cephalus_, make their nests of a kidney shape, with the entrance
upon the sides, and the latter not circular, but like an arched doorway.
Others of the genus _Plocepasser_ weave their nests in such a manner,
that the thick ends of the stalks stick out all around the outside,
giving them the appearance of suspended hedgehogs; while the birds of
another genus closely allied to the latter, construct their nests of
slender twigs, leaving the ends of these to project in a similar manner.
The "social grosbeak" fabricates a republic of nests in one clump, and
all under one roof. The entrances are in the under-surface of this mass,
which, occupying the whole top of a tree, has the appearance of a
haystack, or a dense piece of thatch.

All these weaver-birds, though of different genera, bear a considerable
resemblance to each other in their habits. They are usually granivorous,
though some are insectivorous; and one species, the "red-billed weaver
bird" is a parasite of the wild buffaloes.

It is a mistake to suppose that weaver-birds are only found in Africa
and the Old World, as stated in the works of many naturalists. In
tropical America, birds of this character are found in many species of
the genera _Cassicus_ and _Icterus_, who weave pensile nests of a
similar kind upon the trees of the Amazon and Orinoco. But the true
weaver-birds--that is to say, those which are considered the type of the
class,--are those of the genus _Ploceus_; and it was a species of this
genus that had hung their pendulous habitations upon the weeping willow.
They were of the species known as the "pensile weaver-bird."

There were full twenty of their nests in all, shaped as already
described, and of green colour--for the tough "Bushman's grass," out of
which they had been woven, had not yet lost its verdant hue, nor would
it for a long time. Being of this colour, they actually looked like
something that grew upon the tree,--like great pear-shaped fruits. No
doubt from this source have been derived the tales of ancient
travellers, who represented that in Africa were trees with fruits upon
them, which, upon being broken open, disclosed to view either living
birds or their eggs! Now the sight of the weaver-birds, and their nests,
was nothing new to Trueey. It was some time since the colony had
established itself upon the willow-tree, and she and they had grown well
acquainted. She had often visited the birds, had collected seeds, and
carried them dow