3 68 
PERCHING BIRDS. 
Among the four representatives of the genus the best known is the common sociable 
weaver-bird (P. socius), of the interior of South Africa. This species congregates 
in large flocks, many pairs incubating their eggs under the same roof, which is 
composed of whole cartloads of grass piled on a branch of some camel-thorn tree 
in one enormous mass of an irregular umbrella shape, looking like a miniature 
haystack and almost solid, but with the under surface (which is nearly flat) 
honeycombed all over with little cavities, which serve not only as places for 
incubation, but also as a refuge against rain and wind. Dr. Guillemard remarks 
that the nests of the sociable weaver-birds probably last for a great number of 
years. They are constantly being repaired by their active little inhabitants. It is 
curious that even the initiated eye is constantly being deceived by these peculiar 
domed-topped structures, since at a distance they closely resemble native huts. The 
nesting-chambers themselves are warmly lined with feathers. The sociable weaver- 
bird subsists chiefly upon seeds, and often feeds in company with many individuals 
of its own kind. The eggs are drab in ground-colour, closely speckled with purple- 
grey. The male birds are somewhat pugnacious, frequently indulging in fights 
with their rivals. The plumage of the adult males is drab-brown above, edged 
with grey. The chin is black and the under-parts are pale isabelline brown, the 
flanks being varied with black, edged with whitish. 
Cut-Throat With these birds we reach a group of genera in which the 
Weaver-Finches, nostrils are more or less completely hidden by the nasal plumes, and 
which are specially distinguished by the tail being somewhat elongated and its 
feathers narrow, as well as by the pointed wing and the swollen and rounded 
beak, in which the cutting-edge of the upper mandible is festooned near the 
base. The genus Amadina includes three African species, one {A. fasciata ) having 
the throat marked by a crimson band extending to the ear-coverts. This species 
ranges across Central and Northern Africa, and is represented in South Africa 
by another (A. erythrocephala), in which the whole of the head and throat 
are red. 
It would be impossible in the limits of our space to point out 
The Munias. i 
how the munias are distinguished from all their allies, but it may 
be mentioned that the central tail-feathers are produced and pointed, while the 
whole tail is wedge-shaped. They possess a powerful, swollen, and rounded beak, 
which is most strongly developed in the common Java sparrow. The wings are 
moderately long; and the tail is graduated and rounded at the extremity. Some 
thirty species of munias are known, ranging through the Oriental region to New 
Guinea and Timor, while several species also inhabit the African continent; 
Sharpe’s munia being a native of West Africa, while Munia nana is found in the 
island of Madagascar. The Java sparrow is also known in Africa, but as an 
introduced bird, and in Zanzibar, Mauritius, and Reunion, just as it has become 
wild in parts of India, as at Madras and in Tenasserim. 
One of the commonest of cage-birds in Europe is the well-known rice-bird, 
paddy-bird, or Java sparrow (M. oryzivora), which has long been domesticated. 
Latterly, indeed, pure white specimens have been extensively bred in confinement, 
and have become an article of trade, being valued for their snowy plumage, which 
harmonises with their pink bills. In Java and other parts of Asia this munia is 
