On goiite Members of the Fdiiiili/ riocei(la\ 27 



XII. (h). — X,)(es on some Members of the FamiJ// Plocdidse 

 occurrhui in the Kroonstad District, Orange River Colony. 

 By Edmond ISymonds, M.R.C.S., L.H.C.P. 



Many of the Ploceidae are — although belonging to different 

 sub-families and genera — familiarly known as " Waxbills/' 

 and are not only pretty and interesting in captivity, but 

 rather puzzling to the observer. The following remarks 

 may be worthy of reproduction. 



1. Sporopi-pes squamifrons. (Scaly-feathered Weaver 

 Bird.) 



This is not a very regular visitor ; in some years it is 

 abuntlant, and then disappears for a year or two. I have 

 never known it nest here, and have only observed them once 

 in our winter months. I have kept some in my aviary, but 

 they are so pugnacious and quarrelsome that I was glad to 

 net rid of them. 



2. Vidua regia. (Shaft-tailed Weaver Bird.) 



This is not a common visitor ; it always, as far as I am 

 aware, ajjpears in our summer, and although it is possible 

 that it may occur in winter, I hardly think it likely, as 1 

 have never observed any in transitional plumage so noticeable 

 in the case of other closely allied species. The males are 

 often seen together in pairs accompanied by a crowd of 

 sober-plumaged females. They are very fond of sitting on a 

 wire fence and flying rapidly to and fro between the ground 

 and the fence. They are mostly found on the outskirts of 

 the town and in the gardens. On a farm some distance from 

 here I observed a pair of males as usual and several f(!males, 

 and a nest was commenced in a peach-tree but never finished, 

 though protected as far as possible. I kept one once in my 

 aviary, but he died before changing his garb : they seem 

 delicate and difficult to keep in confinement, like some others 

 of the same family. 



3. Vidua principalis. (Pin-tailed Widow Bird.) 

 Common here all the year round, and lives fairly well in 



an aviarv. 



