6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 124 



Bennett's woodpecker Campethera bennelti (Smith) 



This woodpecker was added to the hosts of the lesser honey-guide 

 by Benson, Brooke, and Vernon (1964, p. 67) on the basis of a single 

 record from Rhodesia. There was a single, earlier, very indefinite 

 record from Malawi. 



Golden-tailed woodpecker Campethera abingoni (Smith) 



To the previous two records involving the nominate race of this 

 woodpecker as a host should be added one for the subspecies C. a. 

 smithii (Malherbe) in Rhodesia (Benson, Brooke, and Vernon, 1964, 

 p. 67). 



Sharp-billed Honey-guide: Prodoliscus regulus 



The breeding biology of the sharp-billed honey-guide previously 

 was almost unknown as the few observational records were marred 

 by indefiniteness. The situation now may be improved by the fol- 

 lowing data. 



Hosken (1966b, p. 235) noted during a short period of observation 

 a recently fledged young sharp-billed honey-guide that was fed several 

 times by a pair of grass warblers, Cisticola lais, at Inyanga, Rhodesia, 

 Jan. 25, 1966. The young honey-guide paid no attention to other 

 birds feeding nearby on termites and acted as though the Cisticola 

 were its parents. The grass warbler in the Inyanga area would be 

 the subspecies C. I. mashana Lynes. It is an addition to the known 

 hosts of this parasite. 



Duve (in litt., 1967) informs me that he has in his collection two 

 sets of eggs of the swallow, Hirundo abyssinica unitatis, each with 

 an egg of Prodotiscus regulus, one taken at Lalapanzi, northern 

 Transvaal, Dec. 29, 1958, and the other at Estcourt, Natal, Jan. 25, 

 1946. The honey-guide egg from the first set measured 18 x 13.4 mm, 

 and it was white with a little gloss and a slight gray trend. Mr. Duve 

 further informs me that an oviduct egg of Prodotiscus regulus, also 

 in his collection, is slightly less glossy and it too has a slight grayish 

 tone. 



Finally, it should be noted that Clancey (1964, p. 282) reported 

 that one of these honey-guides was seen emerging from a swallow's 

 nest tenanted by white-rumped swifts, Apus cajer cafer. 



None of these species had been recorded before as hosts of Prodo- 

 tiscus regulus. The only previous records, inconclusive at best, referred 

 to the yellow-throated sparrow, Petronia superciliosus, and to the 

 larger stripe-breasted swallow, Hirundo cucullata (Friedmann, 1955, 

 p. 260). 



The Cisticola record is surprising as it adds a host that is not a 

 hole-nester. In our present state of knowledge, we only can accept 



