The bee., 1883-06-02


swiftest horse in the world?
You can never catch the word that
has once gone out of your lips.
Once spoken, it is out of your power;
do your best, you can never recall it.
Therefore take care what you say,
for "in the multitude of words there
waneth not sin; but he that refraineth
his lips is wise"
How a Bird Outyitted the Monkeys.
"Of all the hanging nests, commend
me to that made of grass by the baya
sparrow of India. 1t is one of the
most perfect bird-houSes l know of,
and seems only to need a Fireplace to
make it a real house. 1t is entered
through the long neck at the lower
end. The bed for the eggs rests in the
bulb, or expansion at the middle of the
nest, where there are actually two
rooms, for the male has perch divided
off from the female by little partition,
where he may sit and sing to her in
rainy weather, or when the SUN shines
very hot, and where he may rest at
night. The walls are a firm lattice
work of grass, neatly woven together,
which permits the air to pass through,
but does not allow the birds to be seen.
The whole nest is from fourteen to
eighteen inches long, and six inches
wide at the thickeSt part. 1t is hung
low over the water,-why, we shall
presently see,- and its only entrance
is through the hanging neck.
why do birds build hanging nests !?
"Those birds that do make hanging
nests, undoubtedly do it because they
think them the safest. Birds eggs are
delicacies on the bill of fare of several
animals. and are eagerly sought by
them. Snakes, for instance, live almost
entirely upon them, during the month of
June; squirrels eat them, raccoons also,
and opoSsums, cats. rats, and mice.
But none Of these animals could creep
out to the plant, wavy ends of the
willow branches or elm twigs, and
cling there long enough to get at the
contents of Baltimore orioles nest.
I'm the country where the baya
! sparrow lives, there are snakes and
opossums, and all the rest of egg-eaters;
and in addition there are troops of
monkeys, which are more to he feared
than all the rest together. Monkeys
are Wonderfully expert climbers; from
whom the eggs, in an ordinary open
top pouch nest, like the orioles, would
not be secure; for if they can get any
where near, they will reach their long,
slender fingers down inside the nest.
The baya sparrow discovered this, and
| learned to build nest incloSed on all
sides, and to enter it from underneath
10y Il neck too long for monkey to
conveniently reach up through. Beside
this, she took the precaution to hang
it out on the very tips of light branches,
upon which she thought no robber
dare trust himself But she found
that the monkeys knew trick worth
two o'that.' They would go to higher
limb which was SO strong, and one
would let himself down from it, grasp
ing it firmly with his hands; then
another monkey would crawl down
and hold on to the heels of the first
one. another would go below him, and
so on until several were hanging to
each other, and the lowest one could
reach the Sparrow'S treasures. He
would eat them all himself, and then
one 10y one they would climb un,= IS;vel
each other; .and last-a5af-;a,II ?st. 5f ali the tiret
hrst one one VINO had been holding up the
weight of all the rest, would get up
too, and all would go nOisily off il
search of fresh plunder, which, I sup
pose, would be given to different one
the rest making ladder for him a!
before.
Now the cunning baya sparrow
saw a way to avoid even dangerous
trickerv. She knew that there wa
nothing a monkey hated so terribly a
to get his sleek coat wet. He would
rather go hungry. So she hung hel
nest over the water close to the surface
and the agile thives do not dare make
chain enough to enable the last on'
to reach up into her nest from below
as he must do, for fear that the spring,
branches might bend so far as to sous'
> them into the water.
"The sparrow has fairly outwittet
the m monkey!"