THE HONEY-GUIDES 127 



the more detailed ones of my companions and myself and make it 

 clear that what we saw was not a peculiar, local condition but a 

 general habit. I learned of at least one observer in Rhodesia who 

 had seen a copulation at a call post. Because of its newness in the 

 literature, it is necessary to record here in considerable detail at least 

 some of the observational evidence behind the present summation. 



In the Umtaleni Valley, near Kei Road, eastern Cape Province, we 

 spent many hours daily for about 11 days at a favorite call post or 

 stud post of Indicator ijidicaior. Ranger, who knew of this post for 

 many years, reported that it had been in practically daily occupancy 

 for at least 20 years, both in and out of the breeding season! This is 

 the longest continuous stud-post usage I laiow of, but oth6r observers 

 in South Africa and Southern Rhodesia have told me of similar 

 occupancies of at least 4 to 5 years, but not necessarily in the 

 nonbreeding season. During the 11 days of intensive observation 

 there was always one male greater honey-guide in evidence at this 

 post, a relatively tallish tree quite high on the side of the hilly rim of 

 the valley, and it was always the same individual. This fully adult, 

 black-throated bird could be identified easily because it had lost its 

 right outermost tail feather, causing an asymetrical pattern on the 

 underside of the tail that was readily observed through field glasses. 

 The bird usually came to the tree and began calling about 8 a. m. 

 and remained there until about 4 p. m.; when in the tree it usually 

 remained in the same small section of the same branch, a very definite 

 localization. This tree was in the lower border of an area of fairly 

 open bush country, below which was a band of denser bush about 50 

 yards wide that extended down to the open grassy valley, while 

 above the open bush country the hillside became still more open, 

 almost fieldlike. The bird would allow the observer or observers to 

 come within 25 feet of it, and was therefore very easy to watch. 

 When approached more closely it would fly off to other trees nearby 

 and would call from them for a short while, but soon would return to 

 the favorite tree. 



To take a single morning's observations: November 4, 1950; bird 

 first heard on observer's arrival at 9:18 a. m. in favorite call post 

 (which we may call A) ; in the next 54 minutes (i. e., until 10:12 a. m.) 

 it gave 65 series of vic-tor notes; from 9:18 to 9:55 it sat steadily on 

 a perch, hardly moving its position at all, then it began to move 

 about within a radius of a few feet, but kept up its calling at intervals 

 of not quite a minute (the calls consisted of from seven to ten vic-tor 

 notes each), and also began to make a subdued but quite penetrating 

 shree or shreea or shrah note, and also a tripping tr tr tr tr; at 10:11 

 it preened for the first time between calls; at 10:18 it flew off as the 

 observer came a little too close and went to another tree (perch B) 



