456 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



coastal belt from soutliern Somalilancl to Dar es Salaam. The Abys- 

 sinian form is more richly colored than hengalus; from bnmnelgularis 

 it differs slightly in size {schoanus being the larger of the two) but 

 chiefly in the plumage of the females which have blue cheeks in 

 schoanus and brown ones in hrunneigularls. 



Heuglin and Blanford found the nominate form common in the 

 highlands of Eritrea, but also reported it from places only 1,200 feet 

 above the sea (such as Ailet). Ragazzi, Lovat, Harrison, and Pejise 

 found schoanus plentiful in Shoa and the Hawash area, and Donald- 

 son Smith met watli it in the arid Somali country. Shelley '^ has 

 summarized these data. Since then Erlanger ^° found it in Shoa, 

 Arussi-Gallaland, and in the Harrar region. He obtained nests wdth 

 eggs late in April, in May, and early in June. He found from two 

 to 5 eggs in each nest. 



At Gato River, during April and May, Mearns found this species 

 breeding in great numbers, and collected 14 sets of eggs. In some 

 cases the birds made their own nests while in others they utilized old 

 nests of other weavers, especially of the Ploceus group. Thus, to 

 quote from Mearns's notes of May 13, we find opposite an entry of a 

 nest with 4 eggs: "I watched the birds building the nest in a dense 

 thorny bush, in a grassy opening. The nest -was 4 feet above the 

 ground. The parents were seen entering it or leaving," and also: 

 ''I found another set of 5 incubated eggs of cordon-bleu in a Hyphan- 

 tomis nest. On May 14 I took 6 incubated eggs of the cordon-bleu 

 in a nest of the least Hyphantomis and shot the cordon-bleu beside 

 the nest. This makes three cases, in two days, of the cordon-bleu 

 occupying weaver birds' nests. In each case some of the fine grass 

 used by the cordon-bleu in building its own nest had been added as a 

 lining to the weaver birds nest." Contrary to Erlanger's experience, 

 Mearns found as many as six eggs in some nests. 



Inasmuch as this form is slightly larger than its southern neighbor, 

 hrunneigidans, dimensional data are worth recording. The varia- 

 tions shown by the present series are as follows : Males — wing, 52-58 

 (average, 54.6) ; tail, 54-70 (59) ; culmen, 10-10.5 (10.06) ; tarsus, 

 14-15 (14.5 mm). Females— wing, 51-56 (53) ; tail, 47-55.5 (51.1) ; 

 culmen, 8.5-10.5 (9.6) ; tarsus, 13-15 (14.4 mm). 



Mearns noted this bird commonly near water on his Hawash jour- 

 ney from Dire Daoua to Gada Bourca. He did not meet with it at 

 Adis Abeba or in the Arussi Plateau, but in the lake region of southern 

 Shoa he saw^ from 5 to 200 birds daily [March 7 (Aletta) to June 17 

 (Turturo)]. 



'»Tlie birds of Africa, vol. 4. p. 100, 1905. 

 «" Journ. fiir Orn., 1907, p. 22. 



