TYPICAL WEAVERS. 



197 



River eastward into tlio lk>nm> country and the Zan- 

 zibar district south from the Tana Kiver." {Shelley. ) 



In his "Birds of Africa," Vol. IV., Part I., pp.'llS, 

 119, Captain Shelley says: — "In Liberia Mr. lUitti- 

 kofer found it in coinpiiny with other small birds in the 

 bushes iit Bendo, near Fischernian's Ij^ike, at SchiefTel 

 insville, and by the Farniington Kiver, feedni}; on 

 grass-seeds and visiting Uio ricefields when the gram 

 was ripening. While I was on the Gold Coast witli 

 T. E. Buckley we found the species abundant in the 

 oj>en country near Aicra. 



" On Prince's Island Dr. Dohrn and Mr. Keulcni.ijis 

 saw thcni in Ihxks of twenty to eighty individuals, 

 usually in company with SjHrtnc^U.^ cucuUatus. 



" The egg is described by Mr. Kuschel as oval in 

 form, olive green with diusky spots and a slight gloso, 

 and measures 0.73 by 0.55." 



Dr. Russ says that this species in its entire demeanour, 

 breeding habits, and even in its cry schak, resembles the 

 Red-billed Weaver. W. Mieth, of Berlin, first received 

 a number of specimens of this Weaver in 1869, which 

 he had just bought from a ship which had arrived from 

 Africa. The birds were out of colour, but nevertheless, 

 .'IS a ii"wly imported species, were sold at the price of 

 24 marks for a piir. 



It first reached the Ix)ndon Zoological Gardens in 

 1871, since which time a good many e.xamples have 

 found a home there. Russ says that, in the course ot 

 years, he has twice bred this species in his birdroom. 



CHAPTER XV. 



TYPICAL WEAVERS. 



{Ploceina:) . 

 Whether these birds have been evolved from the 

 Viduine Weavers, or have descended in an independent 

 line from the Sparrows, it is impossible to say ; the 

 greater density of their nests, which are often formed like 

 rttoi-ts or inverted sn-iil-shells, seems to separate them 

 rather widely from the Viduine Weavers, and the fact 

 that Passer arcuatus not only builds in communities, 

 but constructs a Weaver-like nest, -seems to hint at the 

 possibility of their derivation from the Sparrows. I 

 note that in his " Birds of Africa," Capt.a.in Shelley places 

 Pa-sser and Petronia at the end of the Frmgillidce, and 

 immediately before the Plocexdce. Both Passer and the 

 Ploceinie have the bastard primary well developed as 

 compared with their allies. 



Sc.\LT-FRONTED WEAVER {S jiorojdpes sqtianiifroas). 



Above ashy-brown ; metiian and greater coverts and 

 bastard-wing black, broadly bordered with white ; 

 primary-coverts and flights dark brown, more ashy on 

 outer margins: the secondaries with broad white bor- 

 ders; tail-feathers black, with broad white borders; 

 crown black, with grey brownish margins to the feathers, 

 whiter on forehead ; lores and orbital feathers black : 

 sides of head greyish-brown ; a white moustachial 

 stripe ; chin and a streak on each side of throat black ; 

 throat, white ; breast, sides, and flanks, bufEsh ; abdo- 

 men rather paler ; thighs and under tail-coverts, white ; 

 under wing-coverts and axillarieis. pale grey ; flights 

 dusky, dull huffish on inner margins ; beak flesh-pink, 

 darker on culmen and at tip ; feet pale brown ; irides 

 red. Female similar, but smaller. Hab.. Southern 

 Africa to the south of the Quanza and Zambesi Rivers 

 (SheUey). 



Stark ("Birds of South Africa," Vol. I., pp. 87, 88) 

 says: "These pretty little Weaver birds are very abund- 

 ant on the banks of the Orange River in small flecks 

 among the bushes and mimosa trees that fringe the 



banks of the river. Although they jicrch freely on 

 bushes, they appear to obtain iUl their food, consisting 

 of grass seeds and small insects, from the ground. They 

 are active and vivacious little binls, of ((uarrelsomc dis- 

 positions, and somewhat noisy when feeding, as they 

 keep up a constant bickering with one another. They 

 are vei-y tame and fearless, frequmting Uie houses and 

 kr.xals to feed among the poultry and Si>arrows. In 

 winter they generally join the floeks of Waxbills and 

 Finches. The nest is always built in a thorny bush at a 

 height of from three to ten feet. It is an untidy-looking 

 domed stnicture of irregular shape, artlessly woven out 

 of grass with the stalks left projecting in all directions. 

 The side entrance is concealed either by the bristling 

 stalks of glass, or by a handful of grass placed in the 

 bush in front of it. The interior of the nest is thickly 

 lined, .sometimes with feathers, at others with the down 

 of various plants. 



" On the Orange River these Weavers build in March 

 and .^jiril. on the Limpopo in June and July. 



"The egg.s, four or hve in number, vary m shape and 

 colour ; the ground-colour is pale blue-green, this i.s 

 thickly marked with blotches and scrawls of brown and 

 rufous. The eggs measure about 0.65 by 0.48." 



Buss says : " Hitherto this bird has only been once 

 Imported, in the possession of Messrs. Linden." He 

 overlooked the fact that it iiad been exiibited in the 

 London Zoological Society's Gardens ; he regarded 

 Sporopipes ae a genus of Sparrows. 

 SrECKLED-FRONTED We.wer (Sporopipts frontalis). 

 Above pale brown ; scapulars and wing-coverts with 

 .still paler borders; bastard-wnng, primary-coverts and 

 flights dark-brown with paler edges, the inner secon- 

 daries with whitv-brown borders like the wing-coverts; 

 tail-feathers similar ; forehead black with small white 

 tips to the feathers; hind-crown, nape and sides of 

 neck pale cinuEuiion, the hind-crown with black shaft- 

 .streaks; on front of cheeks a moustachial black streak 

 dotted with white ; under parts white ; breast, sides 

 and flanks pale ashy brown ; under wing-coverts pale 

 ashy edged with whitish ; flights below dusky with 

 huffish inner edges ; beak and feet pale yellowish horn- 

 colour ; irides deep brown. Female similar, but smaller. 

 Hab.. Senegambia to Abyssinia and southward to 

 Ugogo. 



I (|uotc the following notes from Shelley's " Birds of 

 Africa," Vol. IV., Part II., pp. 301-2: — "According to 

 Heuglin these Weavers are abundant in North-east 

 Africa to as far north as 17 deg. N. lat., and in the 

 warmer parts of the Abyssinian coast. They were 

 beginning to breed in Bogos in vSepteml)er. and he 

 found the young able to fly when ho visited Kordofan 

 in November. The ne.st is large and oval, generally 

 placed in the centre of a most impenetrable thorn-bush. 

 It is constructed of dry grass, with a small centre 

 chamlier well lined with feathers, hair, roots and wool. 

 During the breeding season they live in pairs, and 

 frequent the open country where there are trees for 

 them to nest in. but as autumn sets in they as.semble in 

 large flocks, wliich alight like Sparrows on the roofs of 

 houses or in the stubble-fields and pasture-land, and 

 retire to roost in the high trees near water. Their 

 Ci:.ll note is a chirp, but their song, though weak, re- 

 sembles that of our Gfoldfinch. The eggs, according to 

 Emin. are of a greyish green colour, with darker 

 lengthened blotches, which blotches, Mr. Ku.schel in- 

 forms us, sometimes spread over the whole surface and 

 give them a uniform appearance ; they measure on an 

 averase 0.64 by 0.48." 



" Mr. Jackson . . . writes : ' Found breeding in 

 an acacia. Makes a large nest of dry grass, not unlike 

 that of our common Sparrow.' " 



