Many tribes of Africans tell wonderful tales about these creatures and their homes, some of which border upon the marvellous. The Malays have a saying that "He who can remove a Weaver Bird's nest without breaking it, will find a golden ball within;" and there is a popular belief in Africa that the lumps of clay so often found in these little dwellings are employed by the tenant as a kind of candlestick in which it fastens the fire-beetle it is supposed to employ to light its tiny apartment by night. The Weaver Bird lays many times during the year, and feeds its somewhat numerous family upon insects; these latter, combined with various kinds of seeds, also constitute the food of the parents. In spite of the injury done to the fields, but few precautions are taken by the natives to protect themselves against the depredations of these ingenious architects, who might live out the full term of their natural life were it not for the attacks made upon them by their numerous enemies, who are ever on the watch around their habitations. Our engraving (p. 175) represents the manner in which the monkey, one of the most formidable of their foes, obtains its prey. It is in hope of baffling the attempts of such unwelcome visitants that the Mahali Weaver Birds insert thorns with the points outwards into the walls of their nests, thus enabling the occupants to rest quietly, without fear of seeing their young carried off by snakes and other intruders. Large numbers of these curious and interesting birds are annually exported and sold at low prices, so that our readers need have no difficulty in witnessing their constructive powers, which are often displayed to great advantage in a cage. One of the most celebrated of this group is THE SOCIAL WEAVER BIRD.