PLOCEIN^. 
gregate in flocks, and suspend their nests from the branches overhanging and nearly touching the water. These are 
formed of coarse grass, and so substantiallv constructed, that each requires a long time for its completion ; their 
forms vary with the species ; some are kidney-shaped, others like a retort, &c. The females generally lay three or 
four eggs. 
1. H. textor (Gmel.) PI. enl. 375 and 376. — Fringilla velata 
Ltcht. Swains. Zool. 111. n. s. t. 37-; Loxia melanocephala Gmel. 
2. H. grandis. — Ploceus eollaris Fmv. Proc. Z. S. 1842. 142. ! 
3. H. larvata (Riipp.) Faun. Abyss, t. 32. f. 1. — Loxia 
abyssinica.^ Gwe/. 4. H. vehitn (Vieill.) Ency. Meth. 701. 
5. U. capitaii.1 (Lath.) Lath. Syn. pi. 112. 6. H. yutturalis 
(Vigors), Proc. Z. S. 1831. 92. 7- H. spilonota (Vigors), Proc. 
Z. S. 1831. 92., A. Smith, 111. S. Afr. Zool. pi. 66. f. 1. — Ploceus 
stictonotus A. Smith; Ploceus flaviceps Swains. B. of W. Afr. 
pi. 32. S. H. ocularia (A. Smith), Proc. S. Afr. Inst., 111. S. 
Afr. Zool. pi. 30. f. 2 9. H. hrachyptera (Swains.) B. of VV. 
Afr. pi. 10. 10. Yi . per-^onata (Swains.) Two Cent, and a Quart. 
306. 11. H. cnculhtta (Swains.) Two Cent, and a Quart. 307. 
12. H. Galbida (Riipp.) Faun. Abyss, t. 32. f. 2. 13. H. 
flavocapilla (Vieill.) Ency. Me'th. 698. 14. U.eoHarin (Vieill.) 
Ency. Meth. 699. 15. H. vitellina (Licht.) Cat. Dupl. Berl. 
Mus. No. 237. 16. H. personata (Vieill.) Gal. des Ois. t. 84. — 
Ploceus melanotis Swains. 17. U. uurocapilla (Swains.) Two 
Cent, and a Quart. 346. 18. H. aureoflava (A. Smith), 111. S. 
Afr. Zool. p. . 19. H. suhaurea (A. Smith), 111. S. Afr. Zool. 
pi. 30. f. 1. — Ploceus tahatahi A.Smith. 20. U. aurifron.^ 
(Temm.). PI. col. 175, 176. — Ploceus icterocephalus iS'wam*. 
21. H. capensis (A. Smith), 111. S. Afr. Zool. pi. 66. — Ploceus 
abyssinicus Ciiv. 22. U. aurantia (Vieill.) Ois. Chant, pi. 44. 
23. H. chrysogastra (Vigors), Proc. Z. S. 1831. 92. 24. 
H. ruhiginosa (Rupp.) Faun. Abyss, pi. 33. f. 1. 25. H. me- 
lanotis (Lafr.) Mag. de Zool. 1839. pi. 7 26. H. castaneo- 
fusca (Lafr.) Rev. Zool. 1840. 99. 27- H. isabellina (Lafr.) 
Rev. Zool. 18iO. 226. 28. H. G«eWm. — Ploceus melanotis 
Giier. Rev. Zool. 1843. 321. 
Sycobius Vieill.* 
Bill as long as the head, with the culmeii and the lateral margins curved, the latter very slightly 
sinuated ; the nostrils basal, exposed, and rounded. Wings moderate, and somewhat rounded ; ^Tith the 
first quill very short, the second equalling the eighth, the third longer than the seventh, and the fourth 
and fifth of equal length. Tail moderate, and even or slightly rounded. Feet robust and strongly 
scaled ; vAi\\ the inner toe shorter than the outer, and the claws strong and curved, especially that of 
the hind toe. 
The birds of this division are peculiar to the Western and Southern portions of Africa. 
1. S. cristatus Vieill. Ois. Chant, pi. 42. — Tanagra malembica, | 
Ann. du Mus. 11. t. x. ; Ploceus cristatus Vieill. 2. S. ruhri- 
collis (Swains.). — Malimbus cristatus $ . Vieill. Ois. Chant, pi. 43. 
3. S. nigerrimus {y'\e\\\.) Ency. Me'th. 700. — Ploceus niger 
Swains. 4. S. nigricollis (Vieill.). — Malimbus nigricollis Vieill. 
Ois. Chant, pi. 45. 5. S.collaris (Gray), Zool. Misc. 1. p. 6. 
6. S. nitens (Gray), Zool. Misc. 1. p. 7. 7. S. bicolor 
(Vieill.) Ency. Meth. 698. — Symplectes chrysomus Swai}is. B. 
of W. Afr. 1. 170.; Eupodes xanthosomus .lard. S; Selby, 111. 
Orn. n. s. pi. 10. 8. S. gregalis (Licht.) Cat. Dupl. Berl. Mus. 
No. 234. 
Ploceus Cuv.f 
Bill short, thick at the base, pointed at the tip, laterally compressed, with the culmen smooth, rounded, 
and advancing on the forehead in a point, the lateral margins slightly sinuated and angulated at the 
base, and the gonys lengthened and ascending upwards ; the nostrils basal, rounded, and partly hidden 
by the frontal plumes. Wings moderate, with the first quill very sliort, the second shorter than the 
third, the third to the fifth longest, and the tertials nearly the length of the quills. Tail moderate, with 
the end even or slightly rounded. Tarsi as long as, or longer than, the middle toe ; the inner 
shorter than the outer ; and the claws long, slender, slightly curved, and compressed. 
India and Africa are the countries of these bii'ds, where they are generally found among the trees near the banks 
of rivers. During the summer they are very destructive to gai'dens, feeding on seeds, rice, and small fruits. The 
sexes differ much in colour, the males during the breeding season becoming of rich and bright plumage. Some seek the 
reeds which margin the streams, and others trees that overhang rivers or wells (in India), in order to suspend their 
curiously formed woven nests. 
* Established by Vieillot in (^Analyse, p. 33.) I8I6, in the place of Malimbus, which he had proposed in 1805 ; in 1820 he added a 
third name Ficophagiis. Mr. Swainson, in 1837, gave the name of Symplectes ; and in the same year Sir W. Jardine published Eupodes. 
These are coequal with the above. 
t Proposed by Cuvier {Kegne .Animal, 1st edit. p. 406.) in 1817- In 1831 M. Lesson gave the division the name of Oryx, while in 
1832 two other names were established, viz. Pyromelana of Pr. Bonaparte, and Euplectes of Mr. Swainson. 
A 
