PLOCEIDJ3 VIDUA 147 



Specimens from South Africa are larger than those from more 

 northern localities. 



Distribution. On the west coast from the Orange Eiver to 

 Senegambia ; on the east from Knysna in Cape Colony to 

 Abyssinia. It also ranges throughout the Congo Valley region 

 and extends to the White Nile and Central Lake district. It is 

 generally distributed in "grassy " districts in Eastern Cape Colony, 

 Natal, Zululand and the Transvaal, as well as in the Orange Free 

 State. Mr. Andersson states that in Damara Land it is " rather a 

 scarce species, much more so than Vidua regia ; it only occurs 

 during the rainy season, and is generally seen in pairs or in very 

 small flocks." 



Habits. In addition to its wide range, this species of Widow 

 Bird, in South Africa, everywhere largely outnumbers its congeners, 

 and in many districts is a very common bird. During autumn and 

 winter they occasionally collect in very large flocks, frequently 

 mingled with those of the smaller Weavers and Waxbills. In 

 summer they disperse in smaller parties, each consisting of a single 

 male and from ten to forty or even fifty females. The Pin-tail 

 Widow Bird is much more lively and active in its movements than 

 are the two other species of the genus, and the cock is, notwith- 

 standing his long tail, an excellent flier. As Ayres remarks, 

 " During the breeding season, when the wonderful tail of the cock 

 bird is fully developed, he will sometimes rise until nearly out of 

 sight, when he suddenly descends with much velocity, and if 

 approached makes off with ease and swiftness." The same gentle- 

 man writes, " The male of this species has a curious habit of 

 hovering over his mate when she is feeding on the ground, bobbing 

 up and down as you see the Mayflies and Midges do on a summer's 

 evening in England. This exercise he generally continues some 

 minutes without resting." Like the other Widow Birds the present 

 species feed upon small seeds, principally grass-seeds, also upon 

 small insects and their eggs. Its ordinary call-note is a sharp 

 chirp but in spring the male utters a soft warbling song from the 

 top of a bush or tall weed. In Natal this species breeds during the 

 wet season, from November to the end of February or beginning of 

 March. A somewhat openly woven domed nest of fine grass is 

 suspended between the stems of a thick grass tuft a few inches off 

 the ground, the ends of the growing grass being tied together over 

 the nest so as to completely conceal it. The only nests that I 

 have seen contained young birds, from three to four in number. 

 The eggs have not been described. 



