PARASITIC WEAVERBIRDS 143 



French Sudan: Fiko, December, males in breeding condition. 



Ghana: 30 miles east of Tumu, January 19, male with swollen testes collected. 



Nigeria: Pategi, Koton Karafi, and Lokoja, December and January, breeding 

 males. 



Sudan: Said to be in breeding condition in September. 



Ethiopia, Eritrea, and British Somaliland: Chapin (1954, p. 581) noted 

 that fully plumaged males were recorded from May to December, and some even 

 in February and IMarch. "It would seem that the breeding season must vary 

 somewhat according to the district and its particular seasons of rain. In British 

 Somaliland the breeding season may end in September," but m.ales in full nuptial 

 feathering were taken in Eritrea on January 9 and March 5. 



Italian Somaliland: Absona, May 26, egg. Solole, June 11, egg. 



Belgian Congo: Marungu, April 13 to 23, specimens in breeding condition 

 collected. Savannas of southeastern Congo, February to July, males in nuptial 

 plumage. Near Ehsabethville, late April, egg. Upper Uelle, northeastern Congo, 

 breeds November to December, possibly to January (Chapin). 



Kenya: Northern part, Turkana, July, male with swollen gonads. Marsabit, 

 July, young birds. Ngong, no date, eggs. 



Tanganyika: Northern part, March to August and October to December. 

 Western part, March to June and November to December. Central and southern 

 part, January to April and October to December (ex Mackworth-Praed and 

 Grant, 1955, p. 1050). 



Ntasaland: April and May, eggs. 



Mozambique: February to July, birds in breeding condition. Gorongoza, 

 October 3, egg. 



Southern Rhodesia: Vumba, Umtah, Urungwe, December, eggs. Male seen 

 in courtship display in full breeding plumage in June (Beit Bridge). 



Damaraland: Okhandja, April 15, egg. 



Transvaal: Mokeetsi, February 15, March 17, eggs. 



Natal: Umhloti Beach, November 21, egg. 



Songs and Calls 



The only notes I ever heard from the paradise widow bird were 

 monosyllabic chirping sounds that seemed more mellow, less strident, 

 than the corresponding note of the pintail. Many years ago Heuglin 

 (1869, p. 585) described the paradise widow bu-d's notes as having a 

 flutelike quality, apparently because of the same mellowness that 

 I noted many years later. Priest (1936, p. 369) also stated that the 

 call is flutehke, but it is not clear whether his report is based on per- 

 sonal observation or on Heuglin's statement. Priest went on to state 

 that "a love song" may be heard before and during the breeding 

 season, but he gave no description of it. Apparently he distinguished 

 it from the flutelike call note. Heuglin, also called what he considered 

 the true song "monotonous," but gave no description. Euss (quoted 

 in Butler, 1899, p. 272) wrote that the song is a "little harmonious 

 chirping of monosyllabic longdrawn soimds, partly shrill, partly 

 euphonious." 



Considering how frequently naturalists met with and collected the 

 paradise widow bird, it is surprising how few comments are available 



