PARASITIC WEAVERBIRDS 145 



flight, in an oblique course to another elevated perch, in the vicinity 

 of which he lets himself down in a great arch flight. 



According to Russ (m A. G. Butler, 1899, p. 273), in captivity, 

 possibly because of the impossibility of rising to heights, the male 

 gives a "jumping love-dance" many times a day. Unfortunately no 

 description is given of this behavior, which does not appear to have 

 been recorded in wild birds, but which makes me think of the courtship 

 behavior of the combassous (pp. 71, 76, 82). In fact, Russ (1884, p. 

 180) actually made this very comparison, and stated further that 

 when the change into breeding condition begins (usually first noticeable 

 with the darkening of the tip of the bill and the appearance of a few 

 feathers of the nuptial plumage on the head, neck, and breast), the 

 male becomes more lively and begins to sing. He then flies hour after 

 hour in the flight space of the bird room, but comes back to alight each 

 time on the same perch. As the nuptial plumage becomes more 

 complete, the bird's movements become more and more lively, until 

 he indulges in the hopping or bouncing courtship dance many times 

 every day. 



One unusual courtship pattern was recorded for a captive bird. In 

 the aviary of T. Lloyd (1955), a pair of fire finches reared a young 

 paradise widow bird. As soon as the chick left the nest, the adult 

 male paradise widow bird "seemed to pay attention to the chick im- 

 mediately and started displaying in front of it, even while the foster 

 parents were feeding it, and then he became very aggressive, so for 

 the safety of the chick the parent wh3"dah cock was removed." 



In a recent book Gilliard (1958, p. 386) erroneously described a very 

 different courtship display for the paradise widow bird. The be- 

 havior that he described is that of Jackson's whydah (Drepanoplectes 

 jacksoni) . 



There is still little evidence for or against the existence of terri- 

 torialism in the paradise widow bird. In Northern Rhodesia, Jones 

 (1945, p. 182) noted six or seven fully plumaged males together with 

 attendant females — a condition which does not suggest the exclusive- 

 ness usually associated with territorialism. On the other hand, in 

 Uganda, Stoneham (1929, p. 276) wrote that "each male seemed to 

 have occupied his territory and doubtless the many females were 

 busy building or brooding." While this report involves the false 

 assumption of nesting by the paradise widowbirds, it suggests a 

 spatial separation of the males, the only birds Stoneham appeared to 

 have actually seen. 



Chapin (1954, pp. 580-581) noted that the paradise widow bird 

 lives in small flocks "which may include several adult males until the 

 prenuptial molt is complete. Later the males separate and display in 

 sustained flights over the treetops." Jackson gave further evidence 



