150 
of the plumage cannot be 
imagined in a monochrome 
illustration, although the 
markings and the combina- 
tion which makes this fowl 
one of the handsomest of 
the Phasianedie family can 
be admired. 
There is little difference 
between the male and female 
as regards plumage, the 
former is, however, slightly 
larger and has several wart- 
like pronunences on each leg. 
Wa 
Av the farthest end of the 
Western Avi- 
Indian Weaver. : : 
Birds & Nests. #'Y, 1n the in- 
ner enclosure, 
is now to be seen some 
beautiful nests of the Baye 
and Bengal Weaver Birds, and the amount 
of ingenuity exhibited in plaiting the nest 
seems almost to require the manipulation of 
human hands. When a choice is given to 
these birds they always select the gayest 
coloured material for forming their nest and 
ignore more serviceable stuff. Many experi- 
ments have been made with a view of ascer- 
taining what this tendency of the bird would 
show if a great variety of gay-coloured bits 
of string were available, and the resulting 
Se SNe 
WEAVER BIRDS AND NESTS. 
NEST OF MALE WEAVER BIRD. 
Animal Life 
nests were as ingeniously weaved and as 
beautiful as human skill could have possibly 
made them. Indeed, the expertness of the 
bird in interweaving its material is such 
that, according to the naturalist Wilson, 
one old lady, to whom he showed a nest, 
seriously proposed having the bird taught to 
darn stockings! I should like to see next 
season what the birds would do under similar 
circumstances at the Zoo. It appears, how- 
ever, that the possession of the artistic feeling 
does not always of necessity 
induce a sweetening effect 
upon the disposition, as a 
more quarrelsome bird could 
hardly be found. 
a 
A sIMILAR tendency to use 
the gaily col- 
oured materials 
is exhibited by 
the Bower Bird, which has 
this year begun a nest, but 
the small choice of suitable 
material with which to build 
makes it impossible for any, 
nest to be completed from 
which any idea of the 
beauty, wondrous ingenuity, 
Bower Bird 
and Nest. 
