180 URAZGINTHUS GRANATINUS 
The Violet-eared Cordon-bleu inhabits Southern Africa 
from south of the Quanza and Zambesi to the Orange River. 
This Waxbill has been procured by Anchieta and Mocquerys 
at Benguela, which is the most northern range known to me 
for the species, and at Huilla in Mossamedes by Antunes. 
Andersson found it not uncommon in Damaraland, but more 
abundant further north and at Lake Ngami. Mr. Fleck like- 
wise mentions it as generally distributed over these districts 
and the Kalahari. 
Stark writes: ‘“ These beautiful Waxbills appear never 
to congregate in large flocks but are either met with in small 
parties of five or six, or more usually in pairs. They keep 
much to localities covered with low bushes, and especially with 
scattered mimosas, and generally feed on the ground between 
the bushes, often on bare spots, on grass and other small seeds. 
A nest taken in June, in the Northern Transvaal, was built 
about four feet off the ground, in a thorny bush. It is round 
in shape, with a side entrance, and is loosely constructed of dry 
grass lined with a few feathers. The eggs, three in number, 
are pure white, and measure 0°72 x 0°50. It is somewhat 
curious that this delicate-looking little bird should breed in 
mid-winter, when the nights are decidedly cold, but I have 
frequently noticed the seeming indifference of many of the 
South African small birds—including some of the Sunbirds 
—to temperature. Many breed in mid-winter, even on the 
bleak mountains of Western Cape Colony. Not unfrequently 
the same species will nest again in the height of summer.” 
Mr. Ayres met with the species in the Rustenburg and 
Mariqua districts, but found it more abundant near the 
Limpopo, and noticed it ‘frequenting low mimosa bushes; 
generally found in pairs or small family parties, but, I think, 
not ranging northward of the Tatin River.” My friend, the late 
T. E. Buckley, has recorded it as common in small flocks in the 
