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CHAPTER II. 
SOCIAL BIRDS. 
The SoctaBLe Weaver Birp and its country —Description of the bird— 
Nest of the Sociable Weaver—How begun and how carried on— 
Materials of the nest—The tree on which the nest is built, and its uses 
—Dimensions of the nest and disastrous consequences—A Hottentot 
and a lion—Supposed object of the social nest—Average number of 
inhabitants—Analogy with Dyak houses—Enemies of the Sociable 
Weaver: the monkey, the snake, and the parrakeet. 
WE now come to the SocraL Birps, one of which is as 
pre-eminent among the feathered tribes as is the Beaver 
among mammalia, This is the SociaBLe WEAVER Birp, 
sometimes called the SoclaBLE GROSBEAK. 
This species is allied to the Weaver Birds, and makes 
a nest which is no whit inferior to the nests of the 
ordinary Weaver Birds. The Sociable Weaver Bird is a 
native of Southern Africa, and in some places is very 
plentiful, its presence depending much upon the trees 
which clothe the country. It is not a large bird, measur- 
ing about five inches in length, and is very inconspicuous, 
its colour being pale buff, mottled on the back with deep 
brown. 
The chief interest about the species is concentrated in 
its nest, which is a wonderful specimen of bird architec- 
ture, and attracts the attention of the most unobservant 
traveller. Few persons expect to see in a tree a nest 
which is large enough to shelter five or six men; and 
yet that is often the case with the nest of the Sociable 
