134 THE WEAVER BIRDS. 



enough for the accommodation of the family, and then 

 the mouth of the bell is divided into two equal parts 

 by a strong band woven across it. This is a critical 

 stage in the progress of the work. For now the birds 

 can sit on the cross-band and judge how the nest 

 swings. If it is' badly balanced, they bring lumps of 

 clay and stick them on one side or the other till the 

 defect is remedied. At least this is Jerdon's explana- 

 tion of the curious patches of clay which are generally 

 found inside of Weaver Birds' nests. The native 

 theory is that they are wall brackets, in which fireflies 

 are stuck for the illumination of the nest. This is one 

 of those things which one cannot help washing were 

 true. The scientific spirit which we of this century 

 worship, with its relentless demand for whole burnt 

 offerings of sentiment and oblations of proof, is a 

 spirit of a dry wind, withering the garden of the soul. 

 But nobody really knows, except the Weaver Bird 

 itself, why those lumps of clay are stuck on the walls 

 of the nest. One thing certain is that, for some 

 reason or other, the birds often get dissatisfied with 

 the nest at this stage, and give it up and begin 

 another. In every colony of nests there are several 

 of these bells with a band across the mouth. In them 

 the cock-birds will sit in rainy weather, each chatter- 

 ing to his spouse as she broods on her eggs. But if 

 the nest, when it has reached that stage, pleases 

 them, they proceed to finish it. The hen sits on 

 the cross-band while her mate fetches fibres. He 

 pushes them through to her from the outside and she 

 returns them to him. So they weave, closing up the 

 bell on one side of the cross-band so as to form a 

 little hollow for the eggs, and prolonging the other 



