on the Nesting of Spotted-backed Weavers. 119


junction between the neck and the body of the nest). She then

laid the first egg, and another on the following day, after which

she commenced to sit, and, I think, hatched out one young one on

12th or 13th day after incubation commenced. The other egg

disappeared, leaving no trace of what had become of it ; and

this, curiously enough, happened to each of subsequent clutches,

one egg invariably disappearing.


During incubation the cock used to hang practically all

day long suspended from the bottom of the nest, uttering its

terrible apology for a song and flapping its wings much after the

style of a clockwork butterfly. From time to time he would

enter the nest, but only for a few seconds, and not, as far as I

could see, with any idea of feeding the hen, but merely, I imagine,

to try and find out what was keeping her shut up for so long a

time.


On the second day, after the hatching of the young, the

cock began to get more fussy and restless, continually popping in

and out of the nest, and evidently endeavouring to persuade the

hen to desert it fora new one he had commenced to build. About

the fifth or sixth day after the hatching out of the young he must

have evidently got to the end of his patience, for, on going into


the aviary in the morning, I found every vestige of the nest had

been pulled down and the young bird w'as lying dead amongst the

ruins. I know now who was the real culprit, but, at the time, I


suspected another cock of the same species, who was also in the

aviary, and had him removed.


After this the cock built another nest, which was lined as

before by the hen, who laid the usual two eggs, and again hatched

out one young bird, but within a week after this the nest was

again destroyed and the young one killed. This time I sus¬

pected a Glossy Hanguest to be the miscreant, for I discovered

him pulling down a few remaining remnants of the nest, and so

he also was removed.


The third time when the eggs were laid—“two again,”—

I removed one and placed it under a Canary ; a third egg was

then laid, which I also placed under the Canary. After this no

more eggs were laid, but the hen commenced to sit 011 the single



