. Crusoe's Island; a bird-hunter's story . lms were toostraight and smooth to be shinned, even by amonkey. FIRST DAY IN THE FOREST. 23 At last it occurred to me to try to shoot them downby firing charges of shot at the juncture of the leafwith the nest. At first I was unsuccessful, for thematerial of which the nest was composed was carriedup and wovenaround the leaffor quite a dis-tance, and it wasnext to impos-sible to cut itaway. But af-ter firing severalshots I had thesatisfaction ofseeing one ofthe nests twirlaround in the air,and then comeswirling down to the ground. It was so elastic int
. Crusoe's Island; a bird-hunter's story . lms were toostraight and smooth to be shinned, even by amonkey. FIRST DAY IN THE FOREST. 23 At last it occurred to me to try to shoot them downby firing charges of shot at the juncture of the leafwith the nest. At first I was unsuccessful, for thematerial of which the nest was composed was carriedup and wovenaround the leaffor quite a dis-tance, and it wasnext to impos-sible to cut itaway. But af-ter firing severalshots I had thesatisfaction ofseeing one ofthe nests twirlaround in the air,and then comeswirling down to the ground. It was so elastic intexture that I found the three eggswithin unharmed by the fall, reposingon a bed of dried leaves and were of a pale clay color, markedwith characters like those on the eggof our northern grackle. As to the nest itself, when I hadexamined it closely I found it to be made of longgrasses, intermixed with fibrous strips of palm leaf,and as closely woven as if the work of human resembled the nest of our Baltimore oriole, but. 24: CRUSOES ISLAND. was many times as large and as long, the largest thatI saw being live feet from one end to the other!Inside this aerial cradle, suspended from the high-hung palm leaf, the eggs and young of its builderswould be safe from prowling monkeys and preda-tory boys. ISTo gale could shake it loose from itsattachments, not even the hurricane; and, as the en-trance to the nest was high up, near its throat, itsoccupants might with safety stay within it and laughin the face of the storm. And its builders ? They are called yellowtails,in the island where I found them and their nests;but the naturalists have named them the crested cas-sican (in Latin, Icteros cassicus), owing to their hel-met-like crest and yellow color. Having secured some more nests, and also speci-mens of the birds, I pushed on into the forest until Ireached a deep ravine, where the rocks and trees com-bined almost hid the sun and sky. It was very darkand gloomy there
Size: 1315px × 1900px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidcrusoesi, booksubjectbirds
