312 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. io8 



Striped kingfisher, Halcyon chelicuti chelicuti (Stanley) 



Previously known from a single instance near Marandellas, Southern 

 Rhodesia, this kingfisher is listed as a host by Smithers, Irwin, and 

 Paterson (1957, p. 89), possibly on the basis of the same record. 

 Neuby-Varty, the discoverer of the first case, has recently written me 

 of what may be a second case. Early in December 1955, near Maran- 

 dellas, he watched a striped kingfisher at a nest hole about 20 feet up 

 in a tree. Suddenly, a freshly dead kingfisher nestling, about 4 or 5 

 days old, fell out of the opening and to the ground. He picked it up 

 and noted tiny punctm-es anterior to the wings that looked very much 

 like the bill hook wounds of a nestling honey-guide. Unfortunately, 

 he was not able to get to the nest and so could not prove that there 

 was a honey-guide chick present. It may be recalled that in the case 

 of nestling ejection by the young honey-guide in a nest of the crested 

 barbet (Friedmann, 1955, pp. 147-148) the young barbets were ejected 

 alive and unharmed, possibly because the nest stump had been broken 

 off and there was little depth left to the nest cavity, thereby making 

 ejection easier. In the present instance, it may be that the depth was 

 greater and the parasite did not attempt eviction until after it had 

 immobilized its nest mate. 



Cinnamon-breasted bee-eater, Melittophagus lafresnayii oreobates (Sharpe) 



In his recent book, van Someren (1956, p. 190) writes that he has 

 taken eggs of the greater honey-guide from nests of this species in 

 Kenya Colony, but does not give any indication of how many such 

 cases he found. In addition, W. R. Ingram informs me (in litt.) 

 that he once found a nest of this bee-eater, also in Kenya Colony, 

 containing one egg of Indicator indicator as well as some pecked eggs 

 of the host. This bee-eater was not known to be parasitized prior 

 to these observations. 



Crested barbet, Trachyphonus vaillantii vaillantii Ranzani 



To the two records given in my book (1955, pp. 147-148) may be 

 added two more, both of parasitized nests found in Southern Rhodesia 

 by C. T. Fisher, and mentioned to me by Mr. H. M. Miles (in litt.) 



Banded sand martin, Riparia cincta cincta (Boddaert) 



One record for this hitherto unrecorded host, but the identification 

 of the species of honey-guide involved is only inferential. Captain 

 R. H. Stevenson informs me that a honey-guide's egg was found in 

 a nest of this swallow in the Selukwe Reserve, Southern Rhodesia, 

 about the end of November or the first days of December 1955. It is 

 possible that either Indicator indicator or /. minor might be involved. 

 In the absence of details, such as notes on the status of the two in 

 that locality, dimensions of the egg, etc., it is not possible to allocate 

 the record. It would seem more likely to be /. indicator because 

 that species makes use of nests in holes in the ground nauch more 



