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however must be a fairly large one to carry so many of these curious 

 edifices. Each nest namely is a truly huge structure of three to four feet 

 in diameter. It consists of brushwood and twigs, sometimes of those of 

 the Mimosa, which are used notwithstanding their thorns. The bird 

 weaves and twines these twigs between forked branches so untidily that 

 one can almost see the interior of the nest. From the outside the nest 

 looks like a bristly brush. On one side usually, according to my obser- 

 vations on the west side, an entrance leads into the interior. This is 

 at first so wide that a fist can enter comfortably, but it becomes gradually 

 narrower till it is a passage just large enough for the bird, thus 

 resembling the entrance to the starling-nests in our cases. The interior 

 of the nest is lined with little roots and grass. 



" A tree of nests like this is at certain periods of the year inhabited 

 by an exceedingly noisy company. Near Khartoom I observed that the 

 black weaver breeds at the commencement of the rainy season ; in the 

 Samchara he builds in April ; therefore my previous observations may 

 also apply to him. 



" I do not know whether our birds make as much noise duriner the 

 remainder of the year as they do in the breeding season. The settlements 

 I became acquainted with were noticeable at a long distance owing to the 

 screaming of the birds. Their voices are very loud and many-toned. 

 During a few minutes I spent under a tree I wrote down the following 

 sounds. One of the male birds began ; " Ti, ii, terr, terr, terr, zerr, zaili" 

 another answered : " Gai, gai, sai,'^ a third uttered the sounds " Guik, 

 guik, guk, guk, gai." Others screamed : " Gu, gu, gu, gu, gai," and a 

 few listened intently. They behaved like a swarm of bees. Some came, 

 others went, and it seemed almost as if all the grown fledglings had also 

 collected on the tree ; for the large number of birds did not correspond 

 with the few nests. 



" The flight of the black weaver is very easy and hovering and is 

 marked by slow flappings of the wings. The wings are carried very high. 

 His run is quick and nimble and the bird is also an adept at climbing." 



Herr T. von HeugUn says — " I hold the bright-billed Texior to be a 



