254 BULLETIN 2 08, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



no trace of wax or bees, in their gizzards. In Nigeria, Marchant 

 (1953, p. 51) found insects (other than hymenoptera) and unidentified 

 limpetlike objects in a gizzard of one of these honey-guides. In 

 Nyasaland, Loveridge (in Peters and Loveridge, 1953, p. 108) saw 

 one feeding on termites flying about after a prolonged rain. Serle 

 (1954, p. 60) watched one hunting silently for insects among the 

 leaves and twigs of an albizzia tree in the Cameroons. He reports 

 that the species eats fruit as well. 



Some observers — J. Vincent (1935, pp. 14-15), Winterbottom 

 (1942, p. 361), and Williams (in litt.) — have found this honey-guide 

 to be a member of occasional mixed bird parties where food was 

 available in reasonable quantities. 



It might be mentioned, for greater accuracy, that the observations 

 from Kenya Colony and Tanganyika Territory refer to the subspecies 

 ellenbecki (including reichenovn), those from Nigeria, the Belgian 

 Congo, and the Bwamba forest (extreme western Uganda) pertain 

 to the nominate race, while the data from Mozambique, Southern 

 Rhodesia, and Northern Rhodesia have to do with the form P. i. 

 zambesiae. 



All that is known of the food of the young is that the fledgling 

 collected December 31 at Limuru, Kenya Colony, said to have been 

 still attended by a pair of Zosterops sp., had a mass of small oval 

 seeds with orange pulp and a few small lepidopterous larvae in its 

 gizzard. 



As in the case of other parasitic birds, there is no reason to suppose 

 that the nestlings receive any food except that normally given to 

 their own young by the species of birds victimized. 



Miscellaneous Behavior 



The flight of this species is undulating, and the dips in the flight are 

 often accompanied by flashing of the tail, i. e., momentary spreading 

 of the rectrices, which renders the white outer feathers very con- 

 spicuous. 



When perched on a twig the bird looks much like a small flycatcher. 

 In Nigeria, Marchant (1951, p. 74) saw one in a tall bush, flitting 

 quickly from twig to twig and, when perched, flicking its tail from 

 side to side like a flycatcher. Another individual quietly foraged 

 about in the leaves like a titmouse. 



It has been found, in mixed bird parties in the trees, with species 

 of Zosterops, Apalis, and Campephaga. While as many as three 

 individuals have been seen together (oDce, by Williams), generally, 

 "a pair may be seen in these bird parties" (Williams). 



