THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
357 
resemblance to cardboard in evenness and texture. The nest is located usually 
where two forks start from the trunk of a tree, and is substantial to a degree. 
The Bob-o’-link, or Orchard Oriole (Xcinthomis varius) , is a pretty bird, 
with cheerful voice and vivacious manners. Its nest, though not so large, is 
very similar to that which the Baltimore oriole constructs ; indeed, there is a 
striking resemblance to the nests, and habits as well, of all the oriole family. 
The Baya Sparrow, also called Toddy Bird (. Plocens baya ), of India, is 
remarkable for the very singular nest it builds, in which respect it has but a 
single rival, in the species following, which must close our descriptions of the 
singular nest-building varieties, though the list is not nearly exhausted. The 
baya sparrow is a small species, gregarious in habits, and so extremely sociable 
that hundreds build their nests in the same tree, and get on together without 
serious wrangles, unlike their 
English relatives. The p 1 u- 
mage is a bright yellow, with 
wings, back and tail tipped with 
brown. The acacia and date- 
tree are usually selected, from 
the smaller branches of which, 
and near the extremity, the 
nests are fixed, hanging down 
like so many bottles, the sides 
of some being provided with a 
small shelf, upon which the male 
rests while the female is hatch¬ 
ing her brood. The appear¬ 
ance of a tree, with several 
hundreds of these pensile nests 
hanging from its branches, is 
so singular that persons view¬ 
ing them for the first time 
invariably suppose the tree to 
be laden with some strange 
fruit. 
The Sociable Weaver Bird 
(Philetcerus socius ) is a native 
of Africa, notable only for the 
surpassingly strange nest it con¬ 
structs, which characteristic has caused it to become one of the best known 
birds of the world, through the printed matter that has been issued concern¬ 
ing it. Like the baya sparrow, these are gregarious birds, and congregate 
their habitations in a tree, rearing by their combined labors a structure so 
large that it may be seen at several miles’ distance, and, at times, so weighty 
as to break down the tree, though it is most commonly built in an acacia 
called the giraffe thorn, one of the toughest trees known. 
The sociable weaver is sometimes called the sociable grosbeak , being a 
member of the grosbeak family. It is a desert dweller, and usually selects a 
tree which, while isolated, is sheltered from the fierce storms common in hot, arid 
districts. The birds are always found in very large numbers, apparently con- 
nest of grass weaver (Fondia eiythrops). 
