HYPHANTOKNIS SPEKEI 415 



the quills ashy buff, the former mottled with yellow mostly at the edge 

 of the pinion ; tail yellowish brown, with narrow- yellow outer edges to the 

 feathers ; sides of head and the throat black ; sides of upper neck and the 

 under parts golden yellow, with a chestnut shade next to the black throat. 

 " Iris pale yellow ; bill black ; feet light brown." Total length 5-3 inches, 

 culmeu 0-7, wing 3-25, tail 1-9, tarsus 0-95. J , 6. 2. 97, Sogsoda Plain 

 (E. L. Phillips). 



Adult female. Forehead, crown, back of neck and the back ashy brown, 

 with broad dark brown centres to the feathers of the mantle ; wing and tail 

 as in the male ; an indistinct eyebrow and the under parts buff, with 

 a slight shade of yellow on the throat and under tail-coverts ; sides of 

 head ashy brown. " Iris hght brown ; bill brown ; legs pale brown." 

 Wing 3-1. 5 , 5. 11. 99, Athi River (Delamere). 



Speke's Weaver inhabits Eastern Africa between 3° S. lat. 

 and 11° N. lat. 



The species was discovered in SoraaliUmd by Speke who 

 writes : " I found this Httle Baya-bird on the plateau in con- 

 siderable numbers, feeding where there were long grasses and 

 plants in flower." Mr. Pease also met with the species in open 

 grass-country to the south of Adis Ababa, and Antinori pro- 

 cured the type of his H. meloxit in Gallaland. 



Dr. Hinde found these Weavers abundant and breeding in 

 colonies among the hills of Moa and Leraoyo and at Machako's. 

 They will, he writes, " build a nest in about a day ; but a pair 

 will often build four or five before they get one sufficiently 

 well bound to the branch to support its weight, and in conse- 

 quence, where twenty or thirty of these birds are building in 

 a single tree, the ground beneath the tree is strewn with nests 

 in every stage of completeness. I have counted as many as 24-3 

 nests lying on the ground beneath a single tree." Antinori 

 gives a very different description of their nesting habits in 

 Shoa. Here the nests were not pendent nor flask-shaped, as 

 with E. vitellina and H. galhnla, but had their entire upper sur- 

 face attached to the under side of a Ijough, so differed greatly 

 in shape, which he calls " cake-like," although constructed of 



