84 PLOCEID^ PLOCEIPASSEB 



and back light brown ; rump and upper tail-coverts white ; middle 

 wing-coverts brown tipped with white ; greater coverts black tipped 

 with pale rufous ; primary coverts and quills dark brown edged with 

 pale brown ; tail-feathers dark brown edged and tipped with pale 

 brown ; chin, upper throat, vent and under tail-coverts pure white ; 

 rest of under surface dull white, the sides of chest tinged with 

 brown; edge of wing buff; axillaries and under wing-coverts dull 

 white. 



Iris reddish-brown; bill dusky ; tarsi and feet pale brown. 



Length 6-80; wing 4-00; tail 2-50; tarsus O90 ; culmen 0-65. 



Adult female. Resembles the male in colour, but is slightly 

 smaller. 



Distribution. From the Orange Eiver valley northward to 

 Damara Land on the west ; throughout the Transvaal into Matabili 

 and Mashona Lands on the east ; abundant in Griqualand West and 

 Bechuanaland. 



Habits. This large species is abundant to the north of the 

 Orange River among bushes and mimosa trees, but is rarely met 

 with in the open country. Of social habits, it remains in flock all 

 the year round and breeds in company, several nests being generally 

 built in a single tree. Rarely have I met with more pugnacious 

 birds ; the males in spring are constantly fighting, and so desperate 

 are their quarrels that the combatants frequently lie exhausted, side 

 by side, on the ground, incapable of further movement. They are 

 noisy birds, too, very " sparrow-like " in their manners and customs, 

 and keep up a constant chattering while searching for food. This 

 consists of locusts, termites, small beetles and a variety of small 

 insects, grain and seeds. The young appear to be fed on larvae and 

 small caterpillars. If disturbed when feeding they seek shelter in 

 the nearest bush or tree. In addition to their somewhat harsh call- 

 notes of " chick-chick " the males in spring indulge in a song of 

 some sweetness ; Andersson indeed remarks that, in Damara Land, 

 " at the beginning of the rainy season this bird occasionally, though 

 rarely, sings so melodiously that I have seldom heard anything 

 more exquisite." The nests are large, roughly built, kidney-shaped 

 structures, usually placed near the ends of the branches of a mimosa 

 or other thorny tree. They are constructed of long grass-stems, 

 the blades and flowering tops being woven together the stiff stalks 

 project in all directions. During the winter each nest has two 

 entrances from below, separated in the interior by a narrow bridge 

 of grass, on which the birds roost. At the beginning of the breed- 



