PASSERINE BIRDS. 1 67 



monkey, one of the most formidable of their foes, obtains its prey. It is in hope of baffling the 

 attempts of such unwelcome visitants that the Mahali Weaver Birds insert thoms with the points 

 outwards into the walls of their nests, thus enabling the occupants to rest quietly, without fear of seeing 

 their young carried off by snakes and other intruders. Large numbers of these curious and interesting 

 birds are annually exported and sold at low prices, so that our readers need have no difficulty in 

 witnessing their constructive powers, which are often displayed to great advantage in a cage. One of 

 the most celebrated of this group is 



THE SOCIAL WEAVER BIRD. 



The Social Weaver Bird {Philetaerus socius) stands alone in the peculiarities that distinguish 

 it from its congeners. This species is recognisable by its conical and elongated beak, which is 

 somewhat compressed at the sides ; its upper mandible rises into a slight arch, and is furnished at its 

 edges with a tooth-like appendage ; the wings are of moderate length, scarcely extending beyond the 

 root of the tail : their first quill is much shorter than the succeeding four, which are of equal length ; 

 the tail is rounded at its extremity. In this species, as in the whole family of Weaver Birds, the tarsus 

 is strong and high. The plumage is extremely simple : the top of the head, sides, and front of the neck 

 and breast are of uniform deep grey ; the upper part of the head marked with dark spots ; the nape 

 and back grey, with undulating lines of black ; the wing-covers, quills, and tail-feathers deep brown, 

 edged with light grey ; the feathers on the sides of the belly are blackish, bordered with a paler shade ; 

 the region of the beak and a small spot over each eye are black ; and the beak and legs horn colour. 

 Its length is about six inches and nine lines, and the wing measures rather more than two inches 

 and ten lines. The female is known by the paler colour of the back, and the young by the brown 

 tints upon the head ; the latter are without the black spot upon the lower mandible and sides of 

 the body. 



It is generally considered that the Social Weaver Bird never crosses the Orange river, though 

 how far it may penetrate in a northerly direction has not as yet been ascertained. Patterson, who 

 wrote at the end of the last century, mentions having seen mimosa forests densely inhabited by these 

 birds, who congregate in the hope of preserving their eggs from the numerous snakes. For this 

 purpose, hundreds of them build their nests beneath one large roof, resembling a thatched house in 

 its appearance. This roof (see p. 168) is fixed to a large branch or portion of the tree, and under it 

 the actual nests are placed so closely together that it would be quite impossible for a snake or any 

 other enemy to penetrate to the interior. All day long the busy crowd ot workers hurry to and fro, 

 resembling a swarm of bees in their industry, and, like them, return laden with everything needful for 

 the construction or improvement of their homes, while year by year the settlement increases in size, 

 until at last the tree literally bends beneath the weight of the superincumbent colony. The entrances 

 to the interior are very numerous, and situated underneath the massive edifice, each opening leading 

 to a kind of corridor or street, on both sides of which are the small and very secure apartments 

 provided for the young. These birds subsist upon the seeds of the grasses employed in the 

 construction of their dwellings. The above account has been verified by Mr. A. Smith, a well-known 

 traveller and naturalist, from whom we learn that each couple works at its own portion of the building, 

 all co-operating, however, in the common endeavour to concentrate the nests under one substantial 

 straw thatch, and thus ensure the safety of the whole flock. These aerial cities are generally built 

 upon large branches at a considerable elevation,, but the Tree Aloe is occasionally selected as affording 

 suitable support. The brood of the Social Weaver Bird consists of three or four blueish-white eggs, 

 marked with small brown spots at their broadest end. The young are fe.d entirely upon insects, 

 which are only occasionally eaten by the parents. 



