on Birds and Nests in Uganda .



35



down poking about among the ashes for dainty morsels. O11

January 2nd, 1906, I particularly noticed the Blue-headed Wagtail

(.Motacilla flava) in numbers, where a fire had an hour or so

before been raging; these birds were evidently on migration.


Another sure attraction is a white ants’ nest at the time the

ants are flying. They always commence their flight about sun¬

set, and are the signal for all kinds of insectivorous birds to

congregate ; Swallows fly backwards and forwards, Drongos and

Flycatchers of several species choose points of vantage from

which to swoop out and back again, a Shrike flies out, catches

an insect and, probably, continues its flight to another bush near

by, while higher up Hobbies take their toll ; but now it is getting

dusk, and Nightjars come to join the feast, and so on, until it is

too dark to see, and one has to get back to camp.


One of the prettiest sights in bird-life is the courting of

the Pintailed Whydali {Vidua principalis'). While in the mood

he is most energetic, and as soon as he sees one of his many

wives he flies towards her and hovers within a foot or so of her

with rapidly moving wings, the only movement of the body being

a slight up and down motion, the long flowing tail lagging a bit

behind each movement, at the same time he is trilling out his

love song. After a while she appears to get bored by his be¬

haviour and flies off, at which he begins over again before another

wife ; she soon flies off and he, getting tired, flutters away with

an undulating flight singing all the while, to rest on a branch

or grass near by.


It is quite amusing to watch a colony of Weaver Birds

{ Hyphantor?iis abyssinicus') building; the noise is almost un¬

bearable when close by. The cock bird does most of the build¬

ing, flying off perhaps two hundred yards to fetch grass. Why

he goes so far I cannot say, as there always seems to be plenty of

good grass much nearer, and time appears to be a very important

matter with him. He pecks off a piece of green grass, some six

or eight inches long, and flies back to the nest with it streaming

behind him, and immediately begins weaving it in, all the while

clinging on to the nest, sometimes in very uncomfortable positions,

and flapping his wings rapidly while almost bursting with his

chattering song. The hen meanwhile squats in the nest directing



