*' perliaps in trees, though I have never yet found a 

 " nest in such a situation." (<:). 



Another traveller states that the nest, whether it 

 is placed inside a hut or built in the open ground 

 among dry herbage, consists of long straws and grass- 

 stalks heaped up into a large irregular pile, with a 

 smooth lining of fine grasses etc. {d). In the writings 

 of other African travellers who mention these birds, no 

 further information is given, except that Heuglin 

 frequently refers to the untidiness of the nests of this 

 bird, which he found, but on this point his account by 

 no means agrees with the observations most carefully 

 made and recorded by Viellot, who successfully bred 

 these birds in confinement. 



This distinguished French scientist thus describes 



{c) The following recent notes on the habits of Z. brunneiceps 

 I take from the late Dr. Stark's Birds of South Africa, Vol. I. 

 They confirm the accounts of the earlier observers, whom Dr. 

 Russ quotes: "These little Waxbills are somewhat common in 

 " the Transvaal between Potchefstroom and the Limpopo 

 " River, in small flocks, or perhaps more oflen in single pairs. 

 " They feed on the ground, almost exclusively on grass- 

 " seed, keep close together when feeding, and are gentle and 

 "affectionate in their manners. While hopping about on the 

 " ground they constantly repeat a sharp twittering note, which 

 " is changed to a sharper call when they take flight. Like 

 " many of the South African small birds, they breed very 

 " irregularly, in the Transvaal both summer and winter. A 

 " nest, taken towards the beginning of June, was placed on the 

 " ground in the centre of a tuft of grass. It was domed, with 

 " a small side entrance, and was loosely woven from coarse 

 " grass lined with feathers. It contained three white eggs 

 " averaging 0.56 by 0.45." — E. H. 



[d) In Gambia, where I have had the opportunity of seeing 

 these birds in their own country, I cannot remember to have 

 ever come across them away from the native villages, even in 

 the non-breeding season, but they seem to spend the whole 

 year about the huts, small flocks, which look like family 

 parties, keeping to particular compounds, and getting the 



