4 THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS 



Among the cleverest of the artists is the diock, 

 of the weaver family. His home is in Africa, and 

 he is an expert in the weaving of colour into the pat- 

 terns of his nest. The finished house is a thing of 

 great charm : soft and tinted mosses are twined to- 

 gether with almost cameo precision ; red, brown, and 

 dark green grasses are fashioned into the side of 

 the nest like attached draperies. 



The diock is very sociable. While he never in- 

 dulges in afternoon tea, he does enjoy a sociable 

 drink at the nearest spring, where he can talk over 

 with his friends all the gossip of birdland. But 

 some of the older and wiser feathered artists must 

 always remain on the lookout for enemies during 

 these parties. The hordes of tiny singers go very 

 near to the water's edge and arrange themselves 

 comfortably among the branches of the trees. One 

 by one they dive down to drink the cool water below 

 while the others sing. But during this time several 

 wise heads are higher up among the tree branches 

 watching for hawks. 



The Baltimore oriole is famous as a decorative 

 artist. The materials he uses are collected from 

 fields, gardens, and even yards: he is by no means 

 shy about approaching a window where he sees yarn 

 and bits of gaily coloured thread. The brighter the 

 colours, the better for his work. 



