no. 3648 BROOD PARASITISM — FRIEDMANN 5 



Banded sand martin Riparia cincta (Boddaert) 



Previously (1958, p. 312), I have known of only one instance of 

 this swallow as a victim; the identity of the parasitic egg as that 

 of /. indicator was not wholly certain. Since then, an observation of 

 a fledged young greater honey-guide fed by a pair of banded sand 

 martins near Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, in January 1966, has 

 been reported by Hosken (1966a, pp. 234-235). Both records refer 

 to the nominate race of the host. 



Cape anteater-chat Myrmecocichla formicivora (Vieillot) 



To the two records listed previously by me (1955, p. 151) three 

 others should be added, all from Natal, information on which was 

 kindly sent me by Mr. Godfrey Symons, who found the nests near 

 Estcourt. 



Red-shouldered glossy starling Lamprocolius nitens (Linnaeus) 



At Estcourt, Natal, on Nov. 29, 1932, Godfrey Symons (in litt., 

 1963) found a nest of this starling with one egg of a greater honey- 

 guide and two eggs of the starling. Previously I had known of two 

 instances of parasitism on this bird. It probably will be found to be 

 a fairly regular host in Natal. 



Lesser Honey -guide: Indicator minor 



Information on the hosts of the lesser honey-guide also has in- 

 creased by observations of nearly half as many new instances as 

 were available to me for my 1955 and 1958 statements. The black- 

 collared barbet, Lybius torquatus, is clearly the most frequently used 

 host, with some 43 records (an increase of 13 since 1958); and the 

 pied barbet, Tricholaema leucomelan, is probably the next most heavily 

 parasitized, with nine more records since 1958. As in the case of the 

 greater honey-guide, all the recent host records are of hole-nesting 

 birds. Only three of these merit special mention at this time, the 

 others being merely repeats. 



Little bee-eater Merops pusillus (Muller) 



Mr. R. Kreuger (in litt.) informs me that he has in his collection 

 a set of five eggs of this little bee-eater with one of the lesser honey- 

 guide, taken at "Mile 100," Accra-Lane Road, Ghana, in March 1943 

 by F. C. Holman. This is the first record for any host for the race 

 /. m. alexanderi of the parasite. It refers to the nominate race of 

 the host, the southern race of which, meridioiialis, is known to be 

 victimized regularly by /. m. minor in Rhodesia. The honey-guide 

 egg measured 22.8 x 15.4 mm. 



