t^S The niiiliiraiice of Birds. 



youny birds to make their exit, in e\"ery instance, both in my 

 aviary and in others 1 have seen and heard of, the front of the 

 nest has l)een torn away Ijy the parent birds to allow their pro- 

 ijeny free ei^ress. (Some years a.yo Mr. de Q. Onincey described 

 the successful rearing of yoimm' (n^enadier Weavers in his aviary 

 in B.N. with illustrations, demonstratini^" a similar proceeding" 

 with this s])ecies also), and this practice a[)pears to be the 

 custom with several species of weavers. 



The nests in my aviary were all constructed on lateral 

 and swaying branches of bushes, and were placed 5 to 6 feet 

 above the ground. Except in one instance I have not been 

 cognisant of serious nesting till 1 heard the young calling for 

 food, and, I may state at once that, while the young were largely 

 reared on live insects, they were daily fed on seed; further, in 

 the aviaries of the L.M.T. Cripples' Hospital at Alton a pair, 

 which reared several broods in the course of two or three 

 seasons, reared their young entirely on seed save for such insects 

 as the parents birds captured in the aviary — no live food being 

 supplied. 



I must linger for a few remarks on the interest of this 

 common species when nesting, though such be outside the scope 

 of this series. 



I am not in a position to describe the manner in which the 

 male courts the female; so far as I know 1 have never witnessed 

 it, and I have found him only demonstrative after building has 

 become somewhat advanced, when, like so many other species 

 of weavers, he clings to the nest, in all sorts of acrobatic 

 posturing", vociferating his screechy song w'ith all his power, his 

 wings beating" with marvellous rapidity, and every nerve in his 

 little body at greatest tension. At intervals during" the day 

 this performance was gone through, and it did not arise from 

 the interference of other birds in the aviary, but was apparently 

 merelv an outlet for his wild exliuberant spirits. I did not 

 observe to what extent the sexes shared the duties of incubation; 

 both parents fed the young while in the nest, and the male 

 principally after they had left it. The young were fed by their 

 parents for 3-4 weeks after lea\ing" the nest, though they visited 

 the seed hoppers on their own account in a very few days. 

 Not much was seen of them for the lirst two weeks, they skulked 



