444 HYPHANTOKNIS VITP^LLINUS 



Coast and at Accra. The Drs. Reichenow and Liihder found 

 these Weavers breeding both at Accra and at Abokobi, witli 

 fresh eggs in tlie middle of August. The nests were hung from 

 bushes at five to eight feet from the ground, one or more being 

 suspended from the same bough, but were not in hirge colonies. 

 Tlie nests were of the usual oval form, witli the entrance-tube 

 hanging down. The eggs, bluish white with pale reddish blue 

 or violet markings, measure 0"8 x 0"G. 



The occuri'ence of the species in the Niger district is 

 known to me only by a female specimen obtained by W. A. 

 Forbes at Abutschi. 



In North-east Africa Heuglin met with these birds in small 

 flocks from May to July, at Bei'bera and up the White and 

 Blue Niles. Their favourite resorts were small groups of 

 acacia and other thorny trees in damp situations, on islands, 

 and in the maize-fields. They were feeding on grain and 

 insects, and their call-note was a shrill chirp. The males 

 moult into their bright breeding plumage in June. The nest 

 is woven out of fresh green grass and suspended from a 

 twig at a height from the ground varying from three to twenty 

 feet; many of these nests were empty and apparently used only 

 as shelters for the males. The eggs vary greatly in colouring, 

 from whitish to clay-colour or bluish green, some having only 

 dusky bluish grey dots and freckles, while others are thickly 

 spotted with reddish brown. He never found more than five 

 eggs in a nest, and in their second brood there were generally 

 only three. The eggs are figured in his work (Orn. N. 0. Afr. 

 pi. 47, figs. 8 to 12). When the young are able to fly they 

 assemble in flocks in the open country and maize-fields and 

 wander southward in Noveiiiber. 



The Hon. N. C. Rothschild and Mr. Wollaston write : 

 " The adult male is a very conspicuous bird, and his long- 

 drawn, wheezy call-note might be heard about every fifty yards 



