My \Voavers and Whi/dahs. 
147 
I have kei)t during the past five years; I think, therefore, I 
may claim to have had a little experience with these, so-called 
pugnacious birds. 
My aviary is only a small one, about 10 x 11 x 7 
feet high. In this my Weavers were Hying loose with: 
1 pair Loiig-tailoJ Grassfinches {Pocphila acuticauda) . 
■4 Grey Singing Finchts; {iScrinus Icucopyyhin). 
2 cT Linnets . 
2 Goldfinch Mules. 
1 cf Greenfinch. 
1 cT Aurora Finch {I'yti lia phocnicopteru) . 
One young Canary was killed and one adult had itS' leg 
bitten; these two got out of a cage hanging on the wall— 
this was the sum total of maimed birds, so I must leave it 
to my readei's to judge for themselves whether Weavers are as 
black as they are painted. Do not misunderstand me, I do 
not make them out to be as " peaccfful as Doves "—they 
certainly do spar among themselves, but not one jot more 
than Zebra Finches, Cutthroats, and Grey Singingtinches, or 
even the Grey Java Sparrow. The latter I consider to be 
a more dangerous aviary bird than any of the Weaver -tribe, 
for he is given to biting the legs of the other occupants. 
Now, as regards the species 1 have found the most 
troublesome: The Rufous-necked when breeding is the most 
spiteful; next comes the Half -masked and sometimes the, 
Orange Bishop. The Grenadier is said to be quai'relsome, 
but only having kept one and that a vej-y tame individual 
of this species 1 will say nothing definite. The Baya is 
continually sparring with a young cock of his own kind, but 
does no damage to the other birds. 
As regards pulling the nests of other birds to pieces, 
Weavers simply must build when the breeding season is in 
full swing— no matter whether you keep only cocks or pairs, 
they will spend a great portion of their time weaving those 
wonderful retort shaped nests, mainly as a pastime, as very 
few of them seem inclined to take on family cares. The photo 
is of a few nests built by the Red-billed, Red-headed and 
Short -winged Weavers in my aviary last summer. In order 
to show how tame Weavers can become I may remark here 
that I have three which will feed from the hand in the aviary. 
Having' thus tried to prove that they are no"t really so bad 
