Passkues. BIUUS. Frisgileii)^. 
3G8 
and one of the oldest known species is the Pliilippine 
Weaver-hird, a native of the Philippine Islands, as 
implied in its name, and also apparently identical with 
the species known as the Baya in India. 
The Pliilippine Weaver-bird is a small species, less 
than si:v inches in length, of a brown colour above, and 
yellowish-white beneath, with the crown of the head, 
the neck, and the breast yellow. It is deseribed as 
suspending its nest by a cord of consi lerable length 
from the branch of a tree, so as to be inaccessible to 
snakes and monkeys ; the nest is said to contain a 
chamber for the male and another for the female, the 
former being situated close to the opening at the bottom 
of the nest, through which the birds obtain access to 
their snug apartments ; here the male stations himself 
to watch over the safety of his family, and the natives 
believe that he attaches to the wall of his chamber a 
patch of soft clay, to which he fastens a fire-fly to serve 
as a night-light. 
The Baj'a of India, which, if not identical with, is 
very nearly allied to the Philippine species, js better 
known, and, from the observations of the European 
l esidents in India, we can obtain more accurate infor- 
mation as to its proceedings. The nest of this species 
is usually suspended from the tips of the leaves of 
the fan-palm, where they are perfectly secure from all 
filunderers, but sometimes from the babul, a species of 
Mimosa, whose fortnidablo thorns suffice to keep all 
intruders at a distance. It is composed of a mass of 
•tried grass, closely interwoven, and looking externally 
like a gradually enlarging purse, of thirteen or fourteen 
inches in length, and about seven inches in diameter 
at the lowest part, where the true nest is situated. 
This consists only of a single chamber, the opening of 
which is at one side, access to it being obtained by 
means of a cylindrical passage hanging down from the 
bottom of the nest. The male has a separate, but less 
perfect nest of his own, and in this Mr. Layard always 
ibund two small masses of clay, attached one on each 
side of the perch occupied by the bird ; the Cingalese 
asserted that these were for the reception of the fire- 
llies which they believ'e the male bird takes into his 
abode at the approach of night, but Mr. Layard was 
unable to ascertain anything about their use. 
THE MADAGASCAR WEAVER-BIRD (f’focc^^.s^?ens^7is), 
called the Ndi-courvi by Sonnerat, is of the size of 
our common sparrow, and of a green colour, with the 
head and throat yellow, the belly gray, the vent red, 
and the quill-feathers black. This bird builds its nest 
usually at the extremity of the leaves of a tree on the 
bank of a rivulet, composing it of straws and ruslies, 
neatly interwoven into the form of a pouch, from one 
side of which there hangs a long cylindrical tube, serv- 
ing as a passage to the nest, the opening being, as 
usual, at the bottom. This bird has the curious habit 
of returning year after year to the same spot and build- 
ing a new nest attached to the bottom of the old one, 
so that as many as five nests may be seen thus placed 
one below the other.^ They are very sociable in their 
habits, as many as five or six hundred nests being 
sometimes suspended from a single tree. 
THE ABYSSINIAN WEAVER-BIRD (PZoceMstormtM.'?), 
a lather larger species, is of a yellowish colour, with 
the crown of the head, the throat and the breast black. 
It builds a pyramidal nest suspended over the water 
at the extremity of a small branch, and having the 
opening on one side of the pyramid, usually tunied 
towards the east, the quarter from which the rain does 
not come. The interior is divided into two chambers 
by a partition ; the innermost apartment is the true 
nest. 
THE REPUBLICAN GROSBEAK {P/rilceterus socius), 
which is also a species of Weaver, is an inhabitant of 
Southern Africa, where it lives in vast societies. It is 
nearly six inches in length, and of a grayish-brown 
colour, paler or yellowish beneath ; the face and throat 
are black, and there are numerous black spots on the 
flanks. These birds construct an enormous assemblage 
of nests under a common roof, placed amongst the 
branches of a ti’ee ; the roof is formed of a vast mass 
of herbage closely interwoven, so as to throw off the 
heaviest rain, and the separate nests or chambers 
occupied by the birds are appended to the lower sur- 
face and sides of the general mass, whieh are perforated 
all over with the small apertures through which the 
birds obtain access to their dwellings. It is said that 
the birds construct new chambers every year, so that 
the mass of materials is constantly increasing, and 
sometimes becomes so great as to cause the destruction 
of the tree. A large nest examined by Le Vaillant 
contained three hundred and twenty inhabited cham- 
bers. The same writer states that these birds do not 
pair, but that each male has several wives, each of 
which, in accordance with the ordinary custom of 
societies where polygamy is practised, has a separate 
residence of her own. 
THE RED-BILLED TEXTOR {Textor erythrorhynclius), 
another South African species, nearly allied to the pre- 
ceding, is nearly twelve inches in length, and is entirely 
of a black colour, with the bill coral-red, and the 
margins of the wing feathers white. It is remarkable, 
from its being found always about the buffaloes, feed- 
ing upon the numerous parasitic insects with which 
those unwieldy beasts are constantly infested. It also 
acts the part of a sentinel to the buffaloes; for, on the 
approach of any suspicious object, the Textor will 
suddenly fly up, and thus give timely notice to their 
quadruped friends of the vicinity of danger. 
THE DIOCH {Quelea sanyuinirostris), which appeal's 
to inhabit most parts of Africa, is a small bird, less 
than five inches in length ; its plumage on the upper 
surface is variegated with black and brown, the former 
occupying the middle, and the latter the margins of the 
feathers ; the breast and flanks are grayish-brown, with 
darker brown spots ; the belly and lower tail-coverts 
are nearly white; the face and throat are blackish, 
the throat reddish, and the bill blood-red. This bird 
constructs a most ingenious nest, forming it of dried 
herbage neatly interwoven into a nearly spherical form, 
with one flat side, in which the opening is situated ; 
the birds are said to soften and twist about the mate- 
rials of their nest until they are fit to be woven into the 
fabric, and the male and female work in concert in its 
construction, one going inside the nest while the other 
remains outside, so as to pass the fibres through from 
one to the other without loss of time. 
