136 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 223 



abdomen paler, more whitish. Posterior abdomen and under tail- 

 coverts white. Under wing-coverts whitish, tinged with tawny.'^ 



Miscellaneous Data 



Longevity: According to Russ (1878, p. 97), individuals of this 

 species may live as long as 8 to 10 years in captivity. 



Paradise Widow Bird: Genus Steganura 



Several authors (Delacour and Edmond-Blanc, 1934; Win terbottom, 

 1939a; and others) considered the paradise widow bird (Steganura) 

 congeneric with the long-tailed widow birds (Vidua proper) . But while I 

 have reduced the combassous (Hypochera) to the rank of a subgenus 

 in this paper, I consider Steganura to be a valid generic entity. Some 

 writers may claim that Steganura is only an extreme development 

 of the tendency shown by Vidua proper in its divergence from Hy- 

 pochera, and that to recognize Steganura but not Hypochera is in- 

 consistent. I find, however, that there are sufficient numbers of 

 ethological and morphological characters to warrant the judgment 

 that Steganura is more different from Vidua than Vidua proper is 

 from Hypochera. 



Ethological characters: In its aereal courtship performance, 

 Steganura differs markedly from all the other viduines. As may be 

 seen in our account of this part of its life history, the male paradise 

 widow bird may rise hundreds of feet in the air and then plummet 

 down toward the female, a very different display from the usual 

 viduine hovering performance. Also aviculturists reported that the 

 paradise widow bird is much less aggressive or pugnacious with other 

 birds in an aviary. By itself this last "character" is not very impres- 

 sive, but it is something to consider in the sum total of differences, 

 which, in passerine genera, is never very great. 



Morphological characters: In size, which by itself is not a 

 generic character, Steganura is much larger than any of the other 

 viduines, which are all about the same size. More importantly, 

 Steganura differs in the pattern of the mouth markings of the nest- 

 ling and in the very peculiar type of rectricial growth in the nuptial 

 plumage of the male. The newly hatched Steganura differs from all 

 species of Vidua in having no spots on the tongue or the floor of 

 the mouth, and only a single anteromedian one on the roof of the 

 mouth, whereas the Vidua have two spots on the tongue, five spots 

 on the roof of the mouth, and a band either complete or interrupted 



" In single young female examined, top of head, breast, and back were slightly darker than In one young 

 male seen; It Is doubtful, however, that there is anything more than purely individual variation Involved. 

 In the male (dried skin), the bill was pale yellowish brown; in the female (equally dried) it was blackish 

 (both maxilla and mandible); In the young the feet are dark brown. 



