368 



PASSEBES. BIRDS. FRIXGILLID.E. 



and one of the oldest known species is the Philippine 

 Weaver-bird, a native of the Philippine Islands, as 

 implied in its name, and also apparently identical with 

 the species known as the Baya in India. 



The Philippine Weaver-bird is a small species, less 

 than six inches in length, of a brown colour above, and 

 yellowish-white beneath, with the crown of the head, 

 the neck, and the breast yellow. It is described as 

 suspending its nest by a cord of considerable length 

 from the branch of a tree, so as to be inaccessible to 

 snakes and monkeys; the nest is said to contain a 

 chamber for the male and another for the female, the 

 former being situated close to the opening at the bottom 

 of the nest, through which the birds obtain access to 

 their snug apartments ; here the male stations himself 

 to watch over the safety of his family, and the natives 

 believe that he attaches to the wall of his chamber a 

 patch of soft clay, to which he fastens a fibre-fly to serve 

 as a night-light 



The Baya of India, which, if not identical with, is 

 very nearly allied to the Philippine species, is better 

 known, and, from the observations of the European 

 residents in India, we can obtain more accurate infor- 

 mation as to its proceedings. The nest of this species 

 is usually suspended from the tips of the leaves of 

 the fan-palm, where they are perfectly secure from all 

 plunderers, but sometimes from the babul, a species of 

 Mimosa, whose formidable thorns suffice to keep all 

 intruders at a distance. It is composed of a mass of 

 dried grass, closely interwoven, and looking externally 

 like a gradually enlarging purse, of thirteen or fourteen 

 inches in length, and about seven inches in diameter 

 at the lowest part, where the true nest is situated. 

 This consists only of a single chamber, the opening of 

 which is at one side, access to it being obtained by 

 means of a cylindrical passage hanging down from the 

 bottom of the nest. The male has a separate, but less 

 perfect nest of his own, and in this Mr. Layard always 

 found two small masses of clay, attached one on each 

 side of the perch occupied by the bird ; the Cingalese 

 asserted that these were for the reception of the fire- 

 flies which they believe the male bird takes into his 

 abode at the approach of night, but Mr. Layard was 

 unable to ascertain anything about their use. 



THE MADAGASCAR WEAVER-BIRD (Pfcc<^^7m7is), 

 called the Neli-courvi by Sonnerat, is of the size of 

 our common sparrow, and of a green colour, with the 

 head and throat yellow, the belly gray, the vent red, 

 and the quill-feathers black. This bird builds its nest 

 usually at the extremity of the leaves of a tree on the 

 bank of a rivulet, composing it of straws and rushes, 

 neatly interwoven into the form of a pouch, from one 

 side of which there hangs a long cylindrical tube, serv- 

 ing as a passage to the nest, the opening being, as 

 usual, at the bottom. This bird has the curious habit 

 of returning year after year to the same spot and build- 

 ing a new nest attached to the bottom of the old one, 

 so that as many as five nests may be seen thus placed 

 one below the other. They are very sociable in their 

 habits, as many as five or six hundred nests being 

 sometimes suspended from a single tree. 



THE ABYSSINIAN WEAVER-BIRD (Ploceus larvatus), 

 a rather larger species, is of a yellowish colour, with 



the crown of the head, the throat and the breast black. 

 It builds a pyramidal nest suspended over the water 

 at the extremity of a small branch, and having the 

 opening on one side of the pyramid, usually turned 

 towards the east, the quarter from which the rain does 

 not come. The interior is divided into two chambers 

 by a partition; the innermost apartment is the true 

 nest. 



THE REPUBLICAN GROSBEAK (Philceterus socius), 

 which is also a species of Weaver, is an inhabitant of 

 Southern Africa, where it lives in vast societies. It is 

 nearly six inches in length, and of a grayish-brown 

 colour, paler or yellowish beneath ; the face and throat 

 are black, and there are numerous black spots on the 

 flanks. These birds construct an enormous assemblage 

 of nests under a common roof, placed amongst the 

 branches of a tree ; the roof is formed of a vast mass 

 of herbage closely interwoven, so as to throw off the 

 heaviest rain, and the separate nests or chambers 

 occupied by the birds are appended to the lower sur- 

 face and sides of the general mass, which are perforated 

 all over with the small apertures through which the 

 birds obtain access to their dwellings. It is said that 

 the birds construct new chambers every year, so that 

 the mass of materials is constantly increasing, and 

 sometimes becomes so great as to cause the destruction 

 of the tree. A large nest examined by Le Vaillant 

 contained three hundred and twenty inhabited cham- 

 bers. The same writer states that these birds do not 

 pair, but that each male has several wives, each of 

 which, in accordance with the ordinary custom of 

 societies where polygamy is practised, has a separate 

 residence of her own. 



THE RED-BILLED TEXTOR (Textor erythrorhynchus), 

 another South African species, nearly allied to the pre- 

 ceding, is nearly twelve inches in length, and is entirely 

 of a black colour, with the bill coral- red, and the 

 margins of the wing feathers white. It is remarkable, 

 from its being found always about the buffaloes, feed- 

 ing upon the numerous parasitic insects with which 

 those unwieldy beasts are constantly infested. It also 

 acts the part of a sentinel to the buffaloes ; for, on the 

 approach of any suspicious object, the Textor will 

 suddenly fly up, and thus give timely notice to their 

 quadruped friends of the vicinity of danger. 



THE DIOCH (Quelea sanyuinirostris), which appeal's 

 to inhabit most parts of Africa, is a small bird, less 

 than five inches in length ; its plumage on the upper 

 surface is variegated with black and brown, the former 

 occupying the middle, and the latter the margins of the 

 feathers ; the breast and flanks are grayish-brown, with 

 darker brown spots ; the belly and lower tail-coverts 

 are nearly white; the face and throat are blackish, 

 the throat reddish, and the bill blood-red. This bird 

 constructs a most ingenious nest, forming it of dried 

 herbage neatly interwoven into a nearly spherical form, 

 with one flat side, in which the opening is situated ; 

 the birds are said to soften and twist about the mate- 

 rials of their nest until they are fit to be woven into the 

 fabric, and the male and female work in concert in its 

 construction, one going inside the nest while the other 

 remains outside, so as to pass the fibres through from 

 one to the other without loss of time. 



