262 Whydahs. 



II 



Fringilla laticauda. Licht. 1823. Vidua laticauda. (Gray. 1849). 

 Penthcria laticauda (Bp. 1850). Pcnthctria laticauda (Cab. 1850) 



and B.N. Cat. 218. 

 Coliuspasser laticaudus (Blanf. 1870) and Sh. iv. 38. 

 Colinspasser torquatus. Riipp. 1835-40. 



References. B.N. 191 1. 297. Plate. 6 . Singv. 62. PI. 27 

 Sh. iv. 38. Russ. i. 220. 



Range. N.E. and E. Africa (Abyssinia to Kilimanjara). 



This species which appears to have been first imported 

 alive obout 1910 is still very uncommon in captivity, as is on'y 

 natural considering the distance its haunts are from the ordinary 

 track of trade. An excellent plate of this bird has appeared in 

 our Magazine (see above) which shows well the difference be- 

 tween this and the last species; in this the red encircles the whole 

 face and is not merely confined to the chest. In the paper which 

 accompanies the plate the Editor gives a general account of the 

 species and notes from the Ibis thereon, while in the following 

 year Mr. Shore Baily writes about a cock and two hens he 

 obtained in 1914, illustrating his paper (B.N. 1916. 279) with 

 photos of the cock in display and of one of the nests the birds 

 built, without unfortunately doing anything further in the breed- 

 ing line. This is as far as the species has got towards reproduc- 

 ing itself in captivity. 



This is one of the Whydahs which makes regular " play- 

 grounds," by wearing away the grass in one place by its love 

 dance and display, leaving only a central tuft untrodden down by 

 its gyrations and jumps. 



Shelley gives us Fischer's description of the eggs, 

 " strongly glossed, whitish, with reddish brown and violet-grey 

 spots, most numerous at the thick end," and quotes Mr. Jack- 

 son's (the first) account of the " play-ground." A more recent 

 note on these birds appears in the Ibis for 1916, where Mr. van 

 Someren writes (p. 418) as follows: " Common in the grass 

 " country of British East Africa. Nests were found in grassy 

 " patches in the scrub and by the swamps. The nest is con- 

 " structed of grass. The grass-blades in the actual nesting 

 " site are first woven into a ring and the body of the nest 



