PARASITIC WEAVERBIRDS 85 



G. Morel and M. Y. Morel (1955) found a nest of tliis fire finch 

 at Ricb.ard Toll, Senegal, October 27. It contained three young of 

 the Jiost and one of the black-winged combassou. The mouth mark- 

 ings of the two species were noted as being very similar. I am in- 

 debted to the observers for the photograph of the two kinds of nestlings 

 (plate 6). 



In the Ngong area, Kenya, V. G. L. van Someren (in litt.) saw a 

 young black-winged combassou in a little flock of red-bellied fire finches 

 feeding in a chicken run. Tlie fledgling combassou was quivering its 

 wings and begging for food. "They were disturbed before I couhd 

 actually note a female Lagonosticta feeding it, but I have no doubt 

 that it was fostered by a Lagonosticta (fire finch) who had her own 

 youngsters with her." Van Someren's record refers to the East Afri- 

 can race of the host Estrilda senegala kikuyuensis,'''^ whereas the Sen- 

 egal and Gambia records have to do with the nommate race of the host. 



Because this fire finch is known to be victimized by the black-winged 

 combassou, it should be noted that in the French Sudan, Guichard 

 (1950, pp. 194-195) found that the two species seemed to share a 

 tendency to live close to villages and to be scarce away from human 

 habitations — in other words, to have the same ecological preference. 

 Furthermore, G. Morel and M. Y. Morel (1955) wrote that in Sene- 

 gal the black-winged combassous come into breeding plumage at pre- 

 cisely the same time that the fire finches come into breeding condition. 



Recently, G. A[orel (1959, pp. 158-159) made the most important 

 discoveries thus far about the black-winged combassou and this fire 

 finch. At Richard Toll, he found 3.3 nests at least 13 of which were 

 parasitized by the blackwing. He noted that the female parasite 

 first showed interest in the nests while they were being built. The 

 hens frequently visited them as if checking on their progress. "Wlien 

 the fire finches commenced laying, the nesting area was literally 

 assailed by the female blackwings, which came and looked into the 

 nest entrances, and as many as 5 of which disputed advent to a nest at 

 certain times. Most of the nest visiting took place between noon and 

 3 p.m., the hottest hours of the day. 



On February 22, 1957, from noon onward, a female black-winged com- 

 bassou was noted busily coming and going close to a nest. At 12:53 

 p.m., it came to the nest, entered it, but left in about half a minute. 

 Morel examined the nest immediately and found that the female fire 

 finch was in it but that the blackwing had not laid during its brief 

 visit. The fire finch continued to sit on the eggs in spite of the exam- 

 ination. At 1:25 p.m., a female blackwing (supposedly the same as 

 before) resumed its fluttering flight close to the nest. Its actions 



''T Lagonosticta senegaHa kikuyuensis van Someren, Bull. British Ornlth. Club, vol. 40, 1919, p. 55 

 (Nairobi) 



52652&— 60 7 



