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PERCHING BIRDS. 



The True The true weaver-birds form the comparatively small group, 



weaver-Birds. CO m m on to East and West Africa and the Oriental region, exclusive 

 of the Philippine Islands. While in all the preceding genera the culmen of 

 the beak is flattened at the base and sometimes crested, in the present and 

 allied genera it is rounded at the base; the true weaver-birds being specially 

 distinguished by having the nostrils rounded and exposed, and the claw of the 



COMMON AND WHITE-HEADED OX-BIRDS {h nat. size). 



first toe very strong and highly curved. The genus Ploceus is confined to the 

 Indian and Malayan regions, and is typically represented by the common weaver- 

 bird, or baya (P. baya) of India and Ceylon. All these birds construct long 

 flask-shaped nests, with a tubular entrance, and lay pure white eggs. 

 Masked Weaver- The masked weaver-bird {Hyphantomis larvata), of Abyssinia, 



Bird - may be taken as a well-known representative of an exclusively 



African genus, with over thirty species, which may be distinguished from the 

 last by the exposed oval nostrils being partly reached by the plumes at 

 the base, and also shut in by a horny membrane. The figured species may be 



