22 Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton on the 



the slightest sign of fear or mistrust. On one occasion I 

 took special note that, had I been murderously inclined, I 

 could have bagged more than thirty at a single shot. The 

 Jihu and the grass-jungle surrounding Chirinda are at 

 present my only two localities for this species, but I have 

 little doubt that it will be found throughout the country 

 wherever similar conditions prevail. Five adults gave an 

 average in the flesh of 3"87 inches, varying from 3'75 to 4"12, 

 but an immature bird measured only 3'5 inches. Bill pale 

 blue-grey, the culmen somewhat dusky ; irides deep reddish 

 brown ; feet dusky grey or grey-brown. 



29. QuELEA QUELEA. Rcd-billcd Weaver. 



Ilh. At the end of August of last year I secured five 

 specimens out of a flock which frequented my orchard (near 

 Chirinda) for a few days. All were in winter plumage, and 

 all the five stomachs contained seeds only. The bills were 

 vermilion^ the culmen, particularly towards the point, being 

 tinged with dusky. Six specimens measured (including one 

 obtained since in the same locality) gave an average length, 

 in the flesh, of 5*06 inches, with a variation of from 4*9 

 to 5'2 inches. 



30. Pyuomelana oryx sundevalli. Northern Red 

 Bishop-Bird. 



Pyromelana sundevalli^ Shelley, B. A£r, iv. pt. 1, p. 98. 



A dense mulberry -hedge beside my hut at Chibabava was 

 occupied by a party of these birds. A male (presumably) 

 would frequently utter a song like the rattling of a steel 

 watch-chain, when the females would immediately flock to 

 the spot, perching on the twigs all round, while he himself 

 remamcd concealed in the foliage. Usually, however, they 

 were to be seen feeding on the open ground along the hedge, 

 apparently chiefly on insects, and moving either at a walk 

 or by a succession of rapid hops ; once a female jumped 

 eagerly aside after a good-sized grasshopper. I also occa- 

 sionally saw them in the open woods and near the river, 

 while at a series of large sedge-bordered pools a few miles 

 from Chibabava they Mere particularly plentiful, and the 



