UROBRACHYA AXILLARIS 63 
three inches in diameter, is constructed of fine grass, with the 
flowering tops attached, woven in a sort of open network, so 
that the sides can be seen through, without any additional 
lining. The sides of the nest are attached to many of the 
surrounding grass-stalks, the blades and tops of the latter 
being bent over in the form of a canopy, so as to completely 
conceal it from above. The eggs, laid towards the end of 
December, are three in number. ‘They have a_highly- 
polished surface of a clear sea green, marked with large 
spots and blotches of deep olive brown. They measure 
0°80 x 0:58, 
“These Widow Birds feed largely on insects, including 
grasshoppers, locusts, mantides, and termites, also upon 
various seeds, especially small grass-seeds. In winter the old 
and young birds form good-sized flocks, but never seem to 
wander far from their breeding station,” 
Major Clarke saw a few full plumaged males in damp 
places near Ingogo; they were shy, restless and pugnacious. 
It appears to be abundant in the Portuguese territory on both 
sides of the Zambesi and in Nyasaland. Mr. Cavendish pro- 
cured two specimens at Mapicuti in winter dress in September, 
and Dr. Stuhlmann collected thirteen near Quilimane, where, 
he informs us, it is known to the natives as the * Mribbe.”” In 
Nyasaland the species has been obtained at the Palumbi River 
and at Kotakota. To the north in German Hast Africa, it is 
replaced by U. zanzibarica, and in West Africa by U. bocaget 
and U. mechowi. 
U. affinis, Cab., which I have figured, is, I believe, as Dr. 
Reichenow has suggested (Vog. Afr. ii. p. 129), a variety of 
plumage of U. axillaris caused by its having lived for some 
time in captivity. The type is a bird which died in the Berlin 
Aquarium, and there are two similar specimens in the British 
Museum, both of which were cage-birds, one in the Zoological 
