PRIONOPS POLIOCEPHALA 479 
Swynnerton states that this species is called Mariganyama 
by the Chindaos of Gazaland, and gives the following account : 
“Not uncommon in the open woods, usually forming a member 
of the Drongo’s regiment, though it sometimes dispenses with 
this protection. A flock of eight or nine individuals fre- 
quented a “Manzhanshi” grove close to my homestead 
throughout the past winter accompanied only by a pair of 
Graucalus pectoralis and two Lophoceros melanoleucus. A 
stomach examined contained several grasshoppers. The natives 
regard this species as a bird of omen; should it cross their 
path while hunting, from right to left, all is well and they 
can proceed in full confidence of success; should it, however, 
cross from left to right, nothing but the worst of ill-fortune 
can await him who is so foolhardy as to disregard the warn- 
ing, and the only sensible course is to go straight home. It 
is one of the few birds the flesh of which the natives will 
not eat. 
In north-east Rhodesia the nest and eggs were taken by 
Neave at Petauke in the Loangwa valley on March 27. There 
were several nests together, so that it is evident that the bird 
breeds in colonies. The nest was made of fibre and dry grass, 
plastered outside with white cobwebs giving it a silvery 
appearance. The eggs, four in number, were pale bluish 
stone-colour spotted and dotted with reddish and purplish- 
brown, with underlying blotches of purplish-grey ; they 
measured 0°80 to 0°85 x O°6 : 
In the large collections of specimens I have seen from 
Nyasaland there are two examples from Buwa which have 
their heads entirely white, a variation of plumage which 
is likewise known to occur in P. plumatus, P. cristatus and 
P. melanoptera. 
Bohm found the species abundant, and met with a nest on 
March 18 containing two fresh eggs. The nest was placed 
