64



Mr. W. Shore Baily,



woven quite a score of nests this season, but has been unsuccessful

in persuading a hen to occupy one of them. In colour he almost

exactly resembles a hen Rufous-necked having no black or brown

whatever about him and being about the same size.


The Black-headed Weaver ( H. melanocephalus). I have

five cocks and one hen. Here again the dealers seem unable to

differentiate between the sexes when they are out of colour. One

or two of the cocks proved good Weavers, but it is possible the

absence of hens prevented the others from making any serious

nesting attempts.


The Black-hooded Weaver (H. heuglinii). I possess a

single male. In appearance he is very like melanocephalus , but has

less black on the forehead and a little rufous on the throat. He

proved a very good builder, hanging his nests from the branches of a

spruce.


The Half-masked Weaver (H. vitellinus). Of these,

three cocks only, hens apparently being unobtainable. With their

chestnut coloured heads these are very pretty birds, and it was

unfortunate that I was unable to find mates for them as they built

many nests and were apparently most anxious to undertake parental

duties.


The Golden Weaver (H. galhula). I have two pairs of

these and one pair nested, but I think the eggs must have been taken

by mice, as the nest was rather low down in a bush and easily

accessible to these vermin. The males are about the size of

vitellinus, but the crown of the head is bright yellow and there

is no rufous below the black of the throat.


The Short-winged Weaver (H. hrachypterus). I have

two cocks only. They very closely resemble galbula and are about

the same size. Only one of these attempted to build; the sites

chosen being very varied. The nests were always well-constructed,

the entrance hole usually being in the side.


The Dwarf Weaver (S. luteola). Of these pretty little

birds I have two pairs, one of which nested twice, bringing up two

young ones on each occasion. They are about the size of an English

Siskin, and the males are like miniature melanocephalus, having no

rufous or chestnut colour about them. The young, which were grey



