XV 



WEAVER-BIRDS, SHRIKES, ETC. 



"For here there is a Bird (having its Name from the Tree it 

 chuses for its Sanctuary, the Toddy Tree) that is not only 

 exquisitely curious in the artificial Composure of its nest 

 with Hay, but furnished with Devices and Stratagems to 

 secure itself and young ones from its deadly Enemy the 

 Squirrel ; as likewise from the Injury of the Weather." 

 Dr JOHN FRYER'S Account of India. 



WEAVER-BIRDS, Ploceus baya, 1 are not uncommon 

 around Calcutta, but rarely reside in gardens, 

 because the tadi-trees that they contain are usually 

 crowded in among others in a way that prevents 

 the tips of their great fans from hanging free, and 

 so renders them less protective sites for the attach- 

 ment of pensile nests than they are in the case of 

 isolated trees. The three kinds of trees in which 

 the nests are most commonly to be found are 

 tadi-palms, Borassus flabelliformis ; dates, Phoenix 

 sylvestris ; and babuls, Acacia indica. Of these 

 the first seems to be the greatest favourite, as, 

 whilst in parts of the country in which they do 

 not occur, the other two trees are made use of; in 



1 This bird is of the size of a chaffinch. 



179 



