CANARIES AND OTHER CAGE-BIRD FRIENDS 



801 



aviaries with a network 

 of strands. If nests are 

 started, they are usu- 

 ally not fully completed 

 (page 799), 



In the semiarid re- 

 gions in Africa red- 

 billed weavers gather in 

 flocks that are enor- 

 mous, as they may in- 

 clude tens of thousands 

 of birds. The late Dr. 

 Edgar A. Mearns often 

 told me of watching 

 such bands in Ethiopia 

 come to drink at small 

 streams. The birds 

 poured in until the 

 ground was covered, 

 and at the water's edge 

 they literally piled on 

 top of one another in a 

 fluttering, shifting mass. 

 Often some unfortu- 

 nate would be pinned 

 down by the press of 

 birds steadily alight- 

 ing and held with its 

 head under water until 

 it drowned. 

 Orange Weaver 



The orange weaver 

 (Euplectes francis- 

 cana), known to avi- 

 culturists as the 

 "orange bishop," is a 

 native of northern trop- 

 ical Africa. The male 

 is a bird of handsome 

 color and unusual plum- 

 age, as the upper and 

 under tail coverts are 

 nearly as long as the 

 tail, and the elongated 

 flank feathers form 

 puffs that are thrown 

 out in display on either 

 side (Color Plate V). 

 The female and the young male are streaked, 

 sparrowlike little birds with no hint of the 

 brilliant colors of the adult male. 



These are birds kept primarily for color, 

 and are found in many aviaries. Three dis- 

 tinct species are ordinarily grouped as "orange 

 bishops" by bird dealers, the one described 

 above being the smallest. The red bishop, or 

 grenadier bishop (Euplectes orix), is the larg- 

 est of the three, and has the head and throat 

 black like the abdomen, and the wings and 

 tail blackish. The fire-crowned, or crimson- 

 crowned, bishop (Euplectes hordeacea) has 

 the crown orange instead of black. Two re- 

 lated species, the Napoleon and the taha weav- 

 ers, have the males colored vividly in yellow 

 and black. 



I-hotograph by Bernard F. Rogers 

 NO CAGE CONFINES THIS GUARDIAN GOLDFINCH; HE WEARS A 

 HALTER HELD BY A SLACK "rEIN" 



A barber in the Azores has provided a novel perch with opportunity for 

 his pet to stretch its wings in short flights to the chain's end. 



Conibasou 



Occasionally, in an aviary or in some bird- 

 store cage, one sees a tiny, black, sparrowlike 

 bird with white bill and orange feet, whose 

 plumage has a slight metallic sheen. This is 

 the combasou (Hypochera clialybeata), an- 

 other African species that is common in the 

 wild, where it lives familiarly about settle- 

 ments, but for some reason is not abundant in 

 collections of living birds (Color Plate V). 



The combasou makes an excellent pet for 

 those who enjoy unusual birds, though it is 

 not a showy species. One that I kept for years 

 lived in great contentment in an ordinary canary 

 cage where it had the protection of a muslin 

 bag around the lower section. Behind this 



