WEAVER BIRDS 
Carrying huge quantities of grass to a branch of the camel-thorn or mimosa 
tree, the weaver birds construct an umbrella-shaped mass, resembling a 
miniature haystack, which they regard as a community apartment house. 
The construction is almost solid, but the undersurface is honeycombed 
with little holes having no communication with one another. These are used 
not only for incubating the weaver bird’s eggs but also for shelter against 
the wind and rain. Each nest is warmly lined with feathers. Twenty or 
more of these sociable, scaly-brown, red-necked birds gather together in 
the nesting season to build the common habitation. 
Every year the “haystacks” are added to until there is no more room 
on the limb, or until the tree gives way beneath the weight. The young birds 
set to work on nests of their own in bushes near the parental home. Three 
or four eggs are laid. 
The cocks of this species are not always as congenial as their nesting 
habits would indicate. They are extremely pugnacious and often fight one 
another to the point of exhaustion. When the weaver birds are not occupied 
with such domestic concerns, they fly about in great flocks in search of 
grass seeds, berries and beetles. 
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