Whydahs. 237 



Whvtiahs. 

 By Dr. E. Hopkixsox. D.S.O. 



(l""or llic iiK-aiiiny ol abhrevialions Used in lliis li^t I'ldc payc iS6) 



(Continued froDi f^agc 214). 



Errata. In last montli's in.sialincnt under " I'lX-T.Ml.ED WHYDAH," 



p. Jii. ilclete the four lines, "■ lidiia hypticlicrina Singv. 6l." 



Tliey belong to the previous si>ecies. cj. v. 



SHAFT-TA11,KI) W U\1)AH. 

 Tctraciuira regia. (ILL. v. 409). 



Synonomy. 

 I 

 Shaft-tailed Widow-bird. 



* Shaft-tailed Buntinij;- (Lth). * Shaft-tailed Finch. 

 Queen Whydah, Queen Widow. 

 King' Whydah-bird. (occ). 



II 

 Eiiibcrica regia. Linn 1766. Iringilla regia (VIL1817). I'ide Es- 



trelda regia (Lafr. 1850). Tetraenura regia (Reich. 1881). 



Cat. xiii. 209. 

 ridita paradisea (Barratt. 1878). error. 



IvKFERENCES. Singv. 6i. PI. 26. B.N. vi. 5. uncol. figs. 

 c? ?. A.G.B.i.i88. Sh. iv.2i. B.S.A. i. 148. Russ. i. 2r2 

 ■ Raxge. South Africa to Bcnguela and Zambesia. 



This species is the southern representative of the Pin- 

 tailed Whydah; the ranges of the two birds overlap in Cape 

 Colony. As a cage-bird it is (or rather was before the war) 

 becoming rather better known with the somewhat more frequent 

 importation of South African lairds. Of its nest and eggs Shel- 

 ley says nothing, but Stark writes that, although he had never 

 found a nest, he believed that each female built a separate one 

 in the long grass, the cock not interfering, beyond keeping 

 watch and ward. Mouritz. who in the " Ibis " for 1916 (p. 556) 

 describes the birds of the Matopos, speaks of each male going 

 about with 10 to 12 dusky followers. He also failed " in spite 

 of diligent search " to find any nests and asks whether this 

 species may not share the parasitical habits of the Pin-tailed 

 Whydah. 



