The lower figure on the left hand represents the Eider-duck in the act of plucking the far-famed down from her breast in order to make a soft and warm couch for her young, and the amount of feathers which she will devote to this purpose is simply astonishing. Their weight is insignificant, but their bulk is wonderful.
Above the Eider-duck is shown the nest of the common Long-tailed Titmouse. It is the most perfect nest that is constructed by any British bird. Its shape exactly resembles that of an egg, and it has but one small aperture, as is shown in the illustration.
The Titmouse lays a vast number of eggs, and almost fills the nest with soft downy feathers, on which they can rest. If the finger be introduced into the nest through the aperture, the tiny eggs can be felt reposing in their natural feather-bed. In this case, however, the bird does not denude herself of feathers, but has a way of picking them up wherever she can find them.
Now we will take another form of bed, namely, the Hammock, which is used in many parts of the world.
Putting aside the well-known hammock as used on board our ships, we will take the same kind of bed as used among the natives of tropical America.
In that wonderful part of the world, where water and vegetation reign supreme, an aërial couch of some kind is absolutely needful, and is supplied by the singularly ingenious hammocks which are constructed by the natives. They are made of a fine, but marvellously strong fibre, procured from the aloe plant by the simple process of soaking the long leaves in water, and dashing them against a stone. The soft green parts are eaten away, and the tough fibres remain in all their strength.
From these fibres are woven the strings of which the Hammocks are made. I possess four of the Hammocks, all made on different lines, but all based on the same principle. In some the strings are laid parallel to each other, and connected by transverse strings at regular intervals, but in the best specimens they are interlaced diagonally into a sort of loose network without knots, so that it yields in every direction to the outlines of the body.
It is one of the most comfortable couches ever invented, especially when it is of considerable size. I have one specimen which, even in its curved state, extends completely across a tolerably sized room. I never use it because it is so comfortable that the temptation to lie in it is almost too strong to be resisted.
As to Hammocks in Nature, they are almost too many to be computed.