THE WEAVER BIRD 187 



The entrance to the nursery is thus from below. The 

 way the owners shoot vertically upwards into it, with 

 closed wings, without perceptibly shaking it is really 

 marvellous. 



Nest construction obviously gives the little builders 

 great pleasure. They frequently build supernumerary 

 nests, purely from the joy of building. Each time the 

 cock bird approaches the nest with a beakful of material 

 he cries out with delight. Every now and again in the 

 midst of weaving material into the structure of the nest 

 he bursts into song. 



Weaver birds usually build in company ; ten or a 

 dozen different nests being found in the same tree. As 

 each little craftsman is in a very excited state, fights 

 between neighbouring cocks frequently ensue, but these 

 are never of a serious nature. I was once the witness 

 of an amusing piece of wickedness on the part of a cock 

 baya. The bird in question flew to a branch near the 

 nest belonging to another pair of weaver birds who 

 were absent. After contemplating it for a little he flew 

 to the nest, and having deliberately wrenched away a 

 piece of it with his beak, made off with the stolen 

 property and worked it into his own nest ! Four times 

 did he visit his neighbour's nest and commit larceny ; 

 two of the stolen strands he utilised and the remaining 

 ones fell to the ground. I am inclined to think that 

 the thief was actuated by motives of jealousy ; for he 

 deliberately dropped some of the stolen material on to 

 the ground and extracted it from the place at which 

 the nest was attached to its branch, thus weakening 

 its attachment. The victim of the outrage on his 



