SOME CLEVER WEAVERS 41 
able workmen, and go about their labor with the 
utmost intelligence and skill. After selecting a 
lofty tree, with good screening foliage, in some 
retired and sheltered place, all hands get up the 
materials for nest building. Dry grasses, bits of 
twig, root fiber, and plant down are brought in 
and piled about on the ground in neat orderly 
piles, just as we would place our lumber, cement, 
and sand, if we were going to build a house. 
Moreover, like the true architects that they are, 
these little weavers first put up their framework 
and shingle their roof, so to speak. The tough¬ 
est and longest of their root fibers are selected and 
draped over the branches and made fast. These 
are the rafters, and when all are in place they are 
ingeniously woven and interwoven with fine 
grasses until a splendid, water-proof, umbrella¬ 
shaped roof is secured. Only the females work 
when it comes to the weaving; the men are too 
awkward and clumsy, I suspect, to be trusted 
with the delicate threads. They would be most 
certain to catch a toe-nail carelessly somewhere 
and undo the work of hours, perhaps past repair. 
It is safer not to have them on the scene. 
“ Once the roof is done, each little housewife 
fashions her own special nest pouch. These are 
made of much the same materials as were used in 
the roof construction, and are carefully woven 
fast to it, and lined with the softest plant down 
