. [Articles about birds from National geographic magazine]. Birds. CANARIES AND OTHER CAGE-BIRD FRIENDS 801 aviaries with a network of strands. If nests are started, they are usu- ally not fully completed (page 799), In the semiarid re- gions in Africa red- billed weavers gather in flocks that are enor- mous, as they may in- clude tens of thousands of birds. The late Dr. Edgar A. Mearns often told me of watching such bands in Ethiopia come to drink at small streams. The birds poured in until the ground was covered, and at the water's edge they literally piled on top of one another in a flutter
. [Articles about birds from National geographic magazine]. Birds. CANARIES AND OTHER CAGE-BIRD FRIENDS 801 aviaries with a network of strands. If nests are started, they are usu- ally not fully completed (page 799), In the semiarid re- gions in Africa red- billed weavers gather in flocks that are enor- mous, as they may in- clude tens of thousands of birds. The late Dr. Edgar A. Mearns often told me of watching such bands in Ethiopia come to drink at small streams. The birds poured in until the ground was covered, and at the water's edge they literally piled on top of one another in a fluttering, shifting mass. Often some unfortu- nate would be pinned down by the press of birds steadily alight- ing and held with its head under water until it drowned. Orange Weaver The orange weaver (Euplectes francis- cana), known to avi- culturists as the "orange bishop," is a native of northern trop- ical Africa. The male is a bird of handsome color and unusual plum- age, as the upper and under tail coverts are nearly as long as the tail, and the elongated flank feathers form puffs that are thrown out in display on either side (Color Plate V). The female and the young male are streaked, sparrowlike little birds with no hint of the brilliant colors of the adult male. These are birds kept primarily for color, and are found in many aviaries. Three dis- tinct species are ordinarily grouped as "orange bishops" by bird dealers, the one described above being the smallest. The red bishop, or grenadier bishop (Euplectes orix), is the larg- est of the three, and has the head and throat black like the abdomen, and the wings and tail blackish. The fire-crowned, or crimson- crowned, bishop (Euplectes hordeacea) has the crown orange instead of black. Two re- lated species, the Napoleon and the taha weav- ers, have the males colored vividly in yellow and I-hotograph by Bernard F. Rogers NO CAGE CONFINES THIS GUARDIAN GOLDFINCH; HE WEARS A HALTER HELD BY A SLACK "
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