All rights reserved. NovEMiiER, 1015. 
BIRD NOTES: 
THE 
JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB 
Breeding of Taha Weavers (Pyromelana taha). 
Bv W. Shore-Bailv. 
In the- auiiinin of 1913 two or three of the dealers 
weri advertising Taha Weavers at the not very extravagant 
price ol" i 5s. per pair. As at that time I was, and still am, 
for that matter, very much interested in Weavers of all kinds, 
I asked the dealer to send me a pair. On their arrival, I at 
first thought that a mistake had been made, and that a pair 
of Napoleons had been sent, but on a more careful exatnination 
I found that the black on the males' (breast was carried) 
right up to the throat. This is the only way, as far as I can 
see, in which they differ from the cock of P. afra. The hens 
of the two varieties are indistinguishable. In the spring of 
1 91 4 1 secured a second pair from one of our lady mem- 
bers, and these were turned together with the first pair into 
a large out duov aviary, both cocks !)eing at the time out of 
colour. 
They got their breeding plumage in June, but no at- 
tempt was made at nest building. 'They simply spent all their 
time chasing each other all over the aviary. Very pretty they 
looked, too, darting in and out of the tall artichoke stalks, 
reminding one of the large black and yellow butterflies one 
sees in Central America. 
This spring, after having wintered them indoors, I 
turned them into another aviary containing laurel and box 
bushes, also some clumps of common rushes. In with them 
amongst other birds were a fiock of Napoleon Weavers, making 
altogether a grand display of colour. 
In the middle of July one of the hens built a very 
neat dome-shaped nest in the rushes. On the 17th of the 
montli two eggs were laid, white, lightly spotted with brown, 
and a rather long oval in shape. They were quite one third 
