ANAPLECTES RUBRTCEPS 343 



is known to the natives of Quellengnes as the " Ulojanja," and 

 tlie latter, at Humbe, as the " Qnicengo." I do not find any 

 further information regarding its occurrence on the western 

 side of Africa. The type of A. gurneyi came from Caconda. 

 The most southern range known to me for the species is 

 Komati Pooit in the Transvaal, where Mr. Francis found 

 colonies of nests of this species, of Hypantomu Kpilonotns and 

 Textor iiiger all in one tree, and took a photograph of them 

 which has been beautifully reproduced (Faun. S. Afr. B. i. 

 p. 76), showing the lengthened entrance passage to the nests 

 of A. rahriceps, which distinguishes them at a glance from the 

 more rounded nests of H. spiloiiotus. He writes : " Common 

 in the locality and fairly distributed right through the eastern 

 border of the Transvaal." 



In the month of July Mr. W. Ayres shot two hens out of 

 a flock of six or eight of these birds, all of which were in the 

 yellowish white plumage, at Rovi-raud. The type of the 

 species was discovered by Wahlberg at the Limpopo River. 



To the north of the Limpopo, Mr. T. Ayres writes : " This 

 is by no means a common bird. We found it breeding at the 

 Tatin ; it n^akes a rough, retort-shaped nest, which it bangs, 

 mouth downwards, from the outer twigs of rather tall trees. 

 Sometimes a new nest is hung on the tube of the last year's 

 structure. Mr. Jameson found a nest to the north of the 

 Umfuli in October, with two blue eggs in it, and at the Tatin 

 we pulled down one of the double nests, and Mr. Jameson, on 

 trying to put his hand up the tube, very nearly got bitten by 

 a snake, which was lying in the nest and had swallowed the 

 old bird as well as her blue eggs. It is evident, therefore, that 

 nests of this shape do not always keep out snakes." The males 

 were apparently all breeding in immature or winter plumage, 

 for Jameson informed me that he never saw a specimen with 

 a red head while he was in South Africa, and the type of 



