Expedition to the Zambesi River. 559 



plautSj not far from the river, attracted a great number of 

 these birds, as well as large flocks of Weavers {Pyromelana 

 sundevalli) . We found it easy to obtain our specimens ; in 

 fact it was difficult to drive the birds away from this clump 

 of flowering weed, while from time to time they took refuge 

 in neighbouring thick-leaved trees. The flight is jerky and 

 erratic, and the note, often uttered on the wing, is loud for 

 the size of the bird, resembling a rapid rendering of the 

 Greenfinches call. These Sun-birds lived in colonies along 

 the river; their distribution, however, depended to a great 

 extent upon flowering plants, and especially acacias, of whose 

 blossoms they were extremely fond. Their distribution was 

 decidedly local, and from the time we left the locality of 

 one colony till we came across another hardly an individual 

 was observed. 



Regarding their habits, they are seldom found very far 

 away from water ; in fact, more than once we observed a 

 party hovering to and fro over the river itself, catching 

 insects. When not breeding, the males generally travel from 

 one spot to another without the company of the females. 

 During the heat of the day, when all other birds have hidden 

 themselves away in the cool depths of the wood, they are 

 abroad, seeming to take a delight in the intense heat, and it 

 is only in the early morning and evening that they retire into 

 the thick under-cover. As the pairing-season approaches, 

 the male never leaves the side of his mate, and, when 

 courting her, has a quaint way of swaying his body from 

 side to side, as if on a pivot, right in front of her. More- 

 over, he is constantly uttering his song from the topmost 

 twig of some tall acacia-tree, the notes, both in tone and 

 rendering, being by no means unpleasant, and closely re- 

 sembling those of the Lesser Redpoll. When feeding on 

 the buds of a tree, this Sun-bird generally attacks them from 

 some convenient branch above, to which it hangs all the 

 time by its feet, or it will give a great stretch forward in 

 order to bring a bud within its reach. 



Above Zumbo, near the river, we discovered a nest on 

 December 21. It was oval-shaped, and attached to three 



