34 



colony of nests build in a sheltered wood, no clay at all was 

 used. It is therefore probable that Jerdan's theory is the 

 correct one. During the time the weaver birds are building, 

 the whole flock keep up an incessant chirping, varied now and 

 then with a long grating whistle uttered by the male, as he 

 clings to the nest he is making. Many nests are deserted 

 when the body is being constructed, both before and after the 

 loop has been formed ; and this is, according to some writers, 

 to furnish the male with a roosting place. This is, I am 

 sure, an erroneous idea ; the proportion of such nests is 

 sometimes only three or four in a large colony, and it is most 

 probable that they are rejected by the birds on account of 

 some fault in their construction — the egg-chamber too small, 

 the neck not strong enough, or some such weak point. I am 

 strengthened in this view by observing, as above stated, how 

 particular the male bird is at times in examining and inspect- 

 ing his work ; and under these circumstances it is only natural 

 that badly-made nests would be deserted. Again, as Jerdan 

 says {Birds of India, Yol. II., page 347), these nests may be 

 " simply the efforts, if built late in the season, of that con- 

 structive faculty which appears to have such a powerful effect 

 on this little bird, and which causes some of them to go on 

 building the long tubular entrance long after the hen is seated 

 on her eggs." 



In Ceylon the baya lays from two to four eggs, the general 

 number being three. Burgess and Tickell, in writing of India, 

 say 6 to 8, and 6 to 10. They take about ten days to incubate, 

 and are " long-oval " in shape, of a pure white colour, and 

 measure 11 lines by 7| lines. Although the natural food of 

 this weaver bird appears to be grain of all sorts, I find that 

 they feed their young much on the fruit or berry of the Lan- 

 tana, Lantana mixta, a plant introduced into this island some 

 fifty years ago, and which has now over- run the whole cul- 

 tivated portion of the country, often choking up and rendering 

 useless acres of ground in the same spot. I cannot conclude 

 these few remarks on the natural history of the common 

 weaver bird without referring to the extraordinary intelligence 

 displayed by it when taught, in confinement, by natives, — • 

 as recorded by Mr. Blyth, whose account of its performances 

 I quote from Jerdan's Birds of India : — *' The truth 

 is that the feats performed by trained bayas are really 

 very wonderful, and must be witnessed to be fully credited. 

 The usual procedure is, when ladies are present, for the 

 bird, on a sign from its master, to take a cardamon or 

 sweatmeat in its bill and deposit it between a lady's lips, and 

 repeat this offering to every lady present ; the bird following 

 the look and gesture of its master. A miniature cannon is 



