212 My IVcavcrs — Past and Present. 



for a few days you think at first i;lancc there has been a battle 

 royal and they are bleediii!^-. Imt watch carefully and you see 

 the scarlet g'ladua ly spreadin.g- until your dowdy little sparrow- 

 like bird is transformed into a blax.e of crimson or yellow. The 

 parts which are ultimately black, you will notice, seem to start 

 rnder the belly and gradually turn colour after the style of a 

 piece of blotting- paper dipped in the ink. only, of course, not 

 with the same rapidity. It is worth keeping a few of these 

 ])ir:ls Vi\ order to observe this remarkable change. Here is 

 nature in her quiet way " knocking spots off " the conjurer; 

 wi'h him it is the ciuickness of the hand deceives the eye; here 

 a more marvellous thing is being done, and yet you can watch 

 the gradual process taking place, and you see less even than 

 sometimes you do of tlie tricks on the stage. 



Now we con:e to the nests of the Weavers. It is owing 

 to the marvellous way they build or weave that they get their 

 ivime, Weavers; most certainly, these birds are past masters in 

 the art of weaving. If you examine a nest thoroughly, either 

 one of the smaller kinds of a globular form or the larger one 

 of the Hyphantornine group, you will be struck by the beautv 

 of construction; one would think a compass had l)een used, so 

 wonderfully proportioned are they. You look at our fine 

 buildings and say that was a gootl architect who designed that, 

 but remember, years of study were re([uired first, and here we 

 have a little bird, with never a lesson, and only the brain, or is 

 it instinct, which is given him by his Creator; yet his work is 

 true in proportion and beautiful. 1 have had ten of these nests 

 hanging frc.m the wirework and tree branches in the aviary at 

 the same time. Although I have watched them building scores 

 oi times 1 am ne\er tired of seeing them at work. Many a time 

 has a frie'vd cone to see me and we have gone down to the 

 aviary together; some were bird lovers, ethers people who 

 never take any notice of birds, but all agree that it is astounding 

 how they manage with but a little grass or hay to construct their 

 nests ! 



Up to the present my breeding, or 1 should say rearing, 

 successes have been nil. Sixteen young Wea\ers have been 

 hatched in my aviary, but none lived more than fourteen days. 



