PARASITIC WEAVERBIRDS 127 



cheeks, auriculars, chin, throat, and breast Orange-Cinnamon to 

 Ochraceous-Tawny. Feathers of back, rump, and upper wing-coverts 

 with Clove Brown medial streaks and broad edges of Sayal Brown to 

 Snuff Brown. Upper tail-coverts'; similar but with edges somewhat 

 more rufescent. Mikado Brown. Secondaries Clove Brown edged with 

 Sayal Brown, Primaries Clove Brown externally very narrowly edged 

 with Sayal Brown and internally with pale tawny. Rectrices similar, 

 Clove Brown, with narrow external edges pale Sayal Brown. Abdomen, 

 sides, flanks, and thighs like breast but much paler. Center of abdo- 

 men and under tail-coverts white. Under wing-coverts pale Ochraceous- 

 Tawny. 



Shaft-TaUed Widow Bird 



Vidua regia (Linneus) ** 



Plates 2, 10 



Distribution 



The shafttail is a bird of southern Africa, except for the eastern 

 portion, where it inhabits the drier bushveld from southern Angola 

 (Benguella, Hrnlla,^^ Gambos, and near Humbe in the upper Cunene 

 District), southern part of Northern Rhodesia (Katombora, Living- 

 stone), south through Matebeleland in Southern Rhodesia (Kanye, 

 Selenia Pan, Tati, Mangwe, Wankie, Bulawayo District, including 

 Matopos Mountains though not known east to Mashonaland), 

 South-West Africa (Ondonga, Ombujomatemba, Omaruru, Otjoro, 

 Otjimbingue, and Rehoboth, all in Damaraland, and south to Lion 

 River, Namaqualand) , Bechuanaland (Kabulabida, Kuke, Kaotwe, 

 Nkate, Maun, Mabeleapudi), eastern Transvaal (Rustenberg, Marico, 

 Moordrift, Bloemhof, "Vaal River to the Zambesi"), to Griqualand 

 West (near Kimberley), the northern fringe of the Orange Free State, 

 and the Colesberg District of northern Cape Province. 



My own field acquaintance with the shafttail was in the Transvaal 

 between Potgietersrust and Moord drift, in 1924-25, and in Southern 

 Rhodesia near Bulawayo in 1950. In neither area w^as the species 

 very common. In the former area I found the birds on and off during 

 December and early January — single males in breeding plumage in 

 what seemed to be pairs, i.e., one male in full nuptial dress and one 

 "sparrowy" feathered individual. In its general habits the shafttail 

 seemed much like the pintaUed widow bird, V. macroura, but more 

 nervous, moving more rapidly, and jerking its body when feeding 

 on the ground among the grass. I note that W. T. Page (1907) found 

 the shafttail to frequent marshy ground interspersed with groves of 



" Emberiza regia Llrmaeus, Systems naturae, ed. 12, vol. 1, 1766, p. 313, (Africa, south Angolu). 

 2' No recent records. It Is not clear if "Benguella" as given generally by authors is dilTcrent from 

 Anchleta's bird from Hullla. In his work on Angola birds, Monard (1934) did not include the shafttail. 



