154 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 23 



the redwing, P. phoenicoptera lacks the black palatal spot, and that 

 consequently, if Neunzig was correct about the exactness of this 

 apparent mimicry between parasite and victim, the young of S. p. 

 interjecta (the race of paradise widow birds occurring within the range 

 of P. phoenicoptera) may turn out to have an unspotted palate. I can- 

 not, however, find any definite evidence that Neunzig actuaDy examined 

 a young paradise widow bird. He may possibly have intended to 

 describe the condition in the melba finch as the presumed pattern 

 for its parasite. Hoesch and Niethammer (1940, pp. 363-365) wrote 

 that while the young melba finch has a black spot on the roof of the 

 mouth and dark spots on the sides at the gape, the young paradise 

 widow bird has only the palatal spot and not the ones at the corners 

 of the mouth. They further described one young paradise widow bird 

 as havmg bluish red edgings on the fissure of the palate, a condition 

 not described in Pytilia. Apparently the resemblance between the 

 host and the parasite is not as extreme as Neunzig's account suggests. 



There are no observations on the gi'owth or behavior of the nestling 

 paradise widow bird in the wild state. 



In captivity, with fire finches as the host, duration of the nestling 

 stage was given by Lloyd (1955) as 16 days. The paradise widow bird 

 egg hatched on June 14, and the chick "left the nest on June 30th when 

 sixteen days old, and even then it was quite strong on the wing and 

 fully feathered. It was actually out of the nest on the two previous 

 days, but each time I returned it. On the 30th, however, the foster- 

 parents, the Fire Finches, followed it right outside into the flight 

 [cage]. It was then quite as big as the Fire Finches, and fawn in color, 

 with dark feathers in the wings, and a lighter shade of fawn on the 

 underparts. Nowit is about eight weeks old, and it has the prominent 

 striped markings of the whydah on the head, is very pale fawn on the 

 breast, and almost white at the vent." 



Young Out of the Nest 



Hoesch and Niethammer (1940, pp. 363-365) found in Damaraland 

 a few young paradise widow birds still with the greenish, or at least 

 partly gi'eenish, juvenal feathers, in a mixed flock of adults of their own 

 species, red-billed weavers Quelea guelea^^), and finch larks (Eremop- 

 teryx verticalis ^^) . This find occurred on August 24, and later on, 

 these reporters noted still other young of the same year in other simi- 

 larly mLxed flocks. Inasmuch as neither the red-billed weavers nor 

 the finch larks are known to be victims of the paradise widow birds, it 



«9 Emberiza quelea Linnaeus, Systems naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 177 (India=Senegal). 

 »• Megaloiis verticalis A. Smith, Report of the expedition for exploring central Africa . . ., 1836, p. 48 (coun- 

 try both sides of Orange River). 



