404 
LION AND HOTTENTOT. 
group of three nests — one being placed at the bottom, and another on 
each side. 
As the members of the community multiply, so also must the nests 
increase ; and as the addition can take place only on the surface, the 
new constructions necessarily mask the old ones, and compel their aban- 
donment. Even if the latter, contrary to all possibility, could continue 
to exist, we may conceive, says Le Vaillant, that in the recess or depth 
in which they would be placed, the tremendous heat they would experi- 
ence for want of a constant renewal and circulation of fresh air would 
render them uninhabitable ; but though becoming useless, they remain 
what they were before — namely, true nests. 
"The large nest, or nest -group, which I examined," says Le 
Vaillant, "and which was one of the most considerable I saw in my 
travels, contained three hundred and twenty cells ; so that, suppos- 
ing each to be inhabited by a male and female, they represented a 
society of six hundred and forty individuals. This calculation, how- 
ever, is not exact ; for the male has several mates among these birds, 
because the females are more numerous than the males. The same 
peculiarity is noticeable in many other species, but exists particularly 
among the sociable weaver-birds. Each time that I have shot at 
a flock of these birds, I have killed three times as many females as 
males." 
An idea of the magnitude of these societies may be gained from the 
following well-known anecdote. A Hottentot, whUe at work, was sur- 
prised by a lion, and fled for safety to the nearest tree, a kameel-dorn.* 
Discovering a nest-group of the weaver-bird among the branches, he 
hid himself behind the shelter thus afforded. The lion stood baffled at 
the foot of the tree, wondering where and how his intended victim had 
disappeared. But the Hottentot, in his anxiety or restlessness, peering 
over the nest to reconnoitre, exposed himself to the fiery eyes of the 
lion, which straightway rushed at the tree, and, as he could not ascend 
it, took up a waiting position, much to the Hottentot's inconvenience. 
For hours the lion watched, and the Hottentot trembled ; until the 
former was compelled by his thirst to abandon his guard, and go in 
* That is, the giraffe-thorn {Acacia giraffa). The giraffe is partial to its leaves. 
