Hardwicke's science-gossip : an illustrated medium of interchange and gossip for students and lovers of nature . rden at Brixton, they have been numerous enoughduring the past summer and autumn. I have ex-amined GO or 7, and have kept some dozen ofthem under glass cuses. Nearly the whole of thesenests were suspended to the underside of the leavesof the raspberry, gooseberry, &e, at a distance offrom two to four inches from the earth,—in a fewinstances suspended near the angles of an old wall. When constructed above the soil, earth and pebblesalone were the materials used; when built nearthe wa
Hardwicke's science-gossip : an illustrated medium of interchange and gossip for students and lovers of nature . rden at Brixton, they have been numerous enoughduring the past summer and autumn. I have ex-amined GO or 7, and have kept some dozen ofthem under glass cuses. Nearly the whole of thesenests were suspended to the underside of the leavesof the raspberry, gooseberry, &e, at a distance offrom two to four inches from the earth,—in a fewinstances suspended near the angles of an old wall. When constructed above the soil, earth and pebblesalone were the materials used; when built nearthe wall, small particles of mortar, &c. These arethe most regular iu form. When withered leaveswere near, these and small twigs were freely used;nests formed of such materials being the least sym-metrical. Eigs. 2 and 3, sketched from specimensnow before me, represent these two classes. Wishing to test the building capabilities of theselittle architects, I have supplied those kept in con-finement with small twigs cut into lengths of aboutone-eighth of an inch, mixing with them a number oflarger Figs. 6. and 7. Nests in course of construction. Contrary to my expectation, the smallest piecesare not often selected, and frequently apparentlymost unsuitable pieces are chosen. Eigs. 4 and 5 areexamples of nests formed of these twigs. The upperparts (a) were built before I transferred them tocases; fig. 4 was constructed in the course of threeweeks; fig. 5 was built by a wonderfully industriousmother of two large families : she is still in my pos-session, and has since made a neat little residence ofparticles of chalk, and is carefully guarding a cocoonof yellowish-white eggs. The mode of constructingthese fragile dwellings is remarkable.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booksubjectscience
