WE A VER-BIRDS. 



365 



recognised by the scarlet iris of the eye, the black beak, and greyish black legs. 

 It is reported to lay pale bluish green eggs, with a few violet-brown spots 

 at the larger end. An allied species from the same district is the Abyssinian 

 weaver-bird (H. galbida), in which the iris is orange-brown, the beak black 

 (except in the breeding-plumage of the male, when it becomes horn-coloured), 

 and the leg flesh-coloured. A third form is the olive weaver-bird (H. ccqjensis) 

 of South Africa. Generally living in flocks, the members of the last-named 

 species are more numerous in the Transvaal than in Natal. According 



ABYSSINIAN AND MASKED WEAYER-BIBDS (£ nat. size). 



to Mr. Ayres, they are fond of sucking the honey from the scarlet flowers 

 of the Cape broom. The nest is constructed of coarse grasses, and Bormed 

 somewhat in the shape of a chemist's retort, with the Deck cut -hurt and the 

 aperture downwards; while across the entrance runs a kind of bar to prevent the 

 eggs from falling out. This nest is lined with the soft flowering beads of grass, 

 which furnish a warm bed for the young. The eggs are of a beautiful, spotless 

 green colour. Mr. Layard says that these weavers become very tame in confine- 

 ment, and will readily answer to the call. If they are supplied with cotton or 

 thread, they will weave it most industriously into the bars of the cage, forming a 

 dense mass which it is impossible to unravel. This work they perform entirely 



