166 



CASSELL'S BOOK OF BIRDS. 



WEAVER BIRDS. 



The Weaver Birds {Placet) are large Finches, with bodies somewhat elongated, having slender, or 

 in some cases, short broad beaks, long wings, tails of moderate length, and very bright coats, the 

 latter often varied during the breeding season by a peculiar kind of plumage. Yellow and yellowish 



red are usually the principal tints in the coloration of the feathers ; but 

 species are found in which black, red, white, or grey predominate. The 

 head and face are generally dark, the back greenish or yellowish red, the 

 lower part of the body dark yellow, or of a light or dark red. Like other 

 Finches, the Weaver Birds are extremely social, living, as we have said, 

 in large settlements during the period of incubation, and flying over the 

 country in company with thousands of their feathered brethren during 

 the remainder of the year. Immense damage is done by these swarms to 

 the fields over which they pass, and about which they remain until the 

 time comes for returning to their old breeding-places. Shortly after the 

 moulting season the work of building commences, and several months 

 are generally occupied in diligent labour before the newly-constructed 

 homes will suit the requirements of the fastidious owners, who frequently 

 tear a whole nest to pieces, and entirely recommence their labours, rather 

 than rest content with a performance that is not quite satisfactory. The 

 nests of the various species of Weaver Birds differ considerably in their 

 shape and general structure, some building a detached residence (see p. 165), 

 in which the male luxuriates, whilst his spouse is busied with the cares of 

 her family ; others, again, are so large as to contain numerous compart- 

 ments, the whole colony working so close together as to form, not 

 many separate nests, but one large establishment (see p. 168). Fibres, 

 slender twigs, or blades of grass, are the materials usually employed in 

 the construction of these edifices, the whole being woven tightly together, 

 after having been rendered more flexible and adhesive by an application 

 of saliva from the little artist's beak. The greater number of such settle- 

 ments are formed of nests containing merely the chamber for the young 

 and the apartment arranged by the male for his own occupation. Some 

 males, however, build separate nests for themselves Both are represented 

 in our engravings. 

 Many tribes of Africans tell wonderful tales about these creatures and their homes, some of 

 which border upon the marvellous. The Malays have a saying that " He who can remove a Weaver 

 Bird's nest without breaking it, will find a golden ball within;" and there is a popular belief in Africa 

 that the lumps of clay so often found in these little dwellings are employed by the tenant as a kind of 

 candlestick in which it fastens the fire-beetle it is supposed to employ to light its tiny apartment by 

 night. The Weaver Bird lays many times during the year, and feeds its somewhat numerous family upon 

 insects ; these latter, combined with various kinds of seeds, also constitute the food of the parents. 

 In spite of the injury done to the fields, but few precautions are taken by the natives to protect them- 

 selves against the depredations of these ingenious architects, who might live out the full term of their 

 natural life were it not for the attacks made upon them by their numerous enemies, who are ever 

 on the watch around their habitations. Our engraving (p. 175) represents the manner in which the 



NEST OF WEAVER BIRD 

 SLIT OPEN. 



