accompanying illustration, and which was drawn 
 from the actual object. 
 
 A number of empty bottles had been stowed away upon a 
 shelf, and among them was found one which was tenanted by a 
 Mouse. The little creature had considered that the bottle would 
 
 Mouae-nest in a Bottle. 
 
 afford a suitable home for her young, and had therefore conveyed 
 into it a quantity of bedding, which she made into a nest. The 
 bottle was filled with the nest, and the eccentric architect had 
 taken the precaution to leave a round hole corresponding to the 
 neck of the bottle. In this remarkable domicile the young were 
 placed ; and it is a fact worthy of notice that no attempt had been 
 made to shut out the light. Nothing would have been easier 
 than to have formed the cavity at the under side, so that the soft 
 materials of the nest would exclude the light ; but the Mouse 
 had simply formed a comfortable hollow for her young, and 
 therein she had placed her offspring. It is therefore evident that 
 the Mouse has no fear of light, but that it only chooses darkness 
 as a means of safety for its young. 
 
WHITE ANTS. 621 
 
 The rapidity with which the Mouse can make a nest is some- 
 what surprising. One of the Cambridge journals mentioned, 
 some few years ago, that in a farmer's house a loaf of newly- 
 baked bread was placed upon a shelf, according to custom. Next 
 day a hole was observed in the loaf; and when it was cut open, 
 a Mouse and her nest were discovered within, the latter having 
 been made of paper. On examination, the material of the habit- 
 ation was found to have been obtained from a copy-book, which 
 had been torn into shreds and arranged into the form of a nest. 
 
 Within this curious home were nine young mice, pink, trans- 
 parent, and newly born. Thus, in the space of thirty-six hours at 
 the most, the loaf must have cooled, the interior been excavated, 
 the copy-book found and cut into suitable pieces, the nest made, 
 and -the young brought into the world. Surely it is no wonder 
 that mice are so plentiful, or that their many enemies fail to ex- 
 terminate them. 
 
 A GENERAL account of the Termites, or White Ants, as they 
 are popularly but erroneously called, has been given under the 
 head of Building Insects, and it has been mentioned that the fe- 
 male, or queen, has a cell distinct from the habitation of her sub- 
 jects, and that she never leaves it until her death. In order that 
 the reader-should understand more fully the structure of the roy- 
 al cell, an illustration of it is introduced on the following page. 
 
 When viewed from the outside it would hardly be recognized 
 for the habitation of an insect, for it looks like a large lump of 
 hardened clay, about as large as an ordinary French roll, and not 
 very unlike it in shape. On a closer inspection, a number of lit- 
 tle holes, may be seen, and these apertures afford an unfailing in- 
 dication as to the real nature of the clay lump. Fig. 2 represents 
 the external appeara,nce of one of these cells. 
 
 Supposing that a queen Termite cell be cut vertically, so that 
 the knife passes through either of the little round holes, it will 
 present an .appearance which is shown at Fig. 1. The large hol- 
 low of the cell is nearly filled by the body of the female, whose 
 head and thorax are seen in the cavity. On either side is a sec- 
 tion of the little holes, which are shown to be cylindrical passages 
 communicating with the interior of the cell. The worker. Ter- 
 mites, being very small, can traverse these passages with perfect 
 ease, while the enormous body of the female is utterly unable to 
 
622 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Termite Cell. 
 
 Througli these passages the workers are continually passing, 
 some entering with empty jaws, and others emerging, each hold- 
 ing between its mandibles an egg, which it is conveying to the 
 nurseries. So rapidly are the eggs laid, that the workers are fully 
 employed in carrying them out and placing them under the 
 charge of the nurses. 
 
 The contrast in size between the workers and the queen can 
 easily be seen by reference to the illustration. At Fig. 5 is shown 
 the queen, and in the right hand of Fig. 1 is seen one of the 
 workers passing through the tunnel. None but the workers can 
 pass through. so small an aperture, for the fighters or soldiers are 
 of very much greater size than the workers, as may be seen at 
 Fig. 4. _ _ ' 
 
 The queen, however, is necessarily very much reduced in size, 
 as, if she had been drawn of her full dimensions, she would have 
 occupied the whole length of the drawing. Before she is im- 
 mured in the royal cell she is by no means a large insect, the ab- 
 
FUNGUS ANT. 623 
 
 domen being in ordinary proportion to the thorax and head ; but 
 when she has been fairly installed in her office her abdomen be- 
 gins to enlarge, until it becomes so enormous that she is totally 
 unable to move, and therefore her enforced prison is so far from 
 being a hardship that it is a necessary protection for her huge 
 and soft body, which is several hundred times larger than that of 
 her mate. Large indeed she must be, as she is calculated to pro- 
 duce, on the average, rather more than thirty million eggs. 
 
 Figs. 3, 3 show the- appearance of the royal cell when split open 
 longitudinally, the recess which contains the queen being seen 
 nearly in the centre. All the drawings were taken from speci- 
 mens in the British Museum, and in the cell which is here figured 
 the outline of the queen is quite perceptible, having been im- 
 pressed on the interior of the cell. The mode by which it is en- 
 larged is also shown, a farther enlargement having been begun, 
 but cut short by the demolition of the nest. The cells vary very 
 much in size, probably in accordance with the dimensions of the 
 inclosed queen. I have seen them as large as cocoa-nuts, and of 
 an extraordinary weight, the greater portion of the mass being 
 solid clay. 
 
 The following illustration represents a most singular struc- 
 ture, which is in the collection of the British Museum, and may 
 be seen in the nest-room. 
 
 It is hardly possible to imagine any object which less resembles 
 an insect's nest. It might very well be taken for a sponge, did 
 sponge grow in the forests of Cayenne. It much resembles a 
 fungus, and might be mistaken for an overgrown and partially 
 decayed puff-ball. If inspected closely it seems to be made of 
 the same fungus that furnishes the German tinder, and is indeed, 
 like that substance, very useful as a means of stopping the flow 
 of blood. ^ 
 
 The real material, however, of which the nest is made is formed 
 of the short cottony fibres which fill the seed-pods of the cotton- 
 tree {Bomhax ceiba). The fibre is so short that it is incapable of 
 being woven into fabrics, though it might possibly be made use- 
 ful in the manufacture of paper, its texture being peculiarly soft 
 and silky. The only uses to which it is at present applied are 
 stuffing mattresses and pillows, and packing delicate gOods, and 
 heading the tiny poisoned arrows which are projected through 
 the blow-gun of the native. 
 
624 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 Fuogus Ant. 
 
 These ants, however, find the fibre useful for their ■work,aijd 
 contrive to weave it so dexterously that the individuality of the 
 fibres is lost, and they are all made into a compact and uniform 
 mass. The size of the nests varies, but is sometimes very consid- 
 erable, a full-sized nest being often as large as a man's head. 
 
 The ant itself is rather a curious little creature, dark in color, 
 covered with many angular protuberances, and being remarkable 
 for a couple of long, sharp spines that project from the thorax, 
 one on either side. Its scientific names, Polyrachis bispinosa, are 
 given in consequence of these projections, the first name being 
 composed of two Greek words signifying many-peaked, and the 
 second being formed from two Latin words signifying two-spined. 
 
 There are many insects whose habitations are peculiarly an- 
 noying to mankind, and yet are extremely interesting to those 
 who take an interest in the workings of instinct. Chief among 
 these insects is the well-known Clothes Moth. There are sev- 
 eral allied species which popularly go by this name, but the most 
 plentiful is that which bears the scientific title ot Tinea vestianella. 
 These destructive little creatures are proverbially injurious to 
 clothes, especially if the garments be made of wool or furs, vege- 
 table fabrics being not to their taste. Some species affect dried 
 insects, and are, in consequence, extremely baleful to the entomol- 
 
THE CLOTHES MOTH. 625 
 
 ogist; while their ravages on furs and feathers, and even on 
 leather itself, render them the dread of those who, like myself, 
 possess collections of natural history or ethnology. 
 
 In their winged state the moths themselves do no direct harm ; 
 but their young are doubly mischievous, firstly, because they de- 
 vour the fabrics in which they live, and secondly, because they 
 cut up the cloth, fur, or feathers in order^ to obtain material for 
 their home. Possibly for the sake of concealment as well as pro- 
 tection, the larva instinctively forms a habitation which entirely 
 covers its white body, and which is almost imperceptible to the 
 eye, because it is formed of the same materials as the fabric on 
 which it lies. 
 
 The habitation is tubular in form, though not exactly cylin- 
 drical, being, rather larger in the middle than at the ends, and 
 open so as to allow the extremities of the caterpillar to protrude. 
 One object in this structure is to enable the inmate to turn in its 
 cell, an operation which must necessarily be performed whenever 
 the tubular home is enlarged. The process of enlargement is 
 continually going on, and it is in consequence of this proceeding 
 that so much material is used. 
 
 The manner in which the little creature enlarges its home is 
 as follows : 
 
 Without quitting its tubular home, it cuts a longitudinal slit 
 throughout half its length or so, and opens the case to the re- 
 quired width. It then proceeds to weave a triangular piece of 
 webbing, with which it fills up the opened slit, and joins the 
 edges with perfect accuracy. As one end of the case is now 
 larger than the other, the caterpillar turns its attention to the 
 other end, cuts it open, widens it, and fills up the gap precisely 
 as it had done to the first part. When the soft tube is sufficient- 
 ly widened, it is lengthened by the addition of rings to each ex- 
 tremity. 
 
 By taking advantage of this peculiar method of house-making, 
 observant persons have forced the Clothes Moth to make their 
 tubular homes of any color and almost of any pattern. By shift- 
 ing the caterpillar from one colored cloth to another, the required 
 tints are produced, and the pattern is gained by watching the 
 creature at work, and transferring it at the proper season. For 
 example, a very pretty specimen can be produced by turning out 
 of its original home a half grown caterpillar, and putting it on a 
 piece of bright green cloth. After it has made its tube it can be 
 
 Eb 
 
626- HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 shifted to a black cloth, and when it has cut the longitudinal slit, 
 and has half filled it up, it' can be transferred to a piece of scarlet 
 cloth, so that the complementary colors of green and scarlet are 
 brought into juxtaposition, and -"thrown out". by the contrast 
 with the black. 
 
 The caterpillar is not very particular as to the kind of material 
 which it employs and on which it feeds. Mr. Rennie makes the 
 following observations on one of these creatures, whose proceed- 
 ings he had watched. "The caterpillar first took up its abode in 
 a specimen of the ghost moth {Hepialus humuli), where, finding 
 few suitable materials for building, it had recourse to the cork of 
 the drawer, with the chips of which it made a structure almost 
 as wargi as it would have done from wool. Whether it took of- 
 fense at our disturbing it one day, or whether it did not find suf- 
 ficient food in the body of the ghost moth, we know not ; but it 
 left its cork house, and traveling about eighteen inches, selected 
 the ' old lady' moth {Mormo maura), one of the largest insects in 
 the drawer, and built a new apartment, composed partly of cork 
 as before, and partly of bits clipped out of the moth's wings. 
 
 "We have seen these caterpillars form their habitations of 
 every sort of insect, from a butterfly to a beetle, and the soft, 
 feathery wings of moths answer their purpose very well; but 
 when they fall in with such hard materials as the musk beetle, 
 or the large scolopendra of the West Indies, they find some diffi- 
 culty in the building. 
 
 " When the structure is finished, the insect deems itself secure 
 to feed on the materials of the cloth, or other animal matter with- 
 in its reach, provided it is dry, and free from fat or grease, which 
 Reaumur found it would not touch. For building, it always se- 
 lects the straightest and loosest pieces of wood ; but for food it 
 prefers the shortest and most compact ; and to procure these, it 
 eats into the body of the stuff, rejecting the pile or nap, which it 
 necessarily cuts across at the origin and permits to fall, leaving it 
 threadbare, as if it had been much worn." 
 
 Prom the account which has just been given, it is evident that 
 the caterpillar must be able to turn completely round in its case, 
 and in order to enable it to perform this evolution, the tube is 
 much wider in the middle than at the ends. 
 
 The instinct of the parent moth enables it to discover with as- 
 tonishing certainty any substance which may afford food to its 
 future young. Stuffed birds suffer terribly from the moth, be- 
 
THE- ELK, OR MOOSE. 627 
 
 cause the arsenical soap with which, the skins are preserved does 
 not extend its poisonous influence to the feathers. I have known 
 whole cases of birds to be destroyed by the moth, all the feathers 
 being eaten, and nothing left but the bare skins. 
 
 Even the most deadly poison, corrosive sublimate, is not effect- 
 ual, unless it settles on every feather. Th'ere is now before me a 
 stuffed golden-eye duck, preserved by myself, the close plumage 
 of which has partially thrown off the poisoned solution, and has 
 consequently admitted the moth in small patches of feathers, es- 
 pecially about the neck. There is also in my collection a Kaf&r 
 shield, made of an ox-hide, which has been washed with the so- 
 lution, and is almost entirely secure from the depredations of the 
 moth. Yet there are one or two spots where a thong has pro- 
 tected the hair, and in those very spots the pertinacious moths 
 have laid their eggs, and, in one or two instances, the caterpillars 
 have succeeded in attaining their perfect state. 
 
 If the reader will refer to the large illustration, he will see a 
 representation of that curious temporary habitation which is pop- 
 ularly termed an Elk-yard. 
 
 The Elk, or Moose {Alces malchis), inhabits the northern parts 
 of America and Europe, and is consequently an animal which is 
 formed to endure severe cold. Although a very large and pow- 
 erful animal, measuring semetimes seven feet in height at the 
 shoulders — a height which is very little less than that of an aver- 
 age elephant — it has many foes, and is much persecuted both by 
 man and beast. During the summer time it is tolerably safe, but 
 in the winter it is beset by many perils. 
 
 In its native country the snow falls so thickly that the inhab- 
 itants of a more temperate climate can hardly imagine the result 
 of a heavy storm. The face of the earth is wholly changed — 
 well-known pits and declivities have vanished — white hills stand 
 where was formerly a level plain — tier upon tier pf mimic fortifi- 
 cations rise above each other, the walls being scarped and cut by 
 the wind in weird resemblance of human architecture. 
 
 During the sharp frosts the Elk runs but little risk, because it 
 can traverse the hard, frozen surface of the snow with considera- 
 ble speed, although with a strange, awkward gait. Its usual pace 
 is a swinging trot; but so light is its action, and so long are its 
 legs, that it quietly trots over obstacles which a horse could not 
 easily leap, because the frozen surface of the snow, although com- 
 
628 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 petent to withstand the regular trotting force, could not endure 
 the sudden impact of a horse when leaping. As an example of 
 the curious trot of this animal, I may mention that on one occa- 
 sion an Elk was seen to trot uninterruptedly over a number of 
 fallen tree-trunks, some of which were nearly five feet in diam- 
 eter. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that the split hoofs of the Elk spread 
 widely when the foot is placed on the ground, coming together 
 again with a loud snap when it is raised. In consequence of this 
 peculiarity the Elk's progress is rather noisy, the crackling sounds 
 of the hoofs following each other in quick succession. 
 
 "Want of food is sometimes a danger to the Elk ; but the ani- 
 ■ mal is taught by instinct to clear away the snow, and to discover 
 the lichens on which it chiefly lives. The carnivorous aninials, 
 however, are always fiercely hungry in the winter time, and gain 
 from necessity a factitious courage which they do not possess at 
 other times. As long, however, as the frost lasts, the Elk cares 
 little for such foes, as it can distance them if they chase it ever so 
 fiercely, or oppose them if by chance it should find itself in a 
 place where there is no retreat. They do not like to attack an 
 animal whose skin is so thick and tough that, when tanned, it 
 will resist an ordinary pistol-bullet, and which has, besides, an 
 awkward knack of striking with its fore feet like a skillful bo:?fer, 
 knocking its foes over, and then pounding them with its hoofs 
 until they are dead. 
 
 But when the milder weather begins to set in, the Moose is in 
 constant danger. The warm sun falling on the snow produces a 
 rather curious effect. The frozen surface only partially melts, 
 and the water, mixing with the snow beneath, causes it to sink 
 away from the icy surface, leaving a considerable space between 
 them. The "crust," as the frozen surface is technically named, 
 is quite strong enough to bear the weight of comparatively small 
 animals, such as wolves, especially when they run swiftly over it ; 
 but it yields to the enormous weight of the Elk, which plunges to 
 its belly at every step. 
 
 The wolves have now the Elk at an advantage. They can 
 overtake it without the least difficulty ; and if they can bring it 
 to bay in the snow, its fate is sealed. They care little for the 
 branching horns, but leap boldly at the throat of the hampered 
 animal, whose terrible fore feet are now powerless, and, by dint 
 of numbers, soon worry it to death. Man, too, takes advantage 
 
thS elk- yard. 631 
 
 of this state of the snow, equips himself with snow-shoes, and 
 skims over the slight and brittle crust with perfect security. An 
 Elk, therefore, whenever abroad in the snow, is liable to many- 
 dangers, and, in order to avoid them, it makes the curious habita- 
 tion which is called the Elk-yard. 
 
 This winter home is very simple in construction, consisting of 
 a large space of ground on which the snow is trampled down by 
 continually treading it so as to form both a hard surface on which 
 the animal can walk, and a kind of fortress in which it can dwell 
 securely. The whole df the space is not trodden down to one 
 uniform level, but consists of a network of roads or passages 
 through which the animal' can pass at ease. So confident is the 
 Elk in the security of the " yard," that it can scarcely ever be 
 induced to leave its snowy fortification and pass into the open 
 ground. 
 
 This habit renders it quite secure from the attacks of wolveS, 
 which prowl about the outside of the yard, but dare not venture 
 within ; b'ut, unfortunately for the Elk, the very means which 
 preserve it from one danger only lead it into another. If the 
 hunter can come upon one of these Elk-yards, he is sure of his 
 quarry; for the animal will seldom leave the precincts Of the 
 snowy inclosure, and the rifle-ball soon lays low the helpless vic- 
 tims. 
 
 The Elk is not the only animal that makes these curious forti- 
 fications, for a herd of Wapiti deer will frequently unite in form- 
 ing a common home. 
 
 One of these " yards" has been known to measure between 
 four and five miles in diameter, and to be a perfect network of 
 paths sunk in the snow. So deep, indeed, is the snow when un- 
 trodden, that when the deer traverse the paths, their backs can 
 not be seen above the level of the white surface. Although of 
 such giant size, the "yard" is not by any means a conspicuous 
 object, and at a distance of a quarter of a mile or so, a novice may 
 look directly at the spot without perceiving the numerous paths. 
 >This curious fact can easily be understood by those of my readers 
 who have visited one of our modern fortifications, and have seen 
 the slopes of turf apparently unbroken, although filled with deep 
 trenches. 
 
 There are many other animals which form temporary habita- 
 tions in which they can remain concealed, because they are taught 
 
632 HOM^S WITHOUT' HANDS. 
 
 by instinct how to make their domicile harmonize with the sur- 
 rounding objects. 
 
 One very familiar instance may be found in the common Haee, 
 whose "form" is large enough to shelter the owner, and yet is so 
 inconspicuous that the animal often lies undiscovered, though a 
 human being has passed within a couple of paces of its home. 
 The Hare is never at a loss for a home, and will often hide itself 
 very effectually in a tuft of grass that seems scarcely large enough 
 to conceal a rat. But it is by no means insensible of the value 
 of a denser cover, and seems to have a peculiar affection for a 
 thick, though small clump of furze. 
 
 Within a mile or two of my house there is a heath which is 
 partly studded with furze-bushes, and which is a very paradise 
 for various field animals. The field-mice have covered it with 
 their " runs," which are often so slightly below the surface that 
 if the finger be inserted in the entrance it can be pushed along 
 the whole length of the burrow, the only cover being a slight 
 layer of still living moss. As to the Hares, a " form" can be 
 found every few yards ; and if a little thick stubbly furze-bush 
 should be seen standing alone, it is nearly certain to be the home 
 of a Hare, which has made its warm soft couch within the mass 
 of needle-like prickles. 
 
 The TiGEB has a very similar habit, and takes advantage of a 
 certain drooping shrub, called the Korinda, which is of low growth, 
 making its lair underneath the boughs, which afford at once a 
 shelter from the sun and a concealment from enemies. 
 
 We now pass to the Birds, the first of which is that remarkable 
 species called the Edible or Esculent Swallow {CoUocalia ni- 
 difica). The popular name is given to it, not because itself is edi- 
 ble, but because its nest is eaten in some countries. 
 
 We have all heard of birds'-nest soup, and some of us may pos- 
 sibly have imagined that the nests in question are made of the 
 ordinary vegetable substances, such as moss, leaves, and twigs. 
 In reality, the nests are formed of some gelatinous substance, 
 though its true nature is still uncertain, no one precisely knowing 
 whether it is of animal or vegetable origin. Some persons have 
 thought that the material is fish-spawn, which the bird fetches 
 from the sea ; others have supposed it to be a kind of sea- weed, 
 which is dissolved in the bird's crop and then disgorged ; while 
 others believe that it is secreted by certain glands in the throat, 
 and proceeds entirely from the body of the architect. 
 
THE EDIBLE SWALLOW.' 
 
 633 
 
 When first made, these nests are very white and delicate in 
 their aspect, and in that condition are extremely valuable, being 
 sold at an extravagant price to the Chinese. They soon darken 
 by use and exposure, and are not fit for the purposes of the table 
 until they have been cleaned and bleached. 
 
 These nests are found in Borneo, J'ava, etc., and are extremely 
 local, being confined to certain spots. The birds aWays choose 
 the sides of deep cavernous precipices, so that the task of obtain- 
 ing the nests is extremely dangerous. They are attached to the 
 perpendicular rocks much as the ordinary mud-built swallow- 
 nests, and are generally arranged in horizontal layers. The cav- 
 erns in which the nests are placed are extremely -valuable, and 
 are preserved with jealous care from any intruder. 
 
 Edible Swallow. 
 
 One of these nests in my own collection is shaped much like 
 one of the halves of a bivalve shell, and is thick at the base where 
 it was attached to the rock, diminishing toward the extremity. 
 On the outside- it has a very shelly appearance, being made in 
 regular layers, whose edges are as distinct as those- of the oyster- 
 shell but which have a double and not a single curve. In shape 
 
634 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 it is somewhat oval, but the base iS necessarily flat, on account of 
 its attachment to the rock. 
 
 The material is so translucent that, when placed on printed pa- 
 per and held to the light, the capital letters can be plainly read 
 through its substance. A glance at the interior shows at once 
 the mode of its constructioh. It is made of innumerable glutin- 
 ous threads, which have been drawn irregularly across each oth- 
 er, and have hardened by exposure to the air into a material 
 which much resembles isinglass. The natives say that the con- 
 struction of a single nest occupies a pair of birds for two full 
 months, so that there is some probability that the material may 
 really be secreted by the birds themselves. 
 
 The nests are only used for one purpose. They are steeped in 
 hot water for a considerable time, when they soften into a gelat- 
 inous mass, which forms the basis of a fashionable soup, and is 
 not unlike the green fat of the ordinary turtle. Indeed, those 
 who have partaken of birds'-nest soup say that, if it were seasoned 
 in a similar manner, it might easily be taken for turtle soup. The 
 Chinese value this soup highly, thinking that it possesses great 
 power of restoring lost strength. It is, however, far too costly to 
 be obtained by any but the rich, the best quality fetching rather 
 more than sixty shillings per pound. 
 
 The natives of Borneo have some curious traditions about these 
 birds. They reverence all kinds of birds, believing their ances- 
 tors to have been born from a native woman who married a spir- 
 it; but they have some singular legends respecting the Edible 
 Swallow. One of these wild legends has been kindly furnished 
 to me by C. T. C. Grant, Esq., formerly of the Sarawak Govern- 
 ment Service. 
 
 A DYAK LEGEND. 
 " It was many, many years ago that a Dyak of Semdhang (in 
 Sadong) and his young son arrived, after a long journey through 
 the jungle, at a village called Si-Lebor. The village was exten- 
 sive, the Dyaks very numerous. On arriving, the chief of the 
 tribe placed food before the older visitor, but to his young son 
 they offered nothing. The little fellow, seeing this, and being 
 very hungry after his journey, felt much hurt, and began to cry. 
 ' To my fether,' said he, ' you have given food — the prioh of rice 
 is before him, the fatted pig has been killed — every thing you 
 have given him. Why do you give me nothing?' But the 
 
a 
 
 EDIBLE SWALLOW". 635 
 
 child's appeal was useless. These strange Dyaks had hearts of 
 stone ; not a morsel was handed to the fatigued and hungry little 
 wayfarer ; so he wept on, and wept in vain. 
 
 "After a while the boy looked more cheerful ; he had dried his 
 tears, and was now engaged in catching, a dog and a cat. These 
 he put together on the mat, round which all the people were seat- 
 ed. The cat and the dog played, or more likely, as these animals 
 will do, fought together ; but, whatever it was, there was some- 
 thing so ludicrous in it all, while the boy sat over them and set 
 them at each other, that the whole assemblage burst into immod- 
 erate laughter. The boy, it would seem, was working some spell 
 — there was an object in what he had been doing. Perhaps he 
 was in communication with evil spirits, or under their influence ; 
 there was something ominous about it, we know not what. But 
 to proceed: presently the sky became overcast, and gradually 
 great volumes of black clouds came sailing up, propelled by sud- 
 den gusts of wind. One by one they rolled along, and were 
 heaped up one on top of another, or got all broken up, as it were, 
 in their collision. The sky appeared one mass of confusion, look- 
 ing blacker and more angry as the sun gradually disappeared in 
 the darkness. At last the storm burst forth with a fury never 
 known before ; sharp fl'ashes of lightning, followed by awful peals 
 of thunder, succeeded one another, fast and furious ; the very 
 ground below shook as the palm-leaf quivered in the breeze : it 
 seemed as if the great end of all things was at hand. 
 
 "Now commenced a gradual but awful change. Amid the 
 rolling thunder and the dazzling lightning, which only served to 
 make the awful darkness visible, the village, the houses, all be- 
 gan to dissolve, to melt away, as it were, into burning lava, and, 
 with his works, man perishing likewise. There you might see 
 the gray-headed chief starting up, with his grandson in his arms, 
 but, ere reaching the door, being gradually hardened into stone. 
 There mothers would be seen flying with their little ones, to es- 
 cape the same dreadful fate, but all in vain. There a young and 
 helpless maiden would be clinging to her brave warrior, to that 
 arm which had always been the first to help her, which could 
 surely save her now. Alas! that cruel transformation! The 
 living light in those bright eyes is gone, the tender grasp of that 
 warm hand is cold ; from flesh and blood they too pass away into 
 senseless petrifactions ; while, mingling with the shrieks, and yells, 
 and invocations of the men and the Borich, would still be heard 
 
636 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 the boom of the thunder and the crackling of the houses. Not a 
 man, woman, or child — no, nor even visitor— at that fatal village, 
 save only the neglected boy, was left alive to mourn the loss of 
 his all. One after another they all melted, and were changed, 
 when the heat of the storm was over, into solid rock. Houses, 
 and all in them, succumbed beneath the fiery elements ; and 
 when the storm ceased, all lay, not a heap of charred ruins, but 
 huge masses of smoking stone. 
 
 "A hill with precipices now marks the spot where this tragedy 
 occurred; on the hill (itself the transformed village) are still 
 pointed out, if people speak truth, the traces of the petrified houses. 
 An upright rock is shown as the transformed figure of a Malay, 
 an unhappy visitor on that awful day. There he stands with bis 
 hand still fixed on his sword-hilt, once a living soul, now a life- 
 less stone. The whole scene, indeed, is a standing monument at 
 once of the crime of inhospitality and its fearful punishment. 
 Gazing on his revenge, the youth retreated. He returned to his 
 native village, Seinahang ; and time flew on, and ere he died he 
 was the chief of his tribe, the gray -headed patriarch appealed to 
 by the new and rising generation. Years, hundreds of years 
 rolled away, fathers and mothers passed off' the stage, and young 
 children grew up to take their places, to attain manhood, to work, 
 to become old, to die too; and so time went on, and children 
 danced and played over the same ground that their ancestors had 
 danced and played on for centuries before. 
 
 "At last, no great time ago, the tribe of Semaiang having flour- 
 ished, become populous and rich, a young chief, the lineal de- 
 scendant of the little hungry boy, dreamed that great riches were 
 in store for him and his tribe if they went to Mount Si-Lehor, the 
 petrified village. The next day a party was organized, and they 
 went there and searched. They at last discovered a magnificent 
 cave. With lighted torches they entered, and found it to be very 
 extensive, and full of the celebrated edible birds'-nests. ' Ah I' 
 said they, ' this is our portion, instead of that which was denied to 
 our ancestor ; his due was refused then, it has now been given to 
 us, his descendants ; this is our ' halas' (revenge). Thousands and 
 thousands of birds'-nests they brought out of the cave, which re- 
 alized many reals to the discoverers. The Si-LSbor caves are now 
 said to be the richest, and the tribes possessing them (the Sema- 
 hang youth's descendants) the wealthiest and most prosperous in 
 Sadong." 
 
THE EAGLE. 637 
 
 There are at least four species of swallow that make these curi- 
 ous nests, and the, natives say that the entrance to the caves is al- 
 ways occupied by another kind of swallow, which makes a nest 
 of mixed moss and gelatine, and which, fights the valuable birds 
 and drives them away. They therefore always attack the intrud- 
 ers, and endeavor to knock down their nests with stones. The 
 nests are very small and shallow, and seem scarcely capable of ac- 
 commodating either eggs or young birds. My own specimen is 
 exactly two inches in length, one inch and three quarters in 
 breadth at its widest point, and scarcely more than half an inch 
 deep. Its internal shape is exactly that of a spoon-bowl, one 
 third of which has been cut off abruptly near the handle. 
 
 None of the purely predaceous birds are remarkable for their 
 . skill in architecture, and the Eagle {Aquila chrysaetos) is no ex- 
 ception to the general rule. The nest of this magnificent bird is 
 nothing more than a huge mass of sticks flung at random on some ' 
 rocky ledge, and having a shallow depression in which the young 
 can lie. In general shape, or rather in shapelessness, it is not un- 
 like the nest of the osprey, which has already been described, and 
 it is so rudely put together that the sticks seem to afford even a 
 less commodious bed than the bare rock. 
 
 The portion that is occupied by the young is comparatively 
 small, and the general platform of the nest serves as a sort of lard- 
 er, on which are deposited the birds, hares, lambs, and other ani- 
 mals which the parents have killed and brought home. Some- 
 times the nest will be amply supplied with food, but sometimes 
 the parent birds are obliged to hunt daily. Young eagles are vo- 
 racious beings, and if there be no sheep-flocks within reach, the 
 task of supplying them with food is a very heavy one, especially 
 when they have nearly attained maturity. In feeding its young 
 for the first few weeks of their life, the eagle tears the prey into 
 little pieces, aiid impartially distributes the bleeding morsels to 
 the gaping and screaming offspring. Afterward, however, when 
 the young eagles^'have gained a stout beak, the prey is merely 
 dropped near them, and they tear it to pieces for themselves. 
 
 Generally the nest of the Eagle is placed in some inaccessible 
 spot, and the bird seems never to be so pleased as when it can 
 find a rocky ledge situated about half way down a precipice, and 
 sheltered from above by a large projecting piece of rock. This 
 projection answers two purposes. It prevents the nest from be- 
 
638 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 ing seen from above, and also guards it from being harried by 
 persons let down by ropes. To take an Eagle's nest is always a 
 task of extreme difficulty, and one which tries to the utmost the 
 nerves and endurance of the climber. It also makes considerable 
 
 The Eagle. 
 
 demands on his courage ; for, if the parent birds should discover 
 th^ intruder, they are sure to attack him, and may very probably 
 dash him to the ground. 
 
 Should the bold cragsman succeed in reaching the nest, he does 
 not find it a very pleasant locality. The nostrils of the Eagle are 
 very useful for the purpose of respiration, but the bird has appar- 
 ently little or no olfactory sensibilities. The stench that arises 
 from an inhabited Eagle's nest is quite beyond the power of de- 
 scription, for the young Eagles themselves are not the sweetest 
 beings in the world, and their evil odor is supplemented , by that 
 
THE KODDY. 
 
 639 
 
 which arises from the refuse food that is suffered to putrefy in the 
 very nest. 
 
 There are very many sea-birds which hatch their young on 
 the shelves of precipitous rocks, arid of them I have chosen for 
 an example the bird which is called the Noddy {Anous siolidus). 
 It is a species of Tern, and has long been celebrated among sailors 
 for the ease with which it can be captured, especially if the day- 
 light has departed. 
 
 The Noddy. 
 
 The Noddy taostly chooses for its nesting - place some lofty 
 precipice, and generally lays its eggs upon a shelf of the rock. 
 Sometimes, but rarely, it takes a fancy to some low and thick 
 bush, and in any case is but an indifferent architect. Often the 
 nest is nothing more than a heap of sea- weed, on the top of which 
 is excavated a very slight hollow ; and in no case does the bird 
 seem to exercise any skill in the disposition of materials. As it 
 returns year after year to the same spot, and never clears away 
 the old nest, it manages in time to accumulate a heap of sea-weed 
 that is sometimes more than two feet in thickness, and of consid- 
 
640 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 erable width. The bird is gregarious in its nesting, the rocky 
 ledges being crowded with the rude nests, and the odor that pro- 
 ceeds from them being absolutely intolerable to human nostrils. 
 The eggs are rather pretty, being of an orange color, spotted and 
 splashed with red and purple of different shades. 
 
 It is rare in England, but there are many British birds that 
 build in a similar manner, such as the Solan goose, or gannet, the 
 cormorant, the guillemot, and various gulls. 
 
 The nest of the Nightingale {Luscinia PMlomela) could hard- 
 ly be classed in any of the preceding groups, and therefore takes 
 its place among the miscellaneous habitations. 
 
 The Nightingale. 
 
 It is not built in the branches, nor in a hole, nor suspended 
 from a bough, nor absolutely on the ground. It is always set 
 very near the ground, and in most cases it is scarcely raised more 
 
TIIK ALIiATKliHS. 
 
THE -WANDEEING ALBATEOSS. 643 
 
 than a few inches above the soil. In one sense it is not a pretty 
 nest. It is certainly -not a neat one, and its apparent roughness 
 of construction is probably intended to make it less conspicuous. 
 The discovery of a Nightingale's nest is not an easy task, unless 
 the eye be directed to the spot by watching the movements of the^ 
 bird. It is always most carefully hidden under growing foliage, 
 and so well is it concealed that, even in places where Nightingales 
 abound, the detection of a nest is always welcome to the egg- 
 hunter. 
 
 The materials of the nest are equally calculated for conceal- 
 ment, consisting of straw, grass, little sticks, and dried leaves, all 
 being jumbled together with such "artless art," that even 'when a 
 nest is seen its real nature often escapes the discoverer. If the 
 same materials were seen in a branch at any height from the 
 ground they would at once attract attention, but in the position 
 which they occupy they look like a mass of loose dS)ris that has 
 been blown by the wind and arrested by the foliage among which 
 it has lodged. 
 
 The eggs are equally inconspicuous, being dull olive - brown, 
 without a spot or streak. After they are laid, the lively song of 
 the Nightingale becomes less and less frequent, while after the 
 young are hatched the bird is silent until the next season. The 
 Nightingale is as anxious to conceal itself as its nest, and never 
 intentionally shows its brown plumage, though it will sing within 
 six feet of a listener who will remain quiet. In the spring the 
 bird seems as if it must sing, no matter who may be near, and its 
 spirit of rivalry is so great that the "jug-jug" of one Nightingale 
 is sure to set singing all the others within hearing. 
 
 The Wandering Albatross {Diomedea exulans), the giant of 
 the petrel tribe, makes its nest after a peculiar fashion. 
 
 It chooses the summit of lofty precipices near the sea, and its 
 nest may be found most plentifully in Tristan d'Acunha and the 
 Marion Islands. The Albatross is lord of the country, and no 
 other living being seems tb intrude upon its nesting-place. So 
 completely do the birds feel themselves masters of the situation, 
 that if a human being penetrates to their haunts, they quietly 
 move about as if he were non-existent, and do not appear to take 
 the least notice of him. On such elevated positions the cold is 
 necessarily intense, but the Albatross cares not for the cold, and 
 brings up its white-coated young in a temperature that few human 
 beings like to endure longer than needful. 
 
6U 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 
 
 No particular bed seems necessary for the egg, for the mother 
 bird simply deposits it on the bare ground, and then scrapes earth 
 round it so as to form a small circular wall, as may be seen by 
 reference to the illustration. If their nest be approached very 
 closely, the alarmed parents snap their bills like angry owls ; and 
 if they wish to be aggressive, they discharge from their bills a 
 quantity of oil ; but they seem to have no ideas of actual fight. 
 The Albatross lays only one egg. 
 
 Our last sample of " Homes without Hands" is the ingenious 
 structure that is made by the Coot {Fulica atra), the Bald Goot 
 
 The Coot. 
 
 as it is sometimes called, on account of the horny plate on the 
 forehead, which is pink during the breeding season, and white 
 during the rest of the year. Although the general color of the 
 
THE COOT. 645 
 
 Coot is black, it is a pretty bird when in the water, and if the day- 
 be calm, the reflection on the surface has a very curious effect, 
 the white patch appearing as if it rose to the surface of the water 
 every time that the bird nods its head in the act of swimming. 
 
 The favorite nesting -places of the Coot are little islands on 
 which the grass grows rankly. Failing them, it will make its nest 
 among reeds and rushes, binding and twisting them together until 
 they are firm enough to support the weight of the nest, the bird, 
 and the many eggs. Should it not find either of these localities, 
 it will build on the edge of the water, and almost invariably con- 
 trives to make its nest in such a manner that it can not be reached 
 from the land. The quantity of reeds, bulrushes, sedgeSj grass, 
 and other materials used in the nest is very surprising ; and yet, 
 in spite of its large dimensions, it is not a conspicuous object. 
 The nest contains a great number of eggs, seldom less than seven, 
 and sometimes twelve or fourteen. They are whitish, and pro- 
 fusely spotted with irregular brown marks. 
 
 In the illustration the haunts of the Coot are well represented. 
 In the foreground is seen one of the grass tussocks, of which a 
 pair of Coots have taken possession, and in which the young are 
 seen under the protection of their parents. Similar tussocks pro- 
 trude from the shallow water, and from one of them the mother 
 Coot is issuing, followed by her young brood. In the background 
 are seen a pair of swans, one of which is bearing her young on her 
 back, according to the custom of her kind. 
 
 As is the case with many of the "illustrations to this work, the 
 sketch was taken from nature. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Aaet) Vaek, 64. 
 Abiapa, 275. 
 Abnoimal Astnea, 413. 
 Acanthiza^ 237. 
 
 Yellow-tailed, 237. 
 Accentor^ 580. 
 
 Hedge, 5S0. 
 Accipite)., 4^2. 
 Acheta^ 180. 
 Acrocinus^ IPS. 
 Acronycta^ 311. 
 jEgeria^ 210, 211. 
 uEgeriadce^ 210. 
 j^ithalics-i 233. 
 JEfe/ornis, 489. 
 Aerial Builderfl, 538. 
 Agelena^ 322, 370. 
 Agiicultural Ant, 390. 
 AilanthuB Silkworm, 301. 
 Albatross, C43. 
 Albert Lyra Bird, 355. 
 Alcedo^ 77. 
 Alces, 627. 
 Allotria^ 520. 
 Amazon Ant, 480. 
 Amphitrite^ 420, 430. 
 
 Funnel, 430. 
 
 Silkworm, 429. 
 Ampulex^ 151. 
 Anana, Asti'tea, 413. 
 Andrena, 150. 
 Anommajt 469. 
 Anotfs, 689. 
 Ant, Agricultural, 390. 
 
 Amazon, 4S0. 
 
 Blind, 389. 
 
 Brown, 145. 
 
 Driver, 469. 
 
 Dusky, 144. 
 Ant-eater, Porcupine, 72. 
 Ants: Foraging, 383. 
 
 Fungus, 624. 
 
 Green, 273. 
 
 Indian, 167. 
 
 Lion, 183. 
 
 Parasol, 142. 
 
 White, C21. 
 
 Yellow, 149. 
 Anthidiumi 199. 
 A nthrocera^ 306. 
 Apoica, 600, COl. 
 Apple, Dead Sea, 515. 
 Aquila^ 637. 
 Arctia^ 304. 
 Arctomy8.5l. 
 Ardea^ 542, 
 Argyrometra^ 398. 
 Argyromiges, 312, 317 
 Armadillo, 62. 
 Arvicola^ 614. 
 A^ernUtum^ 124 
 Astrcea, 412, 413. 
 
 Abnormal, 413. 
 
 Anana, 413. 
 
 Chocolatp, 4 : 3. 
 
 Green, 4i'J. 
 
 Atemelee^ 168. 
 Athene^ 4B. 
 Atlas Moth, 299. 
 Atta^ 390. 
 Attacua^ 301. 
 Atyp-ua^ 130. 
 Azure Coereba, 258. 
 
 Badges, 38. 
 
 Bajjerkeit, 64. 
 B:ild-headed Eagle, 550. 
 Baltimore Oriole, 259. 
 Bandicoot, Rabbit-eared, 325. 
 Bar-tailed Humming-bird, 254. 
 Bathyergus, 54. 
 Batikin, 490. 
 Baya' Sparrow, 268. 
 Bear, Brown, 68. 
 
 Polar, 55. 
 
 White, 64. 
 
 Woolly, 304. 
 Beaver, 431. 
 Beccafico, 55?. 
 Bedeguar, 506. 
 Bee, Carder, 484. 
 
 Carpenter, 203. 
 
 Hive, 445. 
 
 Humble, 154. 
 
 Lapidary, 157. 
 
 Eoae-cutter, 195. 
 
 Willow, 1P6. 
 Bee-eater, 83.- 
 Beetle, Burrowing, 105. 
 
 Harlequin, l',)o. 
 
 Muak, 193. 
 
 Wasp, 192. 
 Bembex^ 16T. 
 Bettong, Brush-tailed, 323. , 
 
 Penciled, 323. 
 Bettongia, 323. 
 Bicellaria^ 6\2. 
 Bird, Bower, 356. 
 
 Cataract, $36. 
 
 Humming, 572. 
 
 Indigo, 567. 
 
 Lyre, 355. 
 
 Mocking, 560. 
 
 of Waahington, 550. 
 
 Oven, 327. 
 
 Tailor, 231. 
 Birds, Burrowing, 74, 344. 
 
 Pensile, 219. 
 
 Social, 438. 
 Birgusi 107. 
 Blackbird, 331. 
 Blind Ant, 389. 
 
 Blue-eyed Yellow Warbler, 549. 
 Blue-faced Honey-eater, 40(i. 
 Blue Linnet, 56T. 
 Bob-o'-Iink, 261. 
 Bmtibax^ 623. 
 Bowibita', 485. 
 BombycidcB^ 310. 
 Bombyx^ 591. 
 Bower Bird, 350 
 
 Spotted, 36y. 
 
 Branch-building Mammalia, 531. 
 
 Birds, 638. « 
 
 Insects and Spiders, 582. 
 Brazilian Wood Nympb, 257. 
 Breeze Fly, 528. 
 
 Clear-wing, 210. 
 Brown-tailed Moth, 311, 467,694. 
 Biiish-tailed Bettong, 323. 
 Bi-uah Turkey, 338. 
 Builders, 323. 
 Building Birda, 32T. 
 
 Insects, 360. 
 Bullen-buUen, 355. 
 Bullfiuch, 648. 
 Burnet Ichneumon, 289, 290. 
 
 Moth, 306. 
 Burrowing Animals, 19. 
 
 Birda, 74, 344. 
 
 Crustacea, 104. 
 
 Insects, 140. 
 
 Molluaks, 114. 
 
 Spiders, 128. 
 Burying Beetle, 171. 
 Btiekia^ 612.' 
 Buttei-fly, Peacock, 4G7. 
 
 Small Tortoise-shell, 4C7. 
 
 C. 
 
 Cacicus, 263. 
 Caddis Flies, 401. 
 
 Shrimp, 431. 
 Calandra, I'Jl. 
 Callichthys, 394. 
 Caloaoma, 590. 
 Camas Bat, 53. 
 Campagnol, 614. 
 Campanular Wasp, 279, 
 Capoc-bosche, 568. 
 Capocier, 668. 
 Carder Bees, 484. 
 Carpenter Bee, 203. 
 Castor, 431. 
 Cataract Bird, 236. 
 Caienicella^ 612. 
 Celery Fly, 317. 
 Cell of Termite Queen, 622. 
 Cerambyx^ 193. 
 Cerapus^ ■^l. 
 Cerceria, 153. 
 Cercopithecue^ 228. 
 Certkia, 96. 
 Cerura^ 499. 
 Chaffinch, 5i4. 
 CharterguB, 279. 
 Chat, Yellow-breaated, ^B0. 
 
 Yellow-throated, 557. 
 ChelidoThf 334. 
 Chelura, 112. 
 
 Chicken, Mother Carey's, 87. 
 Chigoe, 526. 
 Chilabotkrua^ 103. 
 Chunborazian Hill Star, 254. 
 Chimney Swallow, 338. 
 Chipmuck, 50. 
 Chipping Squirrel, 50 
 ChUmiydera^ 359. 
 Chlam'i^h)rus^ 63. 
 
648 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Chocolate Asti'sea, 413. 
 Chceropus^ 335. 
 Chryaalidce^ BOO. " 
 Chrysanthemum Fly, B2fl. 
 Chrysolmnpisy 257. 
 Ctcimdete, 169. 
 Cionis WeevU, 297. 
 ClavagelUt^ 124. 
 Clavellaria, 408, 411. 
 
 Green, 408. 
 
 Violet, 411. 
 Clear-wing Moth, 210. 
 Cl&mua^ 521. 
 CUrus, 529. 
 Clisiocayrtfia^ 592. 
 Clothes Moth, 624. 
 Chjtugy 192. 
 CneethoeampOi 689. 
 CoccyguSf 488. 
 Cdtreba, 268. 
 Cole Titmouse, 98. 
 CoIJDcaim, 632. 
 CoiMmba, 83, 558. 
 CometeSj 254. 
 Coot, 644 
 Coral, Red, 408. 
 
 Red Organ-pipe, 413. 
 
 White, 408. 
 Corals, 406. 
 Corvm, 82, 541. 
 Coryphodorit 561. 
 CoBBUs, 206. 
 Cotile^'H. 
 Coushie Ant, 142. 
 Cow-bird, 488. 
 Crab, Fighting, 100. . 
 
 Land, 104. 
 
 Racer, 107. 
 
 Robber, lOT. 
 
 Spiders, 137. 
 Cramer's Pigmy, 317. 
 Creeper, 96. 
 Crematogaster^ 270, 
 Crested Caasique, 203. 
 Cricket, Field, 180. 
 
 Mole, 178. 
 Crimson Topaz, 571. 
 Crisia, 612. 
 Crow, 541. 
 
 Blackbird, 493. 
 Crustacea, Burrowing, 104. 
 Cryptue, 293. 
 Ctenizou, 137. 
 Cuckoo Flies, BOO. 
 Cwpulai'ia^ 612. 
 Currant Galls^ BID. 
 Cmrucaj 660. 
 Cymo^nra^ 420. 
 Cynips, 502, 506, 510, Bll. 
 
 615, 519, 596. 
 Cypselus-i 100. 
 
 Daggxb Moth, 317. 
 Date Shell, 121. 
 Dauber Wasp, 374. 
 Dead Sea Apple, 515. 
 Dicceum^ 244. 
 
 Swallow, 244. 
 Diomedea, 643. 
 Diumettj 317. 
 DolomedeSi 013. 
 Dor Beetle, 172. 
 Doimouse, 531. 
 Drinker Moth, 307. 
 Drilua, B30. 
 Driver Ant, 469. 
 Drymffica., 568. 
 Duckbill, 60. 
 
 512, 
 
 E. 
 
 Eagle, 637. 
 
 Bald-headed, 560. 
 Earth Fly, 626. 
 Echidna^ 72. 
 Edton, 383-389. 
 Elephant Sbrew, 32. 
 Elk, 627. 
 
 Emerald - throated Humming- 
 bird, 574. 
 Emmet-eater, 93. 
 Emperor Moth, 29a 
 Enneocto'nu8., 577. 
 ErOomopMla, 241. 
 Entomyza^ 490. 
 Epdra, 318. ■ 
 Ephemera^ 140. 
 Eriogaster, 309. 
 Eucera., 150. 
 Euoheira.t 463. 
 Eumenea., 370. 
 
 Eupomaiue, 419. 
 
 Faibt Maetin, 332. 
 
 Faleo, 560. 
 
 Fan Amphitrite, 429. 
 
 Fan-tailed Warbler, 283. 
 
 Farcimiruzria., 612. 
 
 Feathered Branch-builders, 638. 
 
 I'Hber Zibethieus^ 326. 
 
 Field-mouse, Long-tailed. C17. 
 
 Short-tailed, 014. 
 Field Vole, 614. 
 Fiery Topaz, 571. 
 Fifteen-splned Stickleback, 392. 
 Fighting Crab, 106. 
 Eigiies, 620. 
 Firebird, 259. 
 Firetails, 500. 
 Fishes, 392. 
 Flaak Shell, 124. 
 Flies, Caddis, 401. 
 
 Cuckoo, 600. 
 
 GaU, 501. 
 
 Euby-tailed, BOO. 
 Flustra, 611, 612. 
 Fly, Breeze, 528. 
 
 Celery, 317. 
 
 Chrysanthemum, 5-0. 
 
 Earth, 526. 
 
 Thistle-gaIl,B22. 
 Fly-catchers, 265. 
 
 Great-crested, 265. 
 
 Red-eyed, 206. 
 
 White-eyed, 206. 
 Foragmg Ants, 383. 
 Formica, 144, 272, 273, 274, 480. 
 Fox, 33. 
 
 Arctic, 33. 
 Fmtercula, 80. 
 Frimjilla, 646. 
 Fulica, 644. 
 Fungus Ant, 623, 624. 
 Funnel Amphltvite, 4S0. 
 Furmiriua, 327. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gall Fweb, 501. 
 Galleria, 212. 
 Gallinula^ 561. 
 Gaper Shell, 117. 
 Garden Spider, 31S. 
 Oaateroatem, 399, 304. 
 Gaatrochtsna, 124. 
 Qaatropaeha, 307. 
 Gccarcinus, 104. 
 
 Gelasimus, 106. 
 Geometric Spider, 316, 
 Geotrupes, 172. 
 Gipsy Moth, 691. 
 Gnat, Clear-wing, 211. 
 Goat Moth, 206, 499. 
 Gold-capped Weaver Bird, 227 
 Gold-tailed Moth, 466. . 
 Golden-crested Wren, 244. 
 
 Oriole, 6B2. 
 
 Robin, 259. 
 Goldfinch, 646. 
 Goliath Beetle, 177. 
 Gopher, 52. 
 Graiallaria, 625, 526. 
 Grakle, Furple, 493. 
 Grallina, Pied, 329. 
 Gray-throated Hermit, 251, 
 Great-crested Fly-catcher, 2(^5. 
 
 Gray Shrike, 677. 
 Green Ant, 273. 
 
 Astrcea, 412, 413. 
 
 Clavellaria, 408, 411. 
 Grihble, 112. 
 Grosbeak, Sociable, 438. 
 Ground-hog, 62. 
 GrylUitalpa, 178. 
 Grypm,W». 
 Gwas-y-gog, 93. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hackee, 50. 
 JSadaita, 166. 
 Hanging Bird, 269. 
 Hang-nest, 269. 
 Hardback, 394. 
 Hare, 632. 
 
 Harlequin Beetle, 195. 
 Harvest-mouse, 213. 
 HasBar, 394. 
 Haychat, 560. 
 Hedge Accentor, 580. 
 
 Sparrow, 680. 
 Helix, 114. 
 Hen, Moor, 661. 
 
 Water, 561. 
 Hermit, Gray-throated, 251, 
 
 Little, 250. 
 
 Pigmy, 252. 
 Heron, 642. 
 Hill Star, Chimbora^ian, 254. 
 
 Fichinchian, 256. 
 
 White-sided, 254. 
 Hirundo, 332, 337. 
 Hive-bee, 445. 
 Honeycomb Moth, 212. 
 Honey-eater, Blue-faced, 490. 
 
 Lunulated, 240. 
 
 Painted, 2«. 
 
 Singing, 239. 
 
 White-throated, 243. 
 Hoopoe, 97. 
 Hoop-shaver, 199. 
 HombiU, 344. 
 Hornet, 467. 
 House Martin, 384. 
 House-buUder Moth, 301. 
 House Wren, 358. 
 Humming-birds, 249, B7B. 
 
 Emerald-throated, 574. 
 
 Long-tailed, 262. 
 
 Euby-throated, 573. 
 
 Ruby and Topaz, 257. 
 
 Sawbill, 256. 
 
 Vervain, 576. 
 Humble-bee, 164. 
 Sydrachna, 401. 
 HylceuH, 197. 
 Hylocharia, 262. 
 Hypera, Weevil, 297. 
 Hyphtmtomia, 229. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 649 
 
 I. 
 
 Icaria, 586, 694. 
 Ichneumon, Burnet, 289, 290. 
 Icteria, 656. 
 Jcteru.% 555. 
 Indigo Bird, 56T. 
 Insects, Building, 360. 
 
 Burrowing, 140. 
 
 Social, 442. 
 
 Wood-boring, 186. 
 Invertebrates, 397. 
 
 J. 
 
 Jackdaw, 82. 
 Jerboa Kangaroo, 323. 
 Jigger, 526. 
 
 K. 
 
 KAnoAsoo, JxsBOA, 323. 
 Kestrel, 492. 
 Kingfisher, 77. 
 Korw6, 344. 
 
 L. 
 
 LA0KE7 Moth, 593. 
 
 Lamia^ 192. 
 
 Lanceolate Honey-eater, 246. 
 
 Land Crab, 104. 
 
 Lanivs^ 677. 
 
 Lapidary Be^ 157. 
 
 Lasiocampa^ 499. 
 
 Lazotcenia^ 314. 
 
 Leaf-rollers, 312. 
 
 L^poa^ 343. 
 
 Lepralia, 012. 
 
 hepus^ 44. 
 
 Lerot, 535. 
 
 LUac Moth, 314 
 
 Limpet, 118. 
 
 Limnoria^ 112. 
 
 Linnet, Blue, 567. 
 
 Lithodomus^ 121, 
 
 Little Egger Moth, 309. 
 
 Hei-mit, 250. 
 Locusts, 181. 
 Loire, 535. 
 Longicomee^ 192. 
 Long-tailed Field-mouse, 017. 
 
 Humming-bird, 352. 
 
 Titmouse, 346. 
 Lunulated Honey-eater, 240. 
 Luscinia^ 640. 
 Lycosa, 133, 614. 
 Lyre Bird, 355. 
 
 Albert's, 355. 
 
 M. 
 
 Macroscelides, 32. 
 Magpie, 350. 
 
 Maliali Weaver Bird, 224. 
 Mallangong, 67. 
 JfaiMrws, 246. 
 Mammalia : 
 
 Building, 328. 
 
 Burrowing, 19. 
 
 Pensile, 213. 
 
 Social, 431. 
 Manis, 64. 
 Martin, Fairy, 332. 
 
 House, 334. 
 
 Sand, 74. 
 May-fly, 140. 
 Meal-worms, 190, 191. 
 Megachile^ 196. 
 Melasis^ 190. 
 Melipona^ 373. 
 Meltthreptf.^,'HO. 
 MeUinuSt 152. 
 MelUauga, 576. 
 
 Menura^ 355. 
 Merops^ 83. 
 Microgaeter, 289, 496. 
 Miero-lepidoptera^ 524. 
 Micromye^ 213. 
 Microaetia^ 317. 
 Jfimus,' 560. 
 MischocyttaruSj 588. 
 Mocking-bird, 560. 
 Mole, 21. 
 
 Cricket, 178. 
 
 Eat, 54. 
 
 Water, 67. 
 MoUuska, Burrowing, 114. 
 Monedula^ 166. 
 Moor Hen, 561. 
 Moose, 627. 
 Moth, Atlas, 299. I 
 
 Brown-tailed, 311, 467, 5 
 
 Burnet, 306. 
 
 Clear-wing, 210. 
 
 Clothes, 624. 
 
 Dagger, 317. 
 
 Drinker, 307. 
 
 Emperor, 298. 
 
 Gipsy, 591. 
 
 Goat, 206. 
 
 Gold-tailed, 466. 
 
 Honey-comlj, 212. 
 
 House-builder, 301. 
 
 Lackey, 593. 
 
 Lilac, 314. 
 
 Little Egger, 809. 
 
 Oak, 313. 
 
 Oak-egger, 499. 
 
 Procesflionary, 589. 
 
 Puss, 499. 
 
 Small Ermine, 811, 484. 
 
 Spurge, 311. 
 
 Tiger, 304. 
 
 Wood-leopard, 209. 
 
 Wolf, 2U. 
 Motuca, 166. 
 Mouse, Common, 618. 
 
 Hai-vest, 213. 
 
 Wood, 617. 
 Mud Wasp, 478, 479. 
 Mulo, 52. 
 ilf«s, 617, 618. 
 3[u/icardinus^ 531. 
 Muacicapn^ 266. 
 Musk Beetle, 193. 
 
 Eat, 33, 325. 
 Musquash, 325. 
 Mutton Bird, 82. 
 Mya, 117. 
 
 Mycetophagus^ 190. 
 Mygale, 132. 
 Myogalm, 33. 
 Myoxus^ 635. 
 injrapetra, 282. 
 H^^rmeleon^ 183. 
 Hyrmica, 149, 270, 468, 482. 
 
 N. 
 
 Native Pheasant, 343. 
 Nectarinia^ 287. 
 Nepticula^ 624. 
 Nests, Sub-aquatic, 392. 
 Nettle-creeper, 560. 
 Nightingale, 640. 
 Noddy, 639. 
 Norwegian Wasp, 271. 
 Nut-hatch, 96. 
 
 Oak-eggbe Moth, 307, 409. 
 Oak Moth, 313. 
 Odonestis^ 307. 
 
 aScodoma, 142. 
 aecophylla, 273. 
 aSstrus, 528. 
 Oikelicus^ 301. 
 Ondatra, 325. 
 Ophion, 499. 
 Orchard Oriole, 201. 
 Oreotrochilus^ 254. 
 Orgyia, 303. 
 Origmtt, 236. 
 Oriole, Baltimore, 269. 
 
 Crested, 263. 
 
 Golden, 652. 
 
 Orchard, 261. 
 Orkilua^ 552. 
 Ornithorhynehus^ 07. 
 OrthotofniuSi 231. 
 Oryctero3JUS^ 64. 
 Oryctes^ 151. 
 Osmia, 197. 
 Oven Bird, 327. 
 Owl, Bun-owing, 43. 
 
 Coquirabo, 43. 
 Oxybelics^ 153. 
 
 P. 
 
 Painted Honet-eatee, 241. 
 Palm Swift, 229. 
 PandioTL, 493. 
 Pamscws, 500. 
 Parasitic Nests, 487. 
 Parua, 97, 346. 
 Passer-, 495. 
 Pasteboard Wasp, 279. 
 Peacock Butterfly, 467. 
 Pelopceua, 205, 372. 
 Penciled Bettong, 323. 
 Penduline Titmouse, 233. 
 Pensile Birds, 219. 
 
 Insects, 269. 
 
 Mammalia, 213. 
 Perameles^ 325. 
 Petrel, Stormy, 85. 
 Phaethomiei 250, 252. 
 Pheasant, Native, 843. 
 PhilanihuBf 153. 
 Phiktcerua, 438. 
 Pholas, 118. 
 Phytomyza^ 526. 
 Pica, 360. 
 Pichiciago, 68. 
 Pichinchian Hill Star, 256. 
 Piddock, 118. 
 Pied Grallina, 329. 
 Pigmy, Cramer's, 317. 
 
 Hermit, 252. 
 
 Eed-headed, 817. 
 Pinc-Pinc, 288. 
 Pine-creeping Warbler, 267. 
 Pirate Spider, 014 
 Placoategua, 420. 
 Platypus, 67. 
 PlectorhyncJiita, 246. 
 Pliopasaer, 224. 
 Ploceus, 223, 225, 229. 
 Polar Bear, 55. 
 Polistes, 286, 294, 483, 5')7. 
 Politician, 266. 
 PoltjUa, 443. 
 Polyergua, 4S0. 
 Polyzoa, 611. 
 PomntorJiinus, 491. 
 Pomatostegvs, 421. 
 Pampilua, 161. 
 Porcupine Ant-eater, 72. 
 Porthma, 46, 311, 467, 592. 
 Potter, 425. 
 Pouched Rat, 52. 
 Prairie Dog, 39. 
 
 Warbler, 267. 
 
650 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Priodcnta, C3. 
 Processionaiy Moth, 6S9. 
 
 Psyche, 304. 
 Ptilonorhijnchua, 350. 
 Ptilotus, 239. 
 Puffin, 80. 
 Pulex, 526. 
 Purple Grakle, 493. 
 Puas Moth, 499. 
 Pi/rrhula, 54S. 
 
 Q. 
 
 K. 
 
 Rabbit, 44 
 
 Babbit-eared Bandicoot, 325. 
 
 Eacei- Crab, 107. 
 
 Baft Spider, C12, 613. 
 
 Jia/mphaatos, 98. 
 
 Raphioasle}-, 588. 
 
 Bat, Camas, 53. 
 
 Mole, 64. 
 
 Pouched, 53. 
 Razor SheU, 123. 
 Red-backed Shrike, 6TT. 
 
 Coral, 408. 
 
 Organ-pipe Coral, 413. 
 Eed-billed Weaver, 220. 
 Red-eyed Fly-catcher, 266. 
 Red-headed Pigmy, 317. 
 Red-winged Starling, 555. 
 Reed Warbler, 565. 
 Regulits, 244. 
 Reptiles, Burrowing, 102. 
 Republican Swallow, 333. 
 Mhagium, 195. 
 Bhipidura, 247. 
 Ringdove, 658. 
 Robber Crab, 107. 
 Rock Warbler, 236. 
 Rose-cutter Bee, 195. 
 Ruby and Topaz Humming 
 
 bird, 257. 
 Ruby-tailed Flies, 500. 
 Ruby - throated Humming . bird, 
 
 678. 
 Rufous-bellied Swallow, .'i33. 
 Rufous-necked Swallow, 333. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sabella, 426, 427, 428. 
 
 Straight, 428. 
 
 Trumpet, 427. / 
 
 Sacrifice and Pelf-aacrifice, 46. 
 Salicaria, 504. 
 Sand Martin, 74. 
 
 Mole, 54. 
 Sxperda, 206. 
 Sappho Comet, 254. 
 Saturm'a, 298. 
 Saiiba, 142. 
 
 Sawbill Humming-bird, 956. 
 Scadcavd, 122. 
 ScarabcenSf 175. 
 ScoUa, 151. 
 ScolytUK, 187. 
 Scorpion, 128. 
 Sea Mat, 611. 
 Sedge Warbler, 664. 
 SeneorniH, 234. 
 SerjOMia, 416. 
 Sheldrake, 8X 
 Shell-binder, 422. 
 Ship-worm, 124. 
 Short-tailed Field-mouse, 014. 
 Shrew Mole, 32. 
 
 Shrike, Great Gray, 877. 
 
 Red-backed, 677. 
 Shrimp, Caddis, 431. 
 
 Wood-boring, 112. 
 Siffleur, 62. 
 SUene, 649. 
 Silkworm, Ailanthus, 301, 
 
 Amphitrlte, 429. 
 Singing Honey-eater, 239. 
 Sirex, 199. 
 Sitta, 96. 
 Slepez, 54. 
 Small Ermine Moth, 311, 
 
 465. 
 Snail, Boring, 115. 
 Snake, Yellow, 103. 
 Social Birds, 438. 
 
 Grosbeak, 438. 
 
 Insects, 442. 
 
 Mammalia, 628. 
 
 Weaver Bird, 438. 
 Solen, 123. 
 Song Thrush, 331. 
 Spalax, 64. 
 Spangle Galls, 611. 
 SpaiTow, 496. 
 
 Hedge, 680. 
 Sparrow-hawk, 492. 
 Spermophilus, 39. 
 Sphegidcey 205. 
 Spheic, 152, 596. 
 Spiders, 682. 
 
 Burrowing, 128. 
 
 Garden, 318. 
 
 Geometric, 318. 
 
 Pirate, 614. 
 
 Raft, 612. 
 
 Tufted, 564. 
 
 Water, 398, 399. 
 Spirorbis, 421. 
 Spiza, 567^ 
 Spotted-backed Bower Bird, 
 
 Weaver Bird, 223. 
 Spurge Moth, 311. 
 Squirrel, Chipping, 60. 
 Starling, 94, 492. 
 
 Red-winged, 555. 
 Sticklebacks, 392. 
 
 Fifteen-spined, 392, 
 Stockdove, 83. 
 Straight Sabella, 42& 
 Sturnue-i 94, 492; 
 Sub-aquatic Nests, 392. 
 Swallow, 337. 
 
 Chimney, 33S. 
 
 Dicosum, 244. 
 
 Edible, 632. 
 
 Republican, 333. 
 
 Rufous-bellied, 333. 
 
 Rufous-necked, 333. 
 Swift, 100. 
 
 Palm, 229. 
 Sylvia, 26T, 549. 
 Synoeca, 4ftX 
 Syringa, 418. 
 
 T. 
 
 TaohinoB, 500. 
 TacTwrnia, 229. 
 Taha Weaver, 228. 
 Tailor Bird, 231. 
 Tallegalla, 338. 
 Tamiae, 60. 
 Tarantuln, 133. 
 Tatua, 275. 
 Taudoa, 383. 
 Tenebrin, 191. 
 TephritfK, 317, 626. 
 Terehf.lla, 422, 425, 426. 
 Weaver, 426. 
 
 Teredo, 124. 
 Tenries, 8.0. 
 Termites, 360, 021. 
 Teatudo, 102. 
 Textor, 220-229. 
 Thalarctoa, 64. 
 Thalaesidrortuf, 85. 
 Thalurania, 257. 
 Thistle-gall Fly, 622. 
 Thrush, Song, 831. 
 Tiger Beetle, 169. 
 
 Moth, 304. 
 464, Tinea, 211, 624. 
 Tinnuncidus, 492. 
 Titmouse, Cole, 97. 
 
 Long-tailed, 846. 
 
 Penduline, 233. 
 Tockus, 344. 
 Toddy Bii-d, 208. 
 Topaza, 571. 
 Topaz, Crimson, 671. 
 
 Fiery, 571. 
 Tortoise, 102. 
 
 Tortoise-shell Butterfly, 467. 
 Tortrix, 818. 
 Toucan, 98. 
 Trop-door Spiaer,-133. 
 Tree Lackey, 593. 
 
 Wasp, 277. 
 Tree-caddis, 607. 
 Triohoptera, 401. 
 Trigma, 289. 
 TrocUlvs, 262, 673. 
 Troglodytes, 351. 
 Trumpet Sabella, 427. 
 Trypoxylon, 274, 371. 
 Tubicolous annelids, 414. 
 Tuchut6, 191. 
 Tufted Spider, 684. 
 Tubipora, 418. 
 Turdue, 831. 
 Turkey, Brush, 338. 
 Turtledove, 659. 
 
 U. 
 
 Vpupa, 97. 
 TJropJiora, 622. 
 
 V. 
 
 Vanesm, 467. 
 
 Vervain Humming-bird, 576. 
 
 Veapa, 276, 379, 457. 
 
 Violet Clavellaria, 411. 
 
 Virfo, 65T. 
 
 Vole, Field, 614. 
 
 W. 
 
 Wabblkh, Fan-tailed, 233. 
 
 Pine-creeping, 207. 
 
 Prairie, 267. 
 
 Reed, 665. 
 
 Rock, 236. 
 
 Sedge, 564. 
 Wort-bitter, 180. 
 Washington, Bird of, 650. 
 Wasp, 158. 
 
 Beetle, 192. 
 
 Campanular, 279. 
 
 Common, 276, 379. 
 
 Dauber, 374. 
 
 Mud, 478, 479. 
 
 Norwegian, 277. 
 
 Pasteboard, 279. 
 
 Ti-ce. 277. 
 Water Plen, 661. 
 
 Mole, 07. 
 
 Spider, 898. 
 Watering-pot Sliell, 124. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 65: 
 
 Weasels, 38. 
 
 Weaver, Gold-capped, 227.. 
 
 Mahali, 224. 
 
 Eed-bUled. 220. 
 
 Sociable, 438. 
 
 Spotted-backed, 223. 
 
 Taha, 228. 
 
 Terebella, 42ff. 
 
 Yellow-crowned, 223. 
 Weelah, 341. 
 Weevil Cionis, 297. 
 
 Hypera, 297. 
 Weevils, 192. 
 Whip-Tom-Kelly, 266. 
 White Ant, 300, 621. 
 
 Coral, 408. 
 Wliite-eyed Fly-catcher, 266. 
 White-shafted Fantail, 247. 
 White-Bided Hill Star, 264. 
 White-throat, 660. 
 White-throated Honey-eater, 243. 
 
 Willow Bee, 195. 
 Wish-ton- Wish, 40. 
 Wolf Moth, 211. 
 
 Spider, 133. 
 Woodchuck, 51. 
 Wood-leopard Moth, 209. 
 
 Mouse, 617. 
 Woodpeckers, 88. 
 Woolly Bear, 304. 
 Wren, 351. 
 
 Golden-crested, 244. 
 
 House, 853. 
 Wry-neck, 93. 
 
 Xanthomis, 261. 
 Xeriia, 411. 
 Xylocopa^ 203. 
 Xylophaga, 123, 
 
 Yellow Snake, 103. 
 
 Warbler, Blue-eyed, 649. 
 Yellow-breasted Chat, 656. 
 Yellow -crowned Weaver Bird 
 
 223. 
 Yellow-tailed Acanthizn, 237. 
 Yellow-throated Chat, 667. 
 
 Sericomis, 234. 
 Yphantes, 259. 
 Yponomeuta, 311, 464. 
 Tunx, 93. 
 
 Zeuzera, 209. 
 ZonurUB^ 07, 
 Zoophytes, 408, 412. 
 Zootoca, 59. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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