1538 



THE PERCHING BIRDS 



Masked 

 Weaver 

 Bird 



The masked weaver bird {Hyphantornis larvata], of Abyssinia, may 

 be taken as a well-known representative of an exclusively African 

 genus with over thirty species, which may be distinguished from the 

 last by the exposed oval nostrils being partly reached by the plumes 

 at the base, and also shut in by a horny membrane. The figured species may be 

 recognized by the scarlet iris of the eye, the black beak, and grayish-black legs. 

 It is reported to lay pale bluish-green eggs, with a few violet-brown spots at the 

 larger end. An allied species from the same district is the Abyssinian weaver bird 



ABYSSINIAN AND MASKED WEAVER BIRDS. 



(Three-fourths natural size.) 



(//". galbula), in which the iris is orange brown, the beak black (except in the 

 breeding plumage of the male, when it becomes horn colored), and the leg flesh 

 colored. A third form is the olive weaver bird (H, capensis) of South Africa. 

 Generally living in flocks, the members of the last-named species are more numer- 

 ous in the Transvaal than in Natal. According to Mr. Ayres, they are fond of 

 sucking the honey from the scarlet flowers of the Cape broom. The nest is con- 

 structed of coarse grasses, and formed somewhat in the shape of a chemist's retort, 



