40 BULLETIN 208, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Guiding is effected more by sound than by sight, but both elements 

 enter into it. It is true, however, that the guiding bird is actually out 

 of sight of the human follower most of the time — except on trips of 

 very short duration. This was not only true in most of my own ex- 

 periences but has been reported and commented on by several other 

 observers. 



Guiding apparently is not the chief food-getting method of Indicator 

 indicator, as the bird does not seem to guide often enough for that even 

 in areas where guiding is frequent. Furthermore, as the nonguiding 

 species of honey-guides usually have beeswax in their gizzards (except 

 for the genus Prodotiscus) , it follows that wax is obtainable without 

 guiding. 



Guiding leads to the vicinity of a bees' nest, not to the exact spot; 

 that is, the bird usually does not actually touch or otherwise indicate 

 the exact location of the nest. There are many stories to the effect 

 that if the follower is unable to find the nest the bird will fly directly 

 to it, or will point to it with its bill, but none of these accounts are 

 acceptable as accurate or are supported by detailed data. 



Guiding is not instigated by hunger or by lack of wax, as shown by 

 the full gizzards of birds shot while guiding. 



Guiding is done at different times of the day, but chiefly in the 

 morning; not at all at night. In the Hluhluwe Reserve, Zululand, I 

 made several prolonged fruitless searches for honey-guides at and just 

 after dusk — my reasoning based on the then not dispeUed notion 

 that the ratel was a wholly nocturnal animal and yet was associated 

 with the honey-guide in its foraging. 



Quite probably, in some and possibly in many cases, the guiding 

 bird may not know in advance the location of the bees' nest to which 

 it eventually "leads" its follower (see p. 59). It is true that in other 

 cases the hives may have been known to the bird from previous expe- 

 rience, but it appears that this knowledge is not essential. 



Occasionally one bird may lead a human follower to several bees' 

 nests, one after the other, on the same trip. On these occasions there 

 is, however, a definite pause or break at each nest, and the trip would 

 probably not continue beyond such a break if the follower showed the 

 proper interest in the nest and tried to open it. 



The honey-guide often will come to a person or group of people to 

 "lead" them, but at times will merely chatter where it is until the 

 persons have come to it, whereupon it begins to lead them. The former 

 seems to be the more frequent behavior, but this may be due to the 

 fact that many cases of the latter type are left unnoticed because the 

 persons do not bother to go to the chattering bird. 



If a person does not follow a honey-guide that has apparently come 

 to "lead" him, the bird may increase the tempo and excitement of its 



