3 68 PERCHING BIRDS. 



Among the four representatives of the genus the best known is the common sociable 

 weaver-bird (P. socius), of the interior of South Africa. This species congregates 

 in large flocks, many pairs incubating their eggs under the same roof, which is 

 composed 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. Dr. Guillemard remarks 

 that the nests of the sociable weaver-birds probably last for a great number of 

 years. They are constantly being repaired by their active little inhabitants. It is 

 curious that even the initiated eye is constantly being deceived by these peculiar 

 domed-topped structures, since at a distance they closely resemble native huts. The 

 nesting-chambers themselves are warmly lined with feathers. The sociable weaver- 

 bird subsists chiefly upon seeds, and often feeds in company with many individuals 

 of its own kind. The eggs are drab in ground-colour, closely speckled with purple- 

 grey. The male birds are somewhat pugnacious, frequently indulging in fights 

 with their rivals. The plumage of the adult males is drab-brown above, edged 

 with grey. The chin is black and the under-parts are pale isabelline brown, the 

 flanks being varied with black, edged with whitish. 



Cut-Throat With these birds we reach a group of genera in which the 



Weaver-Finches, nostrils are more or less completely hidden by the nasal plumes, and 

 which are specially distinguished by the tail being somewhat elongated and its 

 feathers narrow, as well as by the pointed wing and the swollen and rounded 

 beak, in which the cutting-edge of the upper mandible is festooned near the 

 base. The genus Amadina includes three African species, one (A. fasciata) having 

 the throat marked by a crimson band extending to the ear -co verts. This species 

 ranges across Central and Northern Africa, and is represented in South Africa 

 by another (A. erythrocephala), in which the whole of the head and throat 

 are red. 



It w r ould be impossible in the limits of our space to point out 

 how the munias are distinguished from all their allies, but it may 

 be mentioned that the central tail-feathers are produced and pointed, while the 

 whole tail is wedge-shaped. They possess a powerful, swollen, and rounded beak, 

 which is most strongly developed in the common Java sparrow. The wings are 

 moderately long ; and the tail is graduated and rounded at the extremity. Some 

 thirty species of munias are known, ranging through the Oriental region to New 

 Guinea and Timor, while several species also inhabit the African continent; 

 Sharpe's munia being a native of West Africa, while Munia nana is found in the 

 island of Madagascar. The Java sparrow is also known in Africa, but as an 

 introduced bird, and in Zanzibar, Mauritius, and Reunion, just as it has become 

 wild in parts of India, as at Madras and in Tenasserim. 



One of the commonest of cage-birds in Europe is the well-known rice-bird, 

 paddy-bird, or Java sparrow (M. oryzivora), which has long been domesticated. 

 Latterly, indeed, pure white specimens have been extensively bred in confinement, 

 and have become an article of trade, being valued for their snowy plumage, which 

 harmonises with their pink bills. In Java and other parts of Asia this munia is 



