PLOC EUS. textor. 
Rufous-necked Weaver. 
$s  ——_—__——. 
Family Fringillidse ? 
GENERIC CHARACTER. 
Bill lengthened-conic, slightly curved, entire, the base advancing 
high on the forehead, and dividing the frontal feathers, the culmen 
curved, the commissure sinuated. Nostrils oval, naked: without a 
membrane. Wings moderate, rounded, the first quill spurious, the 
five next nearly of equal length. Feet short, strong, the middle 
toe longer than the tarsus, the hind toe nearly equal with the tarsus. 
Tail very short, rounded. ; 
DivisIOns oR SuB-GENERA. 
Mauimsus. Vieil. Bill more straight, slender, and lengthened. 
Piocevs. Cuv. As above. 
Evexectrrs. Nob. Bill of Ploceus. Toes and claws very slender. 
The greater quills scarcely longer than the lesser; spurious 
quill very minute. Type, Loxia Orix. L. 
Speciric CHARACTER. 
Orange yellow, varied above with black: head, chin, and front of 
the throat black: nape with a chestnut band. 
Oriolus textor. Auet. 
Ploceus textor. Cuvier. Reg. Anim. 
Le cap-more. Buff. Son. 19, p. 165. Pl. Enl. 375 (very bad). 
EE 
Tue Weaving Birds, confined to the hotter regions of the 
old world, are chiefly found in Africa, where they represent 
the Hangnests (Icterinw) of America: an analogy long 
since remarked by Buffon. Both these tribes astonish us 
by the consummate skill with which they fabricate their 
nests : but the intelligence displayed by the African Weavers 
is still more wonderful. ‘The curious reader will see a most 
interesting account of these birds in Paterson’s African 
Travels, or in Wood’s Zoography. 
Of the present species, although very common in Sene- 
gal, nothing appears known beyond the simple fact of its 
weaving, in confinement, between the wires of its cage. 
