Birds of Africa, Comprising All the Species Which Occur in the Ethiopian Region e-bog

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The name of Weaver-bird has been given to the members of this family on account of their peculiar habit of weaving together the materials with which they construct their solid and often beautiful nests. When on reeds or in trees they are often suspended in colonies, and the entrance passage is frequently formed like a sleeve, varying from a few inches in length up to about five feet. Others will construct in company a single substantial roof for the protection of a whole colony. The family is confined to the tropical portion of the Old World. Some 250 species (more than two-thirds) inhabit the Ethiopian region, and only about ten of these range beyond its boundary. The members of this family may be readily distinguished from all the other Ethiopian Finches, not only by the well marked first primary being shorter than all the others, but also by the bare culmen extending back so as to divide the feathers of the forehead into two portions.