220 
JV cavers. 
Weaver (llypluDiiorjiis citnillata), and, strange to say, tliey aro 
complete breeding;' nests, except that they are not Hned, and not 
merely bachelor-shelters, as is usually the case with unmated 
birds. The other represents a nest of the Black-headed Weaver 
(H .mela}wcc phala), who is also unmated, and has not been 
long in the aviary; this is the first nest he has built and is also a 
complete nest, exceiH that it is not lined — it promised to be a 
mere sphere at first, and the spout, unusual in form (squarish ac 
the top) was added some days after the sphere was complete. 
The Weavers enjoy a very mixed reputation, and some 
species as a whole certainly merit the character of pugnacity 
awarded them ; and I must say that both from my own experience 
and hearsay evidence the Rufous-necked is unsafe in a mixed 
series of large and small finch-like birds, and amiable individuals 
are, I fear, the exception and not the rule. The Orange Weaver 
(Pyromelana franciscana) is another species of very mixed tem- 
perament, so is the Madagascar (P. madagoscaricnsis), so is the 
Crimson-crowned (P. fammtccps), and the Grenadier (F. oryx); 
but with all these amiable individuals are of more frequent 
occurrence. 
However, in an aviary devoted to weavers, though there 
is a more or less continuous uproar, most species can be included 
together; squabbling is more or less continuous, chattering and 
bad language incessant, but of serious combativeness little or 
none. They prefer to filch material for nest-building from 
other partly-finished nests to obtaining it from the orthodox 
source, and this alone causes endless clamour, but it all adds 
to the fun and interest of the aviary. An aviary either devoted 
to weavers, or one containing a few species of weavers and other 
birds, is certainly never deadly dull ! 
Weavers, as a group, live largely on seed and greenfood. 
but they certainly take and are very keen after all the live insect 
life the aviary provides, and there is certainly very little prospect 
of young weavers being successfully reared unless there is a good 
supply of living insects available while they are being fed in the 
nest — true, in a large wilderness aviary they will capture the 
bulk for themselves unless the aviary is over-crowded, but the 
aviarist should see that some live insects are supplied three or 
