ABOUT THE EUPLECTES. 
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found; but, more probably, these so-called imperfect nests have been 
for some cause or other deserted. 
AFRICAN WEAVER-BIRDS. 
Let us return to Africa, where we find the Eupledes Franciscanus, 
a weaver-bird, always busily at work. When, in the south of Nubia, 
the green dourra which flourishes in all the cultivated tracts along the 
banks of the Nile begins to ripen, the traveller is frequently witness of 
a superb spectacle. A loud babbling attracts his attention to a corner 
of the field, and there, on the tallest stalks, shining like a flame, he 
sees a splendid bird, which wheels about in every direction. This is 
the singer whose strain aroused him. Not long is he without an echo ; 
others of his kind reply, and dozens — nay, hundreds — of these dazzling 
vermilion-plumaged birds sparkle among the sea of verdure. Each, as 
he appears, seems anxious to solicit your admiration of his brilliancy. 
He lifts his wings, he bathes them in the warm radiance of the sun ; 
then away he flies, to reappear a moment afterwards. 
He and his congeners belong to the species Euplectes Franciscanus, 
which ranges from Central Nubia far into the interior of Africa. No 
lovers are they of the waste and wilderness. The poet's aspiration, 
" Oh that the desert were my dwelling-place ! " finds no response from 
them. The euplectes seeks the well-tilled fields, heavy with produce, 
and only as a last resource settles among the reeds and grasses. His 
paradise is a thriving field of millet ; and from thence it is by no 
means easy to expel him. He climbs up and down the long green 
stalks, or runs along the ground, in between their narrow interstices, 
concealing himself when any danger threatens. When the crops have 
been garnered, and the bare fields no longer aff'ord him an asylum, he 
prowls about the country. 
Though a social and gregarious bird, it would be an exaggeration 
to say that the euplectes forms colonies, like the grosbeak. The males 
stimulate one another to sing, as they swing to and fro on the wind- 
rocked blades of dourra; but they never suff"er their "angry passions" 
to drag them into hostile encounters. Their duels are bloodless ; they 
entertain, instead of irritating one another. Artists in song, they are 
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