AFRICAN PARASITIC CUCKOOS — FRIEDMANN 399 



parasitized nests found in Uganda by Pitman. Each contained one 

 egg of the weaver and one egg of the cuckoo. 



The southern race of this weaver, Ploceus intermedius cabanisi, has 

 also been found to be parasitized by Klaas's cuckoo in Southern 

 Rhodesia, according to Mr. H. M. Miles. It had been recorded 

 previously only as a host of the didric. 



Layard's spot-backed weaver (Ploceus nigriceps) was described as 

 a victim of Klaas's cuckoo on the basis of two such instances at Taveta, 

 Kenya Colony (Friedmann, 1949a, p. 146). Farther south, at Mikin- 

 dani in extreme southern Tanganyika Territory, it also appears to 

 be a frequent victim, Grote (1924, p. 34) considers it a bird often 

 imposed upon there by both this cuckoo and the related didric. 



Masterson (1953, p. 51) recentl}^ added the red-headed weaver 

 (Anaplectes rubriceps) to the known victims of this cuckoo. On 

 Nov. 6, 1952, at Murambinda, Buhera District, Southern Rhodesia, 

 he found a nest of this weaver that contained three eggs of its own 

 and one egg that was presumed to be of a Klaas's cuckoo. The latter 

 egg was freckled and was paler and slightly narrower than the host's 

 eggs. A Klaas's cuckoo was calling excitedly in the vicinity and 

 three times it tried to enter the nest in spite of the nearness of Master- 

 son's natives who had climbed to the nest. Later, in January 1953, 

 Masterson saw a pair of these weavers feeding a young lOaas's cuckoo 

 in his garden. 



The red bishop bird (Eupledes orix), a frequent host of the didric, 

 also has been listed as an apparent host of lOaas's cuckoo in Nyasa- 

 land (Benson 1953, p. 35), but without further supporting details. 



Eggs and Egg Laying 



Recently MacLeod and Hallack (1956, pp. 2-5) described four eggs 

 of this cuckoo — all laid in nests of the Cape flycatcher (Batis capen- 

 sis) — as pinkish white and heavily spotted with reddish blotches 

 forming a fairly definite ring around the blunt ends. No pinkish 

 white eggs of this cuckoo were previously recorded. These authors 

 think (but do not know) that all four eggs were laid by the sam.e hen 

 cuckoo. This is based on the similarity of the eggs, on the fact that 

 all were found in nests within a limited area, and that all were found 

 in nests of the same species of host. The evidence, if such it may be 

 called, is merely suggestive, but, aside from adding another color type 

 to the known eggs of Klaas's cuckoo, it is the first indication of the 

 number of eggs laid and of host specificity in this species. 



Eviction of Nest-Mates 



In my earlier account I stated that while the young Klaas's cuckoo 

 is usually the sole survivor in a nest, no information was available as 

 to whether it evicts the other young or eggs in the nest or starves them 



