J'orcign Finchcs in Captivity.
wliich 1 found him dead below a pot of pea-sticks which formed a favourite
roosting place of these AVeavers.
The "Madagascar Weaver does not, however, confine his attacks to other
species of his ow'n group, he is very fond of scaring away Ja\'a Sparrows or
the St. Helena Seed-eater from the seed-hoppers, or from his favourite twigs ;
but curious]}' enough I have never knowTi him to molest young birds, however
near they might come to him : this must have surprised the parents as
well as m^'self, for they distincth* sho-wed their uers'ousness when their newly
fledged youngsters clambered up on that cluster of pea-sticks, and did their
utmost to coax them away from the dreaded neighbourhood.
M)' IMadagascar Weavers have never shown the least inclination to build,
nor have thev taken any special notice of the solitary hen of their own
species in the aviary ; occasionalh* they have made one jump after her, but
when she flew awa}-, they never attempted to pursue her.
Dr. Russ rightly says that very little has been noted respecting the wild
life of this bird, but that in every respect it corresponds with that of the
Fire-Weavers, the species being seen in pairs at nesting-time, but subsequently
in families, which later unite into immense swarms and do considerably mischief
to the seed-crops. " In ornamental plumage, which in IMadagascar the males
assume in October and in Réunion in November and December, they fight one
another furiously. The Naturalist Pollen describes the nest as pear-shaped,
with lateral entrance hole, made of fine grasses, plaited between two to four
branches of Acacia, Mimosa, Tamarisk, &e., sometimes also in a reed-thieket.
Lafresnayes on the other hand figures the nest of a longish round shape and
suspended between thin twigs. Nothing more definite is recorded."
Dr. Russ' Weavers, when in colour, seem to have had continual disputes;
Napoleon, Orange and Madagascar Weavers each fighting the others. In my
Bird-room, on the contrary, the Comoro Weaver is master of them all; and
both Orange and Napoleon Weavers fly without hesitation from the Madagascar
Weaver, neT,'er attempting to hold their own against him.
" T h e fights between these Weavers are very comical. The Madagascar
Weaver bristles up the neck-feathers, stoops his head downwards, holds the
beak horizontally, like a lance in rest, at the same time he lets his wings
droop and likewise bends his tail downwards. The Fire-finch bristles up the
feathers of the nape, like the mane of a lion, and also the short soft feathers
of the crown ; at the same time he stretches his entire body perpendicularly and
assumes a most extraordinary position. Thus tliej' stand opposite to one
The Madanucar IJ 'cavcr.
another; now the Fire-finch presses the Madagascar Weaver, so that the latter
suddenly hops aside, then suddenly the former makes a rush and again puts
him to flight. Then one wheels to the right, the other to the left, each to
as elevated a roosting-place as possible, whence they hiss out their hoarse
notes against eacli other, which constitute their song of war, victory and love.
" Before I more thoroughly understood the peculiarities of all these
Weaver-birds, I always offered them the greatest possible variety of different
materials for building their nests. Thus at one time I imagined that fresli
blades of grass, and at another time that cocoa-fibre would be welcome to them.
Every breeder can, however, soon satisfy himself of the fact that most Weavers
which find their way into our Bird-rooms, choose by preference Agave or Aloefibre.
" T h e Madagascar Weaver first completed a nest when in grey plumage
but he tore it to pieces again and carried on the game of construction and
destruction for a considerable time. At length, in the middle of the month
of June, when he was again glowing in full ornamental plumage and had just
completed the building of a nest on the usual lines, I noticed that the female
also, which up to that time had been perfectly idle, was busily looking about
for suitable building materials and carrying them into the nest. Whereas up
to this time the male had always pursued his wife and chased her awa}^ from
food, water, &c., he now commenced q^uite a peculiar love-sport. Uttering a
shrill sound like a bat, the gorgeous Weaver fluttered with quivering wings
about the Sparrow-grej- female, followed it in all its movements, not however
as previously hunting it, but courting, whizzing about with extraordinary
gestures, similar to his fighting action, with drooping wings; then, hopping
in front of it upon a branch, bending the body over backwards, immediately
afterwards pursuing it in its fiight, lastly climbing to an elevation, he hissed
out to it his comical song.
" The very moment that this brood was fairly started, the male busied
himself in building a new nest, and when both the nearly fledged young had
come to grief through an accident, the female, two days later, began busily
to eariy material into the latter also. She collected, more especially, long
fibres of flax-silk and vegetable wool, in order, as I supposed, to line the
nest-cavit}' therewith. This supposition, however, was not correct. Two days
later the first egg appeared in the nest and, in the intervals between each
day and the other, one egg was laid. The female incubated splendidly, it was
not fed, but merely guarded by the male. The latter now developed a scarcely
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