Correspondence. 45 



and seeding' sta^ye, can be supplied and if not much of same he 

 eaien they are picked over, and many a half ripe seed or minute 

 insect is obtained to the well being" of your birds. 



Water : Clean soft-water is the best, and if your service 

 water supply is very hard, draw for your birds from the hot- 

 water tap, as much of the hardness will have been eliminated in 

 the process of heating. Water vessels must be kept clean and 

 Cjuite free from greeny fungoid slime. 



I will deal later with soft-foods (insectile mixtures) in a 

 chapter on Breeding Finches. 



{To be continued). 



Correspondence. 



EAST AFRICAN WEAVERS. 



Sir, — I was very much interested in Mr. Young's notes on these birds 

 ni last month's B.N.. and especially in the excellent photographs. I do not 

 however, agree that the birds described were either the Crimson-crowned or 

 Orange Weavers. The nests in the photos are suspended, and. in my 



experience as an aviculturist, none of the Weavers of the genus Pyromelana 

 d'l this, their nests being woven into two or three thick stems of grass or 

 reeds, which act as supports, and when they do build in bushes two or three 

 twigs are used in the same way. Moreover the nests are either spherical or 

 purse-shaped, with the entrance hole at one side. Those in the photos are, as 

 far as it is possible to see, snail-shaped with the entrance hole at the bottom. 

 Another point is the colour of the eggs. Those of both P. flammiceps and 

 F. franciscana are blue, occasionally spotted with black or brown. 



In my opinion the nests shown are those of one of the Hyphantornine 

 weavers, probably H. cabauisi. These birds lay white eggs. A photo of a 

 number of these nests l)uilt in my aviaries appeared in a recent issue of 

 B.N. Had Mr. Young seen either the Crimson-crowned or Orange Weaver, 

 lie would surely have described them as scarlet and black. 



Wm. shore BAILY. 



P.S. — It is only the Hyphantornine weavers that build in communities. 

 I admit the force of Mr. Shore Baily's criticism both as regards nest 

 formation and colour of eggs, and considered these points when I penned 

 chc Editorial note in auestion, the main point which actuated my decision 

 being colour, and I cannot call to mind any Hyphantornine weaver that would 

 " fill the bill " in this respect, while both the Crimson-crowned and Orange 

 Weavers do. Birds, when seen in nature, against the sky, from a distance 

 appear a different colour from what they actually are — if the dominant colours 

 Vv'cre flame-crimson, or flame-orange then the bird would appear as if wholly 

 of that colour — I have noticed this feature several times when at a distance 

 from my aviaries. 



