PARASITIC WEAVERBIRDS 149 



(1943, p. 103) suggested that both from the standpoint of size and of 

 geography, the egg was probably that of a paradise widow bird. The 

 nest was found near Umhloti Beach, Natal, on November 21, 1941. 

 I tliink that while Roberts may have been correct in his reidentifica- 

 tion of the parasite, the nest is not of a sort that one would expect 

 a paradise widow bird to enter. The egg is certainly small for a 

 lesser honey-guide {Indicator minor '^^), but that is a possibility that 

 cannot be ruled out. 



Gray-headed sparrow: Passer griseus (Yielllot) ^'^ 



Adlersparre (1922, p. 10) wrote that the paradise widow bird is 

 parasitic on the gray-headed sparrow, but gave no supporting evi- 

 dence. No one else appears to have found this sparrow to be a host 

 of the paradise widow bird, although Adlersparre seemed to have 

 based his statement on field observations of someone else in Africa. 



Cardinal dioch: Quela cardinalis (Hartlaub) *^ 



V. G. L. van Someren (1956, p. 464) wrote that he found eggs of 

 the paradise widow bird in nests of the cardinal dioch, but un- 

 fortunately gave no details as to dates, exact localities, or number of 

 such instances observed. 



Red bishop: Euplectes orix (Linnaeus) ^» 



H. iVi. Miles wrote me that P. Cooke once found an egg of a para- 

 dise widow bird in a nest of a red bishop bird in Southern Rhodesia. 



Yellow -rumped bishop: Euplectes capensis (Linnaeus) '° 



I know of two records, both merely based on eggs attributed to 

 the paradise vv-idow bird, taken from nests of this host, and deposited 

 in the collections of the Victoria Memorial Museum, Salisbiu-y, 

 Southern Rhodesia: At Vumba, Umtali, Southern Rhodesia, on 

 December 27, 1957, J. L. Walker collected three paradise widow 

 bird eggs from a nest of this host. At Urung\\^e, also in Southern 

 Rhodesia, on December 30, 1926, C. Myers obtained two such eggs 

 from another nest of this bishop bird (race E. c. zamhesiensis 

 (Roberts)). 



Cut -throat finch: Amadina fasciata (Gmelin)** 



I know of only one uncertain record. The van Somerens (1945, 

 p. 42) found a nest of the cutthroat in an old nest of a Speke's weaver 



" Indicator minor Stephens, in Shaw, General zoology, vol. 9, 1815, p. 140 (Cape of Good Hope). 



*' FTingilla grisea Vieillot, Nouveau dictionnaire d'hlstolre naturelle, vol. 12, 1817, p. 198 (United States= 

 Senegal, ex Lafresnaye). 



" Hyphnntica cardinalis TIartlaub, Joum. Omith., vol. 28, 1880, p. 325 (Lado). 



*" Emberiza orix Linnaeus, Systenia naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 177 (Afrlca=AnBola, ex Edwards). 



'" Lozia capensis Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 12, vol. 1, 170(), p. 30ti (Cape of Good Hope). 



" Loxia fasciata Omelin, Caroll a Llnn6 . . . systema naturae, od. 13, vol. 2, 1789, p. 859 (Senegal, e.x 

 VielUot). 



526526—60 11 



