THE HONEY-GUIDES 113 



of a scaly- throated honey-guide. Elliott and Fuggles-Couchman 

 (1948, pp. 406, 407) list this bird as an insect feeder in Tanganyika 

 Territory. In South Africa, Marais found only beeswax and no 

 insect remains in the stomach contents of birds obtained by him at 

 Knysna. 



At Umtaleni, eastern Cape Province, I once saw a variegated honey- 

 guide catching insects in midair like a flycatcher. Ranger and 

 Skead have also made similar observations. On one occasion Ranger 

 noted a singing (male?) bird catching insects among the nearby 

 foliage of its call site between songs. Skead saw one come down 

 from the call site to the edge of a stream nearby, drive away an 

 emerald-spotted dove (Turtur chalcospilos) , and then hop onto a 

 partly submerged log and drink 10 or 12 sips of water. At the 

 base of the call site, a large tree near the stream, Skead and I found 

 numerous bits of old, dry, empty bee comb, possibly remnants of 

 food brought to the tree by the honey-guide. 



In the season of 1951 Ranger and Skead, at Umtaleni, baited a trap 

 with a piece of comb. One late afternoon an Indicator variegatus was 

 seen eagerly eying the comb in the trap and fluttering about trying 

 to get in. It called four beats of a low whistle-call, then flew up- 

 stream. The foUowing season one was watched entering a trap 

 together with an Indicator indicator. The birds seemed not at aU 

 concerned when the lid of the trap fell shut, but began to eat 

 the comb immediately, attemptmg to escape only when Ranger 

 approached. 



Young: Nothing definite recorded, but the hosts undoubtedly feed 

 the young honey-guide the same food they give their own young. 



Miscellaneous Activities 



Ranger once watched a scaly-throated honey-guide apparently 

 sunning itself. It hopped up to a more exposed, less shaded, sunnier 

 perch, turning its body and half opening one wing to catch the rays 

 of the sun; once it altered the position of its right foot from across 

 the twig to parallel with it, twisting as it did so. 



On one occasion I saw one of these birds, that had been perching 

 quietly on its call site, turn its tail to one side, reach down with its 

 beak, and press on the upper base of the tail, apparently on the oil 

 gland, and then begin to preen its wings, breast, and back plum^age. 

 A preening bird watched by Ranger used one foot to scratch its right 

 cheek. 



Description 



Adult male: Forehead, lores, cheeks, auriculars, and crown 

 fuscous to chaetura drab, the feathers narrowly edged, but not 



