Weihaiwei, Oct, 11.—Was examining some trees torn and maimed by fuel stealer: when I found in 1g) the ower branches a most fascinating little nest: excluding the nests of humming-birds on the American continent, and excepting our litle fantail Warbler's nests' built among the ntly szrasses, it is the smallest nest Ihave ever seen, Made of some rough vegetable fibres plastered together with cobweb and spiders e3R cases, the whole structure, 213 Inches Yang and 113 Inches wide is slung like a tubby little coracle between two twigs: the dues are carefully Bound to the twice by cobweb twisted neatly round them, and although T had to handle the whole structure quite a Jot in cutting it out of the tree, that frail binding hag held firm. So now Tam asking myself what bird can have made this? It is like a riy model of an Orlole's nest, {00 small and the wrong shape for a Paradise Flyeatcher's nest....and_ how could T have missed the activities of such 9 bird if it had nested in my garden? Trying to. work this puzzle out, 1 frst looked into the nest-building habits of every local bird and in desperation called for evidence from the gardener "this nest having been close to his cottage, so that hho must have passed it every day). "My have see plenty time this small. bird...-he welly small, he have got yalier this side" (stroking his eyebrows). all of which, of course, points toa ¥ellow-browed Willow-Warble1 which T have often seen in my garden, anid taken it for a late or early migrant. So\ off rushed to "La Touche" for information: "this little bird with the Tong name breeds in Eastern Sideria "(which is disappointing)—but (here comes hope!) "Pere David writes, on I don't Know what authority, that some remain to breed in the Wooded mountains of China." Aly io be a wooded ave stumbled "on But alas for my hopes! Another expert says that the nests of the War= biers are mostly. domed "or semivdomed and ming i an open "boat": I begin to feel that 1 shall finish "up: by" mispronouncing that word "domed" when speaking of this nest:
Nov. 1—Laid up in hospi bird world: has been purely occasion when "three got mixed up in a ight and crashed into the mosquito wire outside my window all of which was very bad for blood pressure): but. Tread" many book, biographies, essays and suchlike, and it ly re: natural history subjects ature. In a review T find has no stating. "Having no language, a. bird 10 power to abstract—no self, nO past OF future, or any other concept... the past Is Feceived as present and lived as present this is all too clever for me to understand, but T next found inthe biography of a. great musician that he thought birds should be placed next to human beings in the scale of culture, because they cultivate for their own sakes the arts of decoration, dancing and musie! 'This true to the extent that birdy decorate their nests (the Bower bird also decorates ite play ground almost daily with shells "and fresh flowers); many birds' courting display consists of a kind of dance (the Lyre-bird—untortunate ame—aives wonderful dancing performances the forest, with or without an' audience): the majority of birds sing for the pleasure of their Kind (or as a boast of power). Ju the autobiography of a doctor I read fish stories which I dare not repeat; 1 read about a table which crashed under a thanksgiving dinner because termites had eaten away the logs leaving only shell of varnish; about a ship which Was s0 full' of cockroaches that no. chiropodist could have made his living on it. moved by the morning: about wonder in Australia. including one "taken on faith"—the Yahoo, whose feet point backwars so that when running from you it seems to run to= wards you (or vice versa): this reminded me that other autobiographical doctor who watched the swallows throwing their young out of the nest to teach them to fly and retrieving them with their bills if they fell But T never did think much of doctors as observers especially when they Keep me in bed for isto Nov. 3—Just as our Indian-summer-cum+ autumn weather is drawing to a close and we are thinking seriously about the price of coal, the mosquito hordes seem to come to life again and force our unwilling attention, 1 pretend intimate knowledge of the species, which are legion, and can readily recognize' only three Kinds! anoplteles which have spotted wings and seem to stand on their heads when biting: culex which is the common yellowish-brown tone: and stegomyia which looks about the size a snipe and wears a striped football jersey. Of these the anopheles are the malaria-carriers ud consequently receive all the loving care of the scientific observer: what does it matter 10 the Rockefeller Foundation if culex or stegomyia come and browse on my ankles? Nothing!T am merely described ae a typical "blood meal" and the mosquito is referred to as "harmless." It iz to be noted that the male mosquitoes do not bite; they are content with fruit and young eaves; it is the females who are out for blood Sand it is most unfortunate that all the mos nitoes in my house are females. If 1 go toa hotel and ask for a net the management say, "No need for a net, you are on the fourth and there are no mosquitoes above the third": so T have prepared some statistics quoting the limits of upward flight for anopheles (feet above sea ies 2,000; Malaya 4.500; Mexico st time Treceive the usual reply in a hotel 1 am going to produce these figures and ask if the fourth jeer 2s more than 2,000 feet up. Then there is that comforting story, if you are living, near Swampy ground, thai mosquitoes do not travel more than 100 yards or at most 400: thie har all been washed out by the scientists in search of anopiteles: they pit students up in treez to Catch them in wets: stain them wi
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