Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/542

 522 WEAVER BIRD WEAVING of man ; it is very agile and bold ; it feeds upon moles, mice, and small birds, and is rather bene- ficial than injurious to the farmer. It much resembles the preceding species, but is lighter colored and has a longer tail. The bridled weasel (P. frenatus, Aud. and Bach.), Hi in. long, chestnut brown above and yellowish white below, nearly black on the head, with three white marks, between the eyes and in front of each ear, abounds in Texas and Mex- ico, about the Rio Grande. WEAVER BIRD, the common name of the finches of the family plocelnce^ so called from the remarkable manner in which they weave their nests from various vegetable substances, presenting some of the finest specimens of bird architecture. They have a strong bill, with the base projecting upon the forehead and the tip entire ; wings rounded, with first quill very short ; legs and feet stout, and hind toe long. Most are African, but a few of the genus plo- cens (Cur.) are found in the East Indies and the Indian archipelago; they feed on insects and seeds. Their nests are usually suspended Nest of African Weaver Bird. from the end of a slender twig or palm leaf, frequently over the water and the aperture almost touching it, so as to be beyond the reach of monkeys, snakes, and other climbing enemies; they are usually shaped like a pouch, from the side or bottom of which a tubular appendage is prolonged downward, the en- trance being at the bottom. Some species at- tach their nests each year to the bottom of those of the preceding; the plocem pensilis (Cuv.) in this way sometimes places five nests in succession below each other; this bird is greenish above, grayish below, with red vent, and black quills and tail. The social or re- publican weaver (philetcerw socius, Gray) is about 6i in. long, reddish brown above and yellowish below ; it inhabits the interior of S. Africa, building in large societies a com- pound nest on the mimosa trees, whose smooth trunk prevents the ascent of most noxious animals; the nests are made of a fine grass closely woven, and so arranged that 800 to 1,000, each with three or four eggs, are sup- ported on a single tree, covered with a roof 10 to 12 ft. in diameter ; on the under surface of this umbrella-like, thatched roof, or, according to Paterson, around the edges and opening into a common passage, are numerous en- trances to the nests, which are placed about 2 in. apart ; they do not occupy the same nest for two years, but add on new nests to the lower surface of the old ones until the tree is broken down by the accumulated weight. In this family belong the Whydali finches or widow birds, of the genus vidua (Cuv.); these are abundant about Whydah in W. Africa, whence the first name, which has been happily cor- rupted into the common English name, their sombre colors and long black trail well enti- tling them to the epithet widow birds. In the paradise widow bird ( V. paradisea, Cuv.) two of the middle tail feathers of the male in the breeding season are a foot long, and two oth- ers shorter but with broad webs ; these fall off after the breeding season. The head, chin, fore neck, -back, wings, and tail are black ; neck all round orange of various shades, and most of the other parts white ; it is about as large as a canary, and is a favorite cage bird both for its beauty and its song ; it is found from Senegal to S. Africa. WEAVING, the art of combining threads, filaments, or strips, of various nature or mate- rial, in the way of interlacing them to form cloth, or other web or woven fabric, by means of a loom. Though the Egyptian looms, as de- picted on tombs at Thebes and elsewhere, were very simple, yet the fabrics produced in them were often fine and costly. In some of them the warp extended horizontally, as now ; in others it was vertical, and the weft was driven upward. In the most ancient mummy cloths the texture is close, firm, and clastic. Weav- ing was also practised very early in Greece and Asia Minor, both as a domestic employ- ment and as a trade. Homer describes as the product of Creusa's shuttle a figure-woven pat- tern, in which appeared a gorgon and dragons. The damasks, shawls, and tapestries woven by the later Greeks and by the Romans would rival in beauty some of the best productions of the modern art. In more modern times, the people of Italy and of the Netherlands appear first to have become famed for their textile manufactures; and from these countries the trade passed to England and 'France. Edward