Where so many forms are concerned, only a few of the most important can now be mentioned. The type of Cuvier’s genus is certainly the Loxia philippina of Linnaeus, so termed from the islands it inhabits. But the typical Weaver-bird of Latham (not that he had the name in that precise form) is the Hyphantornis cucullata or textor of modern writers, an African species, and it is to the Ethiopian Region that by far the greatest number of these birds belong, and in it they seem to attain their maximum of development. They are all small, with, generally speaking, a Sparrow-like build; but in richness of colouring the males of some are very conspicuous—glowing in crimson, scarlet or golden-yellow, set off by jet-black, while the females are usually dull in hue. Some species build nests that are not very remarkable, except in being almost invariably domed—others (such as the Philippine Weaver-bird, Ploceus philippinus, just named) fabricate singular structures of closely and uniformly interwoven tendrils or fine roots, that often hang from the bough of a tree over water, and, starting with a solidly wrought rope, open out into a globular chamber, and then contract into a tube several inches in length, through which the birds effect their exit and entrance. But the most wonderful nests of all, and indeed the most wonderful built by birds, are those of the so-called Sociable Grosbeak, Philhetaerus socius, of Africa. These are composed wholly of grass, and are joined together to the number of 100 or 200—indeed 320 are said to have been found in one of these aggregated masses, which usually take the form of a gigantic mushroom, affording a home and nursery to many pairs of the birds which have been at the trouble of building it. These nests, however, have been so often described and figured by South-African travellers that there is no need here to dilate longer on their marvels. It may be added that this species of Weaver-bird, known to French writers as the Républicain, is of exceptionally dull plumage.

The group of Widow-birds, Viduinae, is remarkable for the extraordinary growth of the tail-feathers in the males at the breeding-season. In the largest species, Vidua (sometimes called Chera) progne, the cock-bird, which, with the exception of a scarlet and buff bar on the upper wing-coverts, is wholly black, there is simply a great elongation of the rectrices; but in V. paradisea the form of the tail is quite unique. The middle pair of feathers have the webs greatly widened, and through the twisting of the shafts their inferior surfaces are vertically opposed. These feathers are comparatively short, and end in a hair-like filament. The next pair are produced to the length of about a foot—the bird not being so big as a Sparrow—and droop gracefully in the form of a sickle. But this is not all: each has attached to its base a hair-like filament of the same length as the feather, and this filament originally adhered to and ran along the margin of the outer web, only becoming detached when the feather is full grown. In another species, V. principalis, the two middle pairs of rectrices are equally elongated, but their webs are convex, and the outer pair contains the inner, so that when the margins of the two pairs are applied a sort of cylinder is formed. The females of all the Widow-birds differ greatly in appearance from the males, and are generally clothed in a plumage of mottled brown.

Usually classed with the Weaver-birds is a vast group of small seed-eating forms, often called Spermestinae, but for which Estreldinae would seem to be a more fitting name. These comprehend the numerous species so commonly seen in cages, and known as Amadavats, Estrelda amandava, Nutmeg-birds, Munia punctularia, Waxbills, Pytelia melba and phoenicoptero, Cutthroats, Amadina fasciata, the Java Sparrow, Padda oryziνora, and many more than we can name. Many of these genera are common to Africa and India, and some also to Australia, but the last has several genera peculiar to itself, such as Donacicola and Poophila, there known as Grass-finches. The true affinity of these seems to require further investigation. (a. n.)