116 PLOCEID^E PHILET^KUS 



Land and Griqualand West and by no means rare, though some- 

 what locally distributed, in the Transvaal. 



Habits. The great majority of African travellers refer to this 

 little Weaver and its conspicuous and remarkable social nest, which 

 has been, by various authors, compared to an umbrella, a haystack, 

 a native hut, and a variety of other structures. Mr. Andersson 

 remarks on its habits in Damara Land as follows : "It congre- 

 gates in large flocks, and when breeding, many pairs incubate 

 their eggs under the same roof, which is composed by these birds 

 of whole cartloads of grass piled on a branch of some camel-thorn 

 tree in one enormous mass of an irregular umbrella-shape, looking 

 like a miniature haystack, and almost solid, but with the under 

 surface, which is nearly flat, honeycombed all over with little 

 cavities, which serve, not only as places for incubation, but also as 

 a refuge against rain and wind." 



Mr. Ayres remarks that in the Transvaal he " first met with this 

 curious bird near the Vaal Eiver, where there were several colonies 

 amongst the large camel-thorn trees. Their huge nests were very 

 conspicuous at a considerable distance ; I first saw them in July, 

 1869 (midwinter), when the birds, in flocks of from thirty to forty, 

 were still inhabiting their nests, in which they appear to sleep all 

 the year round, adding to them each summer as the colony 

 increases I visited a nest early one morning and found it 

 apparently deserted ; but on throwing a stone or two at it I heard 

 a gentle chattering, and presently out flew a bird, and then another, 

 till the whole family were out. I found them afterwards feeding 

 on the ground at some little distance ; on rising they uttered the 

 same chattering note, and continued it during their flight." 



Collective nests of this species contain from twenty to more 

 than three hundred separate habitations, which have no communica- 

 tion with one another beyond being under the same roof. Each 

 separate nest is warmly lined with feathers. One of the collective 

 nests is added to, year by year, until either the tree in which it is 

 built gives way, or its branches can afford room for no more 

 material ; fresh nests are then built in neighbouring trees by the 

 younger birds, about twenty pairs joining together to work at 

 each. In general habits this species very closely resembles the 

 larger Ploceipasser mahali. Like the latter bird it is exceedingly 

 pugnacious, the cocks frequently fighting until they lie exhausted 

 on the ground, surrounded by feathers that have been pulled out 

 during the contest. The Social Weaver feeds chiefly on grass- 



