62 PLOCEID.E HYPHANTORNIS 



neck about twelve feet long. When engaged in building, these 

 Weavers keep up an incessant chattering, and if undisturbed, be- 

 come exceedingly tame and familiar, especially the males, who take 

 an active part in the labour by fetching the grass and helping in 

 the weaving from the outside of the nest, to which they cling with 

 their sharp claws, generally back downwards with expanded wings. 

 The female remains inside and assists by pulling one end of the 

 grass through, then pushing it back again to the male. Many 

 nests are abandoned before completion and others commenced, 

 probably by young beginners ; other nests fall down from the 

 twig to which they are attached giving way ; so that the ground 

 below a tree in which these Weaver-birds are building is often 

 covered with nests in all stages of construction. 



The eggs of the Spotted Weaver Bird vary greatly in colour, 

 almost as much so as those of H. velatus. They are white, blue, 

 or green, frequently plain, but as often speckled and spotted with 

 brown and reddish-brown. They measure about 0'75 x O56 and 

 are usually three in number. 



These Weaver-birds feed on grass-seeds and grain, as well as on 

 insects, the nectar of aloes, the Australian "bottle-brush," and 

 other flowering shrubs. The young are largely fed on soft insects, 

 caterpillars, and various larvae. 



27. Hyphantornis shelleyi. Shelley's Weaver Bird. 



Hyphantornis vitellinus (nee. Licht), Sharpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. 



pp. 439, 847 (1884). 

 Hyphantornis shelleyi, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii, p. 464 (1890) ; Shelley, 



B. Afr. i, p. 39 (1896). 



Description. Adult male. Above olive-yellow, the back with 

 black shaft-stripes ; lower back, rump and upper tail- coverts bright 

 golden-yellow ; wing-coverts black, edged with yellowish ; quills 

 dusky, edged with yellow ; tail-feathers olive, edged with yellow ; 

 forehead orange, crown and nape golden-yellow ; lores, feathers 

 round eyes, sides of face, front ear-coverts and cheeks, chin and 

 upper throat black ; rest of under surface golden-yellow, the chest 

 more orange ; axillaries, under wing-coverts and inner edges of 

 quills yellow. 



Iris pale brown ; bill black ; legs and feet flesh-colour. 



Length 5-50 ; wing 3'00 ; tail 1-85 ; tarsus 0'85 : culmen 0-65. 



Adult female. Above pale brownish-yellow, the back streaked 



