Nest of the Capocier, from Vaillant's figure.
"Oh, Uncle Philip! we like the capociers very much. When they were tired of working, they were ready to play; and when they had played enough, they went back to work. Do not you think there was good sense in that?"
"Yes, boys, I do: it will not do, either to work all the time or to play all the time. All that we have to do is to take care that we do not spend more time than we should at either. But there is a sweet little bird, boys, quite common in our own country, which makes felt: would you like to hear of it?"
"Oh yes, Uncle Philip. What bird is it?"
Nest of the Humming-bird.
"It is the humming-bird. Here is a drawing of its nest. It is about an inch deep, and an inch across; and from a little distance, appears more like a small knot upon the branch than like a bird's nest. The outside of the nest from which this picture is made, was covered with a kind of bluish-gray lichen, that grows in scales upon old trees and fences: this seemed to be glued on by the bird in some way or other. The inside was the felt, and was made of the fine down from seeds that float about in the air, mixed with the down from mullein-weed and stalks of fine grass. This, boys, is the smallest nest made by a bird, I believe; and some insects make larger houses for themselves than this bird does.