48 
NATURE NOTES 
is not the true ‘ weaver,’ but a species of house-sparrow. The 
true name here of the weaver-bird is Burong] Chukria, probably 
an onomatopoeic word.” 
Another correspondent from Singapore also writes me : “ I 
think you will be pleased to hear that I have been able to get a 
little more accurate information as to the reason for the bits of 
mud in the weaver-bird’s nest. One of Simon Ooorozo’s boys 
says that when at Tanjaig Katong a short time ago, he and some 
other boys found a weaver-bird’s nest with three young ones, 
and also saw sticking in the mud three fireflies.” 
I also addressed my son at Lahore, in the Punjab, and 
though unable to gain further information on the spot, he drew 
my attention to Skeat’s “ Malay Magic,” published last year, 
in which he writes : “ Besides the ordinary bottle-shaped nest, 
the weaver-birds also occasionally make a hood-shaped or rather 
a helmet-shaped nest, alleged by the Malays to be the male 
bird’s swing {Biiayan). This swing resembles the upper half of 
an ordinary bottle-shaped nest, with a perch across it, woven of 
grass. On the walls of the swing, just over each end of the 
perch is a small daub of clay. The Malays allege that the male 
bird swings in it while the female is sitting, and that the young, 
too, ‘ take the air ’ in it when able to fly so far. Into the daubs 
of mud over the perch, the male bird sticks fireflies for light at 
night.” 
Still desirous, if possible, to solve this problem, I obtained 
“ Lang’s Animal Story Book,” in which he gives notes from 
Vaillant and Paterson about builders and weavers, and writes : 
“ There are a whole quantity of birds spread over the world, 
who are almost exclusively weavers, and can form nests which 
hang down from the branch of a tree without any support. To 
this class belongs the Indian sparrow, which prefers to build on 
the top of the very highest trees, especially on the Indian fig, 
and particularly on those growing by a river side. He weaves 
together tough grass in the form of a bottle, and hangs it from a 
branch, so that it rocks to and fro like a hammock. In these 
nests glow-worms have been found, carefully fastened into a 
piece of fresh clay, but whether the bird deliberately tries in this 
way to light up his dark nest, or whether he has some other 
use for the glow-worm, has never been found out, but it seems 
quite certain he does not ‘ eat it,’ as Sir William Jones once 
supposed.” 
I had written this far, and concluded that it was about time 
for me to sum up the evidence I had received, and what my own 
observations had led me to, when I received a further valuable 
offer of assistance from an influential Malay chief, who was pre- 
pared to direct his people to watch these weaver-birds, both by 
night and by day, and to give me the result of their investi- 
gations, so with your permission, I hope to add another short 
paper upon the receipt of this information. 
'' Scotia,” Preston Pay/^', I. F. A. McNair, 
Brighton. Major K.A., C.M.G. 
