26^ Weavers. 



of the usual type. Each time three eggs were laid. These were 

 large for the size of the bird, olive green in colour, heavily 

 marked with small red splashes and spots. 



The Short-winged Wp:aver (H . brachyptcriis) is barely 

 distinguishable from the last named bird. It is a good nest 

 builder, but I have never been able to secure breeding hens. 



The Half-masked Weaver (H. viteUhms) is one of the 

 most attractive of the group : the male has the crown of the head 

 and lower neck rich chestnut; the forehead and throat black. It 

 is an indefatigable builder. Sometimes it will choose for a site 

 the extreme end of a branch of some tree; at other times it will 

 be content to suspend its home from the wire roof of its aviary. 

 In the latter case it threads several long blades of grass, through 

 meshes two or three inches apart. Grasping two or three of 

 these in each claw, it hangs from the netting and ties them 

 together with its beak. It then stands on the loop thus formed, 

 and quickly roughs out a more or less globular nest, leaving an 

 entrance from below. When nearly completed, working from 

 the top side of the nest, it weaves in some wider grasses, so as 

 to stiffen the whole structure and at the same time render it 

 waterproof. If lie succeeds in getting a hen to occupy it, he 

 lengthens out the entrance hole, giving the nest the appearance 

 of an abbreviated retort. Should his mate disapprove of his 

 efforts, he promptly pulls the nest to pieces, and probably starts 

 another one the next day. The eggs vary more than those of 

 any other bird that I have kept. I have eggs in my collection, 

 white with large crimson spots, white with faint red markings, 

 and pale blue without any spots. Once only a young one left 

 the nest here, and this did not survive (see B.N. vol. vii, N.S.I. 



The Dwarf Weaver (Sitagra Jut cola ) is a charming little 

 bird, about the size of our Willow- Wren, which the young birds 

 in their nestling ]ilumage very much resemble. The cock has a 

 l)lack forehead and throat, the remaider of its body being 

 greenish-yellow. It is a great weaver, and prefers a building site 

 over the water where this is present. Unlike the preceding bird 

 it does not destroy its nest when built, but uses up its energy in 

 building a series of them in close proximity to each other. At the 

 present moment there is a group of ten over a small pond in one 

 of my aviaries, all built by the same bird. They are similar in 



