W eavcrs. 
221 
four times daily, and see that those feeding" young secure enougu 
to be a meal for their babies on each occasion; if this be done 
they will supplement it with dry and fresh seed, greenfood, and 
fill in all other time with foraiL^'ing for live-food themselves. 
As I write I envy our late member his experience when he 
took those weavers' nests in situ, and it is most regrettable that 
his notes thereupon have been lost. On behalf of the F.B.C. 
I must again express my thanks to his mother, Mrs. Dawson- 
Smith, for kindly sending and allowing us to use the photos. 
As a last word I would remark that in the breeding 
season an aviary of weavers is certainly very spectacular, and 
never lacks interest. The showy garments of their males, their 
fussiness, busyness, quaint and interesting deportment, and 
architectural skill all combine to supply a fund of interest that 
is never lacking, till the moult robs the males of their splendour, 
and they pass the resting period almost as plainly clad as their 
mates are all the year round, ere they, in the ordinary course 
of events, enter upon the arduous duties of another nesting 
season, and resume their splendid nuptial garb. 
For the benefit of our tyro members I will give a brief 
table of the colouration of the nuptial plumage of the most 
frequently imported species : 
Red-billed Weaver.- — Tawny-brown overlaid with a pinkish sheen, and 
black face mask. 
N.APOLEON Weaver. — Glistening black and sulphur-yellow. 
Taha Weaver. — Similar colouration to preceding but differently arranged. 
Orange Weaver. — Glistening black and ruddy orange-yellow. 
Crimson-crowned We.wer. — Glistening black, crimson, and flame-colour. 
Grenadier Weaver. — Crimson, fiery orange and shining black.' 
Madagascar Weaver.^ — Fiery scarlet, excepting the upper back and wings, 
which are dark and lighter brown washed with scarlet. 
Comoro Weaver. — Similar to the Madagascar, but has the underparts below 
the breast buffish-white. 
The genus HypUontorins. which includes Rufous-necked, 
Black-fronted, Masked, Half-masked, Black-headed, Speke's. 
Yellowish, etc., are all an arrangement of greens, yellows, 
black, and blackish browns; of course differently arranged in 
each species. 
The Chestnut-backd Weaver is an arrangement of black, 
dark browns, and rufous-chestnut. 
