"The bird comes forth when the young are fully fledged, at the period when the corn is ripe. Indeed, her appearance abroad with her young is one of the signs for knowing when it ought to be harvested.
"She is said sometimes to hatch two eggs, and when the young of these are full-fledged, another pair are just out of the eggshell. She then leaves the nest with the two elder, the orifice is again plastered up, and both male and female attend to the wants of the young which are left."
The African weavers are remarkable for the eccentricity of the shape and design of their nests. Most of these nests dangle at the end of twigs and sway in every breeze. Some of them are long, others short. Many have the entrance to the nest at one side, some have it at the bottom, others near the top.
Some of these nests are slung like hammocks; others are suspended from the end of a twig; others still are built in palms, and since these trees have no branches nor twigs the nests are fastened to the ends of the leaves.
Some nests are made of the finest and most delicate fibers, while others are of the coarsest kinds of straw. Many are of open texture, so that the eggs within can be easily seen; others are extremely strong and thick, so that one might well believe that they had been constructed by a professional thatcher.
One variety of weaver, though a pretty little bird, is no great favorite with the African farmers. It is very numerous in the cultivated regions, and does not scruple to help itself to the produce of the gardens. Hence the owners are obliged to keep a close watch if they would secure a fair share of the crops.
Another weaver, the yellow-capped, is remarkable for the extreme neatness and compactness of the nest it builds. The body of the nest is of seed-stems, so closely interwoven that it may be roughly handled, or even kicked about like a football, without being destroyed. Its interior is a lining which consists of layers of flat leaves, kept in place by their own elasticity, and thus affording a soft resting place for the eggs and nestlings.
On one occasion Livingstone, while collecting wood for the evening fire, found a bird's nest which consisted of live leaves sewn together with threads of the spider's web. Nothing could exceed the airiness of this pretty contrivance. The threads had been pushed through small punctures, and thickened to resemble a knot. Unfortunately he lost this nest, which was the second one he had seen resembling that of the tailor bird of India.
This same traveler states that while exploring the rapids of the Leeambye, in passing along under the overhanging trees of the banks, he often saw the pretty turtle doves sitting peacefully on their nests above the roaring torrent. In one instance an ibis had perched her home on the end of a stump. Her loud, harsh scream of "Wa-wa-wa," and the piping of the fish-hawk, were sounds which could never be forgotten by any one who had sailed on the rivers north of 20° south latitude.
As he stepped on shore, a species of plover followed him, flying overhead, and it was most persevering in its attempts to give fair warning to all the animals within hearing to flee from the approaching danger.