2 Half-Masked, Cwldcu, ani Sp-t-Wincred Weavers. 



lowed the next day by a second. The egps were white, heavily 

 marked with larg-e crimson spots. The hen sat steadily while 

 the. cock ke])t !j,uard. On examining the nest on the 23rd of 

 the month. I found that the eg\2;s were still unhatched, and 

 on removing them to see if they were feriile, 1 managed to 

 break one which contained a live young one, apparently just 

 ready to emerge from the shell. The other e^'g was replaced 

 find was hatched out the next day, after an incubation period 

 of thirteen days. For the first week the hen alone fed it, 

 mealworms being her favourite food. Afterwards the cock 

 took a most active part in the feeding operations and would 

 take in mealworms as fast as I cared to give them to him. 

 With both parents feeding it, the youngster grew apace, al- 

 though, of course, th's could only be told by ("ee'i-ig i' through 

 the small opening in the nest. On July 9th I saw the male 

 bird feeding it on the ground, it evidently had left the 

 nest early that morning. The next day the old birds failed 

 to greet me on my morning visit, and I at once knew that 

 something must be wrong. A diligent search by my man and 

 self, failed to find any trace of the birdling and it is a mys- 

 tery to me to this day, as to what could have happened to 

 it. It was rather unfortunate as I am now unable to. de- 

 scribe its nestling plumage. 



Failure No. 2 : All this time the cock Golden Weaver 

 nad been unmercifully bullied by the Ila'f-masked, .'dthough 

 he wars considerably the larger bird. He now, howe\er, began 

 to assert himself in his own corner of the aviary, and by 

 the first week of July, had suspended a series of nests from 

 the wire roof. The hen lined one of these with a little wool 

 and a few feathers, and deposited therein three eggs, which 

 were olive green, heavily covered with small red spots and 

 splashes. When she had been incubating a couple of weeks. 

 [ examined the eggs and found all to be infertile. 



She nested again in August, and Septem.ber, three eggs 



being laid on each occasion, all of which were clear. The 



Golden Weaver is a handsome yellow bird having a little 



black on forehead and a black throat, the crown of the head 



is a bright yellow. The hen is also brighter in colour than 

 any of the other Weavers 1 have seen. 



