THE YELLOW-SHOULDERED WEAVER. 285 



is the nesting season. The moult back again begins in the same 

 manner. This species lives well in cages. I had one which had been 

 about six years in confinement, and effected his escape after all, from 

 the warping of his cage-bottom, owing to its being exposed to the sun 

 after my pet had enjoyed his bath. He would come to the cage-bars 

 whenever my wife approached them, his long legs drawn out to their 

 full extent, his bright eye glittering even in the midst of his deep 

 black plumage, watching for his morsel of bread. On his being 

 addressed as ' Fink,' he instantly replied, stretching his neck to the 

 utmost, and uttering the most piercing shriek. We used to laugh, 

 and say he would some day dislocate his neck in his attempts to sing, 

 in rivalry to the Canaries. 



" After his bath, or when enraged, which was pretty often, he 

 would erect the feathers of the back at right angles to his body, and 

 then looked beautiful, the light shining through the brilliant yellow, 

 setting it off to great advantage. The nest is constructed of grasses, 

 and is domed, with an entrance near the centre. The eggs, four or 

 five in number, are pale verditer, thickly marked everywhere with 

 greenish-brown blotches and spots : axis, 10" ; diameter, 7"." 



Dr. Russ observes :- " If one has the good luck to acquire a 

 genuine pair, they proceed to breed with unusual facility, compared 

 with the other Fire Weavers, and this is due to the fact that this bird 

 is steadier, is by no means so violently excited as his allies. Without 

 entering into details, the nest is constructed anywhere in dense scrub, 

 and forms a tolerably deep, bulky, oval-round purse. Eggs greenish 

 blue ; duration of incubation fifteen days." 



It looks almost as though the Doctor had not kept this species ; 

 since he gives so short an account of its nidification : he says, more- 

 over : " By the dealers also called Greater or Double Napoleon-bird ; 

 this Fire Weaver is far more rarely obtainable and ever so much less 

 beautiful than the smaller one." 



I have seen the bird, from time to time, at Mr. Abrahams', but 

 was never tempted to purchase it ; because, in the first place, its 

 beauty did not strike me as sufficiently great to compensate for its 

 harsh song ; and, in the second place, its size and strength would 

 almost necessitate its having a good sized aviary to itself, which I 

 could not spare. That it is inclined to be spiteful to smaller associates 

 I have witnessed at Mr. Abrahams' on several occasions. 



Illustrations from skins in the Natural History Museum. 



