GOLD-CAPPED WEAVER BIRD. 227 



nest. Perhaps this want of caution may arise from the nature of 

 the nest, and the birds being free from all ordinary danger ; and 

 if the nest had been open, like that of most birds, the inhabitants 

 would probably be as timid as is usually the case with birds when 

 disturbed in their nests. 



Below the first-mentioned nest, and nearly in the lower centre 

 of the illustration, may be seen the beautiful nest of the Gold- 

 capped Weaver Bird, Ploceus icterocephalus, the figure being 

 drawn from a specimen in my own collection. The nest of this 

 bird is notable for the extreme neatness and compactness of its 

 structure, for it can endure a vast amount of careless handling, 

 and still retain its beautiful contour. The nest was taken from 

 the banks of a river near Natal, and was suspended from two 

 reeds, so as to hang over the water, and at no great distance from 

 the surface. 



The whole structure is apparently composed of the same plant, 

 namely, a kind of small reed, but the materials are taken from a 

 different portion of the plant, according to the part of the nest for 

 which they are required. The whole exterior, as well as the 

 walls, are made of the reed-stems, woven very closely together, 

 and being of no trifling thickness. There is a considerable amount 

 of elasticity in the structure, and the whole nest is so strong that 

 it might be kicked down stairs, or be thrown from the top of the 

 Monument, without much apparent deterioration. The interior, 

 however, is constructed after a very different fashion. Instead of 

 the rough, strong workmanship of the exterior, with its reed-stems 

 interlacing among each other, as if woven by human art, and its 

 pale yellow hue, the inside exhibits a lining of flat leaves, laid art- 

 istically over each other so as to form a soft, smooth resting-place, 

 but not interlacing at all, being held in their place by their own 

 elasticity. Their color is of a pale bluish-gray, and the contrast 

 which they present to the exterior is very strongly marked. In 

 size the nest is about as large as an ordinary cocoa-nut — not quite 

 so long, though broader. 



Mr. Swainson mentions that in one specimen of the nest made 

 by this bird there was a peculiarity about the opening. "The 

 aperture is lateral, but not upon the top, so that it serves the 

 purpose of a window to the inmates, who are sheltered overhead 

 by the convex top of the nest. There is something very ingen- 

 ious in the construction of this opening, which is not, as it at first 



