Village Weaver Bird in the Savanna Country 



The remarkable nesting habits of the weaver birds are the main theme of a West 

 African exhibit, whose setting is the French Sudan. The terrain in the foreground 

 shows the savanna country, where the trees are more widely spaced than in the rain 

 forests, where more light gets through to the ground, and where grass is characteristic. 

 Savanna rather than rain forest develops where there is a rainfall of less than 60 inches 

 per annum. The scene shown is on the Niger River, near the village of Niamey in 

 French West Africa. 



The weaver birds as a group have conical bills adapted for seed-eating, and in 

 Africa they take the place of the seed-eating sparrows in America. They are so com- 

 mon as to individuals and so abundant as to species that they well merit a special 

 exhibit. In addition they have a number of extremely interesting habits. The species 

 shown in the group, the V-marked or village weaver bird, delights to nest in villages 

 of its own. The nests shown in the exhibit are built on the branches of thinly leaved 

 trees overhanging the huts of the native people. This weaver bird is colonial, and its 

 "villages" may consist of hundreds of nests. 



The name, "weaver bird," comes from the habit of weaving the nest material. The 

 species shown, one of the most skillful builders of the family, weaves its globe-shaped 

 nests from strips of grass or palm leaves. Various stages in the construction are shown. 

 First, a vertical ring about six inches in diameter is woven, to serve as the foundation. 

 Next, the hemispherical chamber, which serves as the nest proper, is added to the ring 

 on one side, and the down-turned spout or tunnel-like entrance is added on the other. 



Some weaver birds make only crude, untidy domed nests placed among twigs, 

 while others make more elaborate structures with long hanging spouts that may be 

 two feet long; one very notable species is the sociable weaver of southwest Africa, 

 which makes its nests in a close-packed colony under one roof. 



One species of weaver has been shown not only to tuck in the loose ends of nesting 

 material, but actually to make certain definite knots to tie it in place. 



One might think that such weavers would be relatively immune from predation at 

 the nest, with the nest dangling from the tip of a branch, but the African harrier 

 hawk has developed the habit of robbing weaver-bird nests. This big, slow-flying, 

 gray and white and black bird seizes a weaver's nest in its claws and hangs back 

 downward, flapping its wings, as it reaches in and drags forth the young weaver bird. 



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