the honey-guides 87 



Food and Feeding 



In its food habits this species is essentially similar to 7. variegatus, 

 feeding on beeswax, bee larvae, and other insect prey. In the Camer- 

 oons, Bates (1909a, p. 15) found particles of wax and bits of insect 

 remains in the gizzards of four specimens. There was a smell of honey 

 in these stomach contents, but in some there were only insect remains. 

 J. P. Chapin (1939, pp. 547-548) reported insect remains in the giz- 

 zards of two birds from Gamangui, and also some sand in one of them. 

 A third bird, taken near Beni, had beeswax mixed with bits of insects 

 in its stomach. The stomach contents of this individual, examined 

 later for me by Dr. E. A. Chapin, proved to contain remains of parts 

 of three small ants, one large ant, two bees, two large spiders, one 

 small spider, one termite, and one caterpillar. The specimens from 

 Gamangui were trapped in heavy forest by natives in snares close to 

 the ground and baited with fragments of termite nests. That the 

 birds often come down close to the ground to feed is further indicated 

 by the van Somerens' observations in the Bwamba forest, where they 

 noted them "hunting for insects at quite low elevations." In the 

 gizzard of a specimen collected there by Williams were numerous 

 insect remains, including lepidopterous larvae and fragments of 

 beetles, but no wax. In the Cameroons, Bates noted these bu"ds 

 perching "silently watching the bees buzzing about the camp, for 

 bees are attracted to fresh clearings in the forest." An adult female 

 from Spanish Guinea, collected by Sabater, had in its gizzard two 

 species of ants, a quantity of termites, one unidentified seed, and 

 some beeswax. 



This species does not guide humans to bees' nests, and it is not 

 known whether it acts in this capacity for any other creatures — 

 squirrels, monkeys, etc. As Bates puts it, in the Cameroons the 

 natives told him that "sometimes on going to where the bird is they 

 find honey but they know nothing about following the bird through 

 the forest." 



Miscellaneous 



Like other species of Indicator, maculatus has a very tough, strong 

 skin. Bates (1909a, p. 116) writes that the skin "like strong yellow 

 parchment and the thick layer of fat are doubtless protection against 

 the stings of bees." I know nothing of this bird from personal ex- 

 perience, but I have never seen any conspicuous layer of fat on any 

 of the other species and cannot help but wonder if maculatus does have 

 such a characteristic regularly. Chapin (1939, pp. 547-548) noted 

 that his specimens emitted a peculiar musty odor before being skinned, 

 and that this odor adhered to the compact plumage after the skins 

 were made up. This odor is said to be found in other honey-guides as 



