12 Mr. C. F. M. Swyunertou on the 



Of three males, two measured 6'65 iuches each in the 

 flesh, and the third 6*5. 



11. HypHANTOKNis AURiCAPiLLUs. Shelley 's WeaveT-bird. 

 Ploceus auricapillus, Reichenow, Vog. Afr. iii. p. 79. 



P. I met with this Weaver at a number of points in the 

 low veld, including the Umtefu River and the counti'y east 

 of the Idunda River as far as Inyamita, as well as in that 

 between Chibabava and the Madanda forests. I also very 

 frequently came across the nests, of the same form as 

 those of H. nigriceps, but at once distinguishable by their 

 smaller size and neater construction. They were hung 

 from the twigs of Acacias and other trees, often quite a 

 number within the radius of a few hundred yards, but 

 seldom more than three or four to a tree. At Chirabuya's, 

 near the Umtefu, I took a nest containing two eggs on 

 November 26th. It was slung, thirty feet from the ground, 

 from a thin t>vig of Diospi/roa and had to be shot down; 

 while near it were two other nests, one of which, at least, 

 belonged to another pair of birds. !Mine, which was quite 

 a typical specimen, was 48 inches long by 4'2 deep and 

 33 broad, and was very neatly constructed of grass-blades, 

 some of which had been green >vheu inserted, and roofed with 

 green Acacia-leaves and lined M'ith fine grass-heads. The 

 eggs were creamy white, with spots, short lines, and blots 

 of purplish brown, and blotches (some of them large) of 

 ])aler brown-madder; they measured 21 by ]4*2 mm. Two 

 stomachs examined each contained beetles only. A breeding 

 male in my collection measured 6'1 inches in the flesh; bill 

 black, irides bright orange, feet leaden grey. A non-breeding 

 male had the bill yellowish brown, the lower mandible paler 

 and pinker with a dusky tip, the feet of the same colour as 

 the lower mandible, and the irides chestnut-orange. 



12. Hyphantornis subaureus. Yellow Weaver-bird. 



P. Large numbers of these Weavers were nesting along 

 the Buzi at Chibabava at the end of November, the males 

 frequently flying up into the air to display their brilliant 



