222 Bird-keeping. 



is without the black mask, and the cock resembles her 

 when in his winter dress. 



The LITTLE MASKED WEAVER BIRD (Ploceus 

 luteotus) is the smallest of the Weavers, no bigger than 

 a Linnet. It resembles the larger Textor Weaver in 

 plumage, but has more greenish-yellow in it, and has 

 a more perfect mask, enclosing only its eyes and chin. 

 It is a very pretty, lively bird, bold and fearless, but 

 not quarrelsome, and very affectionate to its mate. Its 

 call-note is more like that of the little Waxbills than 

 the harsh croak of the Weavers. It is an excellent 

 architect, weaving bottle-shaped nests with a long 

 hanging entrance-tube, so loosely woven as sometimes 

 to show the eggs inside, but very strong and firm. 



All these birds are hardy, and will live through the 

 winter in an unheated room. 



The TANAGERS, a very numerous and diversified 

 family of Fringillidce, take the place of our Finches in 

 America, abounding most in the tropical regions, 

 Brazil, etc. They vary in size : one or two species are as 

 large as a Thrush, or larger, but the greater part are 

 small birds, some very small. Many of them have 

 most beautiful colouring, and in some of the species 

 six or seven colours are quite distinctly marked on the 

 plumage ; in others they are softly blended. They 

 have all notches in the upper mandibles of the beak, 

 which is less conical than in the Finches proper : they 

 feed upon seeds, berries, and insects picked from the 



