402 



BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The present specimens were in breeding condition when collected ; 

 in fact, four nests with eggs were taken, May 4-9, at Gato River. 

 Some of the males are in an early state of molt and have a few 

 yellow feathers among the black ones of the throat and forehead; 

 the females are all in worn plumage. Their dimensions are shown 

 in table 77. 



The extent of the black on the forehead in the males varies con- 

 siderably; in some individuals it extends well behind the posterior 



margin of the eyes, while in others the 

 upper margin of the eye is almost wholly 

 yellow, not black (fig. 24). 



The nests found by Mearns are different 

 from those of some other species of Ploceus 

 in that they are made not of palm leaf 

 strips but almost wholly of curled and 

 twisted tendrils. They are retort-shaped 

 structures with a downward hanging tu- 

 bular entrance; the "ball", or main part, 

 of the nest is about 80 mm in diameter, 

 the tubular part is 80 mm long and 50 mm 

 wide. Once two nests were found attached 

 to each other. The eggs, three to a nest, 

 are white and measure about 19.2 by 13.5 

 mm. The largest egg collected measures 

 19.5 by 14, the smallest one 19 by 13 mm. 



In Bogosland, Jesse found this species 

 breeding in August. Shelley^ writes that 

 "according to Heuglin they assume their 

 bright plumage in May, commence breed- 

 ing about the middle of July, and the young are able to fly in October 

 and November." 



Mearns did not record any association of the nests of this bird 

 with wasps' nests, as was found to be almost invariably the case in 

 Darfur by Lynes.* 



PLOCEUS INTERMEDIUS INTERMEDIUS Ruppell 



Ploceus intermedius Ruppell, Systematische Uebersicht der Vogel Nordost- 



Afrika's, pp. 71, 76, 1845 : Slioa. 

 Specimens collected : 



3 males, Sadi Malka, Ethiopia, January 28-31, 1912. 



2 males, east Black Lake Abaya, Ethiopia, March 21-25, 1912. 



I have seen no material of Uttor^alis or of hisumui and therefore 

 follow Sclater ^ in considering them as identical with intermedius. 



FiGUEE 24. — Heads of males 

 of Ploceus luteolus luteolus 

 showing variation in the ex- 

 tent of the black area. 



" The birds of Africa, vol. 4, pt. 2, p. 398, 1905. 



«Ibia, 1924, pp. 663-664. 



^ Systema avium iGthiopicarum, pt. 2, p, 740, 1930. 



