PLOCEID^ SYCOBKOTUS 73 



the growth is both high and dense. These Weavers attract atten- 

 tion by their loud and frequently repeated harsh " creaking " notes, 

 which have been not inaptly compared to the jarring of a rusty 

 hinge. Mr. Ayres remarks : " Their notes are harsh and very 

 unmusical, their ordinary song resembling the squeaking of a wheel 

 wanting grease. They are fond of climbing and hanging about 

 thick creepers and the foliage of trees in search of insects, much as 

 some of the Barbets do, which birds they seem to me somewhat to 

 resemble." In addition to insects, which constitute their ordinary 

 food, these Weaver Birds occasionally feed on seeds, berries and 

 small forest fruit. Their nests, shaped like long-necked retorts, 

 are suspended from the extremities of branches, frequently at a 

 considerable height and often overhanging a stream or open space 

 in the bush. They are rather large and are coarsely woven from the 

 tendrils of vines without any softer lining. A pair of birds will 

 frequently work for three months on the construction of their nest. 

 They invariably build alone, never in colonies. During the month 

 of September or early in October they lay two, or occasionally three 

 eggs, of a whitish ground colour rather thickly spotted with pale 

 red. They measure about 0-75 x 0-60. 



) y , 



35. Sycobrotus stictifrons. Spot-headed Weaver Bird. 



Symplectes stictifrons, Fischer and Reichen. Journ. f. Orn. 1885, 



p. 373 ; Reichen. Journ. /. Orn. 1889, p. 281. 

 Sycobrotus bicolor, Sharpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. p. 432, pt. 

 Sycobrotus stictifrons, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii, p. 424 (1890) ; Shelley, 



B. Afr. i, p. 37 (1896) ; Sclater W. L., Ibis, 1899, p. 285. 



Description. Adult male. Like the male of S. bicolor, but the 

 brown feathers of the crown and throat are tipped with grey. 



Iris dull wine-colour (Francis) ; bill brown ; tarsi and toes 

 flesh-colour. 



Length 6'30 ; wing 3*50 ; tail 2-20 ; tarsus O90 ; culmen 0-75. 



Adult female. Eesembles the male in colour. 



Distribution. From Inhambane in Portuguese East Africa, 

 where it "is found all over this district, wherever there is thick 

 bush " according to Mr. H. F. Francis, northward to the Zambesi 

 Eiver, where Eeichenow obtained specimens at Quilimane and Kirk 

 on the Shire Eiver, thence through Mozambique and Nyasaland 

 (Whyte), to the Eovuma Eiver (Thomson). 



Habits. Similar to those of S. bicolor. 



