PER CHING-BIRDS 



M3 



by the possession of a straight non-graduated tail which in winter is of about 



the same length as the wings. The four middle feathers of the males in breeding- 

 plumage are, however, very long, 



twisted, and spatulate at the tips, the 



base of each having a hair-like filament 



which originally adhered to and ran 



along the edge of the outer web. The 



males are black, black-and-white, or 



black-and-brown, but in winter their 



plumage is of the same dull colour as 



that of their partners. These birds 



inhabit open plains, but do not build 



in grass, preferring trees and bushes, 



and making use of leaves which they 



weave together after the manner of 



tailor-birds. Sometimes they breed in 



niches in walls, where they build nests 



like those of sparrows. One of the best 



known species of this exclusively 



Ethiopian group is the paradise-whydah 

 (Steganura paradisea), a bird hardly 

 so large as a sparrow, which is dis- 

 tributed over the greater part of Africa. 

 On the other hand, the steel-finch 

 (Hypochcera chalybeata) is a West 

 African species, often brought to 

 Europe ; in the north-east and eas 4- , 

 this is replaced by the atlas-bird or 

 satin-bird (H. ultramarina), whose 

 plumage is bluish green metallic black, 

 with a tuft of white silky feathers on 

 each side of the upper tail-coverts, 

 while the beak and feet are bright red. 

 From the steel-finch it is distinguished 

 by the deep blue sheen of the feathers 

 deepening to violet. With the tree- 

 weavers, typified by the Asiatic genus 

 Ploceus, as now restricted, but repre- 

 sented by allied African generic groups, 

 we reach a group of which a well- 

 known southern representative is the 

 handsome Hyphantornis spilonotus, 

 distinguished by the predominance of 

 golden yellow, with black on the sides 

 of the head and throat. 



That the Soutli African honey- cock-tailed whydah. 



