822 The Sparrow-like Birds 



supports; and thus the work goes on, till the whole dome has come to the length 

 of the bottom of the hoop; then the nest begins to be formed into two com- 

 partments ; on one side of the hoop the nest itself is placed, the other side being 

 formed into an entrance. They form the nest of one kind of dry grass, and during 

 its formation you may observe them walking over the outside of the nest, prying 

 about in every direction, and here and there tightening a fiber by seizing it with 

 their beak and moving their head to and fro." 



The Golden Weaver-bird (Ploceella javensis), the only representative of the 

 other genus, has the bill no longer than it is high, while the breeding plumage 

 of the male is largely yellow, at other times being largely rufous-brown streaked 

 with dark brown. The nesting habits differ from those of the others in that 

 they build a much rougher cylindrical nest and usually attach it to several stems 

 or reeds; the two or three eggs are of all colors, greenish, gray, purplish, etc., 

 but rarely pure white. 



Widow-birds. We come now to the second subfamily (Viduina), which 

 embraces the most brilliant as well as some of the most interesting members 

 of the entire group, among them the Whydah or Widow-birds, in which the males 

 have the four central tail-feathers very greatly elongated. In the common 

 Widow-bird (Vidua principalis) of Central and South Africa, these central 

 feathers, which are assumed only during the breeding season, are neither wire- 

 shafted nor widened at the ends, the general color of the plumage in the males 

 being glossy black, with the rump, a large shoulder patch, and the entire under 

 parts pure white ; at other seasons they resemble the females, which are mottled 

 brown and black above and whitish below; the total length of the males is ten 

 inches, of which the tail is seven and three tenths inches, and of the female about 

 four and seven tenths inches. This rather rare species is usually seen in pairs 

 and, according to Mr. Ayres, during the breeding season when the wonderful 

 tail of the male is fully developed, he will sometimes rise until nearly out of sight, 

 when he suddenly descends with much velocity. 



Passing over the Shaft-tailed Widow-bird (Tetranura regia), which is sepa- 

 rated generically on the ground that the four central tail-feathers are attenuated 

 and shaft-like for their entire length, and the Paradise Widow-bird (Steganura 

 paradised) of East and Central Africa, in which the central feathers of the tail 

 are laterally flattened and end in hair-like points, mention should be made of 

 the Long-tailed Widow-bird (Chera procne) of South Africa. The male in 

 nuptial dress is entirely glossy black, with a shoulder patch of scarlet, the total 

 length being twenty inches, of which the tail takes up quite fifteen inches ; the 

 female is sandy buff, the center of each feather being darker. The "Kafir 

 Fink," as it is called by the colonists, is a bird of very weak though graceful 

 flight, frequenting swampy ground and long reeds about ponds. Mr. Barratt 

 states that after a sharp shower of rain or in a strong wind it is barely able to 

 fly, and can easily be knocked down, and Dr. Sharpe says that the Kafir children 

 stretch bird-limed lines across a field, as of millet and Kafir corn, and snare great 

 numbers by their tails becoming entangled in the lines. It builds its rather 

 rough nest, according to Bowker, in long grass close to the ground, and the points 



