PLOCEID^ 



PYEOMELANA 



129 



Habits. In the Transvaal and some parts of the Orange Free 

 State these little Bishop Birds collect in immense flocks towards 

 autumn and remain together until the following spring, when they 

 break up into smaller companies, many of which appear to migrate, 



Pyromelana talia. Male in summer. 



while others remain to breed in small colonies in the swamps or 

 among reeds on the borders of vleis or streams. During autumn 

 and winter these birds feed chiefly on fallen grass-seeds ; they are 

 also accused of doing considerable damage to the corn, and especially 

 the millet-crops, but in summer they subsist largely on insects, and 

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