132 niitn calleuy. 



snoli as tlio s|iecies of Miniia (2610-4), Po<'p/ii//i (2624-5), ;m(l Estrilda 

 (2628-31), and tlio lovely Enjthnrrd (2619-20). Of tlic numerous 

 species tliat l)uil(l in colonics the Sociable Weavers (/-"///Yrf'/rrj/.v sorii's) 

 (2645) of South Africa is perhaps one of the inost interesting. By 

 the united workmanship of a large nuniljer of birds, an Timbrella- 

 sliajied structure of sticks and sti'aw is erected among the bi'anchcs of a 

 tree, and from the underside of this thatched roof eaeli pair sus))end 

 their nest woven of dry grass, and i-cai' their young, secure from the 

 attacks of smdces and other enemies. 



Of the I'/iiiriiui', the most familiar is the common Indian sj)ccies, 

 P/oceiis /ii/i/ii (2641), which suspends its flask-shaped ucst with a long 

 tubular entrance from a branch overhanging the water. This species 

 invariably lays white eggs, but some of the African species of Hijplimit- 

 ornis (2638-40) and Pijronu'ldiiii (2588-9) lay eggs of several types, 

 and the same nest may contain white, ])ale blue, or green egg~, uniform 

 or spotted with red. 



Family XXXVI. Ictekid.t.. Hang-nests. (Plate XXII. tigs. 2, 3.) 



[Cases These birds represent the Starlings and ^Yeavers in the New World, 

 ■' and Hiehulc a large ntimuer (jt species possessing only nine primary 

 quills. Five subfamilies are recognized. The Cassiqucs (Caxsichia') 

 are forest-birds mostly of large size, one of the largest being the Central 

 American (Gi/iiinostinops indnteziiiiKP) (2647). The Maize - Birds 

 (Af/ela'intp) are ground-haunting species frequenting the oiien pastures, 

 prairie lands, and pampas. They include the especially interesting 

 Bobolink (Dolic/ioni/.i- onjzivorm) (2654) [PI. XXI 1. fig. .3] and the 

 Cow-birds [Mnlut/tn's) ("2655) [PL XXII. fig. 2], in which the poly- 

 gamous and parasitic habits of some of the Cuckoos of the Old World 

 are repeated. The Bobolink, one of the finest American songsters, 

 is perhaps only I'ivalled by the Baltimore Oriole [Icterus bnltimurc) 

 (2670), a well-known representative of the true Hang-nests (Ictennce). 

 This species and many of its allies are of brilliant black and yellow 

 plumage, and for this reason, generally known as American " Orioles," 

 but they must not be confounded with the Orioles of the Old World, 

 which they superficially resemble. Quiscalus major (2682) may be taken 

 as a type of the next subfamily, Quiscaliiii£, characterised bv the long 

 stout metatarsi suited to a tcrrestriid lii'c. Lastly, the S/iirjic/fi/ne, 

 including the Troupials [I'mpiti/is) (2668 a) and " Mcadow^Larks " 

 {Sturitcllti) (2668), are remarkable on account of their extradsH^^ry 

 mimetic resemblance to the Pipits, more especially of tlip'^^^s 

 Mncronyx (p. 128), their lengthened inner secondaries and strong feet 

 adapting them to tlieir purely terresti'ial life. Many of the species 



