206 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



the top of the Monument, without much apparent deterioration. 

 The interior, however, is constructed after a very different fashion. 

 Instead of the rough, strong workmanship of the exterior, with 

 its reed-stems interlacing among each other, as if woven by 

 human art, and its pale yellow hue, the inside exhibits a lining 

 of flat leaves, laid artistically over each other so as to form a 

 soft, smooth resting-place, but not interlacing at aU, being held 

 in their place by their own elasticity. Their colour is of a pale 

 bluish grey, and the contrast which they present to the exterior 

 is very strongly marked. In size the nest is about as large as 

 an ordinary cocoa-nut — not quite so long, though broader. 



Mr. Swainson mentions that in one specimen of the nest made 

 by this bird there was a peculiarity about the opening. "The 

 aperture is lateral, but not upon the top, so that it serves the 

 purpose of a window to the inmates, who are sheltered over- 

 head by the convex top of the nest. There is something very 

 ingenious in the construction of this opening, which is not, as it 

 at first appears, round, but semicircular, the arch being bound 

 round with a stronger band than usual, and the plane or base 

 much stronger, and composed of straight pieces of the stalks of 

 the grass, evidently for the purpose of giving to that part on 

 which the birds perched greater strength and substance." 



In the right-hand lower corner of the iQustration is a nest 

 of another species of Weaver Bird, the pretty Taha "Weaver, 

 Euplectes Taha. 



This species, though plentiful, is rather limited in range, and, 

 according to Dr. Smith, is not seen southwards of lat. 26°. 

 Northwards of that line, however, it was found in numbers, 

 associating in large flocks, and generally haunting the neighbour- 

 hood of rivers. In some places, the trees that grew near the 

 rivers were filled with crowds of the Taha "Weaver Bird In 

 some localities, where the ground is cultivated, the Taha "Weaver 

 is more plentiful than is liked by the natives, for it is very 

 destructive among the gardens ; and, in places where it is very 

 numerous, a continual watch must be kept lest the crop should 

 be utterly destroyed. An allied bird, Ewplectes oryx, is equally 

 destructive in the summer months. 



Although the Taha "Weavers are mostly foimd among trees, 

 at the commencement of the breeding season they leave the 



