PARASITIC WEAVERBIRDS 79 



Oshikanga is, however, close to the Angola border, and probably 

 Roberts correctly identified the bird that he saw. 



Common waxbill: Estrilda astrild (Linnaeus) ^^ 



The common waxbill is the bird most frequently mentioned as a host 

 of the dusky combassou ever since J. Vincent (1936, p. 109) reported 

 that in Mozambique the local race E. a. cavendishi ''* was parasit- 

 ized by the dusky combassou and by the pin-tailed widow bird. He 

 recorded a nest with two eggs of the common waxbill, three of the pin- 

 tail, and one of the dusky combassou. In the same area and at the 

 same time he found the dusky combassou to be in full breeding condi- 

 tion, but gave no further evidence supporting the identification of the 

 egg referred to this species. He related (p. 113) that he had taken, 

 some time previously, the egg of the dusky combassou in nests of the 

 common waxbill in Natal. Some years later A. W. Vincent (1949, p. 

 668) recorded the same combination of parasites, the dusky combassou 

 and the pintail, Vidua macroura, laying in the nests of the common 

 waxbill in the Richmond District, Natal. Again, as far as supporting 

 evidence goes, the identification of the dusky combassou eggs was an 

 assumption based on the occurrence of that bird there, and cannot 

 be looked upon as proved. A. Roberts (1939, pp. 115-117) apparently 

 accepted J. Vincent's record and identification. On the basis of 

 Roberts' record. Gill (1945, p. 32), treated the identification as an 

 apparently accepted fact, Bannerman (1953, p. 1499) wrote of the 

 West- African race Vidua funerea wilsoni that the "pure white eggs of 

 this indigo bird have been taken in the nest of the common waxbill." 

 This record is based on J. Vincent (1936), and refers to the nominate 

 race of the dusky combassou in Natal. 



Bishop bird: Euplectes sp. 



In the egg catalogue of the Victoria Memorial Museum, in Salis- 

 bury, Southern Rhodesia, there is an entry for a set of three eggs of 

 the dusky combassou and one of a "bishop bird" in the nest of the 

 latter, collected at Gokwe, Southern Rhodesia, January 9, 1933, by 

 "A. N. C," who reported having seen a hen dusky combassou leaving 

 the nest. I could not find the eggs, however, and so was not able to 

 examine and measure them when I was in that musemn in January 

 1951. 



Food and Feeding Habits 



According to de Klerk (1942, p. 63), the food of the dusky combas- 

 sou consists of grain, grass seeds, small flowers, and insects. Belcher 



" Loxia oitrUd Linnaeus, Systems naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 173 (Canaries, America, Afrlca= Cape- 

 town). 

 '« Estrilda cavendishi Sharpe, Ibis, scr. 7, vol. 6, 1900, p. 110 (Maplcutl, Cherlngoma District, Mozambique). 



