Homes Without Hands: Being a Description of the Habitations of Animals, Classed According to Their Principle of Construction - Page 40

As if conscious of the impregnable situation which it has chosen, the squirrel takes no pains to conceal the summer cage, but builds it so openly that it can be seen from a considerable distance; whereas the winter home requires a practiced eye to detect it. So confident is the animal in the strength of its position, that it can scarcely be induced to leave the nest, and will sit there in spite of shouts and stones, provided that the missiles do not actually strike the nest. A well-aimed stone will generally alarm the cunning little animal, and cause it to make one of its rapid rushes to the top of the tree. The materials of the Squirrel's cage are very similar to those of an ordinary bird's-nest, consisting of twigs, leaves, moss, and other vegetable substances. 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 mother 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 is made are grass, moss, and leaves, together with a few twigs, and the shape is nearly spherical. The winter cage, however, 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 surprising. 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 almost 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, leaves, 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 producing shawls, flowers, and goblets out of an empty hat. The nest had been deserted for some time, and all the materials were matted together by repeated rains.

CHAPTER XI. PENSILE BIRDS.

Weaver Birds and their general Habits.—RED-BILLED WEAVER BIRD.—Its bovine 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 respecting 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 TANA 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 PENDULINE TITMOUSE.—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 Ploceidæ, all being inhabitants of the hot portions of the Old World, such as Asia and Africa. The last-mentioned continent is peculiarly rich in Weaver birds, as may be seen from a glance at the plate which accompanies 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 curious 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.

Snakes, too, also inveterate nest-robbers, some of them living almost exclusively on young birds and eggs, are effectually debarred 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 possible, 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 RED-BILLED WEAVER BIRD, one of the most plentiful of its kind. Its scientific name is Textor erythrorhynchus, and it is remarkable for attending the buffaloes wherever they go. Should the buffalo be driven from any locality, as is often the case when civilization begins to make its mark on a country, the Red-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 various 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, settling 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 troublesome insects, but they are always vigilant, and serve to detect danger. As soon as the bird perceives, or fancies that it perceives, any thing that is suspicious, it ceases from feeding, and looks anxiously 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 away into the thickest underwood, accompanied by its faithful friends. The reader must not suppose that every buffalo has its bird, or that even a herd of buffaloes must necessarily be accompanied 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.

AFRICAN WEAVERS.

There are several other birds which are in the habit of attaching 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 larvæ of the bot-flies, which burrow into the skin, and make such ugly holes in the hide. All these birds feed upon the parasites and other creatures that are found upon the animal which they affect; 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 number of roundish nests, hung on branches in several rows. These are built by the SPOTTED-BACKED WEAVER BIRD, and are slightly 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 similar materials, and the different position of the mouth is evidently intended merely as an accommodation to circumstances. Their eggs are not numerous, 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 Kaffir-land. Its scientific name is Ploceus spilonotus, and it is sometimes called the Yellow-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 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 (Philopasser 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 enlarged to treble its dimensions. Instead, however, of being smooth on the exterior, like the flask, it is intentionally made as rough as possible. 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 whereby 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 believe. 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 grass-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 exposed 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 Pyrgitæ. There are many structures among animal habitations, the use of which seems to be problematical; and until the case in point be decided by observation, it must remain an open question.

Page 40 of 120