The Common Waxbill. 145 



then turning round he fills up the opening, reducing it from 

 a diameter of about three inches, to one of an inch and a half. 

 The nest being then finished, the little architect forsakes it, 

 and proceeds to build another, leaving his work of many days 

 to be occupied by a pair of Waxbills, who delight in such 

 structures which they partially fill with feathers or cottonwool. 



The real nest of the Weaver-bird, always the work of the 

 female, is a much more elaborate afi'air than that which I have 

 just described, but is very seldom constructed in this country; 

 and when it is occasionally made, it is still less frequently 

 occupied, for it is very rare indeed for any of the Weaver- 

 birds to breed in captivity. 



Like the preceding species, the Red-beaked Weaver, Ploceus 

 sanguinirostris, der rothschnaheliger TFehervogel in German, 

 called le Travailleiir by the French, can be kept on a seed 

 diet for a long time, but appears to moult better if a few 

 insects are added now and then. 



These birds are perfectly hardy, and may be kept out of 

 doors all the year round, if first turned out in June or July, 

 and the coldest weather scarcely stops the building labours of 

 the male. 



CHAPTER XLV. 



THE COilMOX WAXBILL. 



THIS is a delightful little creature, about the same size as 

 the Zebra, or Orange-breasted Waxbill, and is often called 

 the Lavender Finch, and the St. Helena Waxbill, but erro- 

 neously so, for it is quite a difi'erent bird from either of those 

 with which it is occasionally confounded. 



The prevailing colour of this little Waxbill is a delicate 

 grey, lighter on the under than on the upper parts of the body- 



L 



