OrnithuJoyij of the Matupo District. 551 



nests ill January, but tliey set about serious business early in 

 February, and on tlie 21st of that month I found a clutch of 

 four eggs among the rushes overhanging the water. There 

 were also several other nests in the vicinity. On the 29th I 

 found another colony, which had built in rushes over a dried- 

 up mud-hole at the head of a valley. These Finks are double- 

 brooded, and the old nests are perhaps used by some of the 

 first brood for roosting purposes, as I know they often stay 

 in the neighbourhood whilst their parents are rearing their 

 second brood, and, I fancy, not infrequently lend a hand in 

 feeding them. The second-brood nests are placed close at 

 hand. When one approaches a colony, all the birds (males 

 first) get very excited and move off a ievf yards, but they 

 soon return and show great uneasiness anent their eggs. 

 On one occasion, upon re-visiting a solitary nest — which 

 I had noticed five days previously, containing two eggs — 

 I found it deserted, and the eggs practically covered up with 

 mud and little stones. Within a few yards the birds were 

 busy with a fresh nest, which was, however, as yet in an 

 unfinished state. On previous occasions I have noticed that 

 both this species and Euplectes xanthomelas very quickly 

 forsake their nest and eggs, if interfered with. The eggs 

 vary considerably in size, and my series show a maximum of 

 22"50 mm. and a minimum of 17*25 mm. in length. Average 

 width 14 mm. Typical nests are strongly constructed of 

 coarse green grass lined with very fine grass, but very 

 exceptionally, feathers are also utilized for this purpose. 

 The nests are placed as a rule close to, or overhanging 

 water, and are usually built in aquatic vegetation, but on 

 one occasion I noticed an unfinished nest in a bush close to 

 a dry watercourse running between a kopje and " dwala." 

 In 1912 I first noticed young birds hatched on March 29, 

 and these showed white down on the neck, dorsal, and forearm 

 tracts. The breeding plumage of the male begins to change 

 in some cases by the 1st of April, but the majority are later. 

 The Red Bishop-Birds, as well as the Black-thighed species, 

 are very fond of green mealies and "^"^ amabele,^' and I have 

 noticed them, two or three on a cob at once, lustily pulling 



