176 BIRD BEHAVIOUR 



this partition, then a mere bar dividing two holes, 

 like the handle of an inverted basket, forms a 

 useful perch for the bird working inside, a position 

 which is taken up by the hen, which passes out the 

 ends of the material as they are thrust in to her by 

 the cock. 



It is probably owing to the want of this feminine 

 assistance that the nest is so often left unfinished 

 in captivity, and that so many half-built nests are 

 found in the wild colonies, the building of these 

 being the amusement of the males when unoccupied. 

 Many of these will also go on lengthening the 

 tubular entrance after the sitting has begun ; it 

 will be noticed that this is always left loose and 

 unbound at the end, such apparent negligence 

 being an additional safeguard against attacks by 

 snakes and other enemies. Another safeguarding 

 instinct noticeable in these birds is that of hanging 

 the nest whenever possible over water ; it has 

 been found that even the water in the bathing-pan 

 in an aviary incites some Weavers at all events to 

 nest directly over this. 



The Baya itself is not commonly imported com- 

 pared with some of the African Weavers, far the 

 commonest bird of the kind in the trade being 

 the small Red- billed Weaver of Africa (Quelea 

 quelea), which anybody can buy cheaply and watch 

 in any bird-room or back-garden aviary. Its nest, 

 however, like that of many other Weavers, cannot 

 be compared with that of the Baya, as it lacks both 

 the suspension rope, being merely woven in amongst 



