NO. 3 THE PROBLEM OF THE VIDUINAE — FRIEDMANN 9 



In defense of the arrangement proposed in my book I can only 

 repeat here what I outlined there, namely, that inasmuch as rectricial 

 elongation in male nuptial plumage is a character that has developed 

 wholly independently in two of the main groups or sections of the 

 family, it seems probable that within each of these groups the short- 

 tailed species are nearer the stock from which they evolved than are 

 their long-tailed relatives. There is nothing in the life histories of 

 the short-tailed species to suggest that they are in any way more ad- 

 vanced than their congeners with elongated rectrices; in fact, the 

 reverse is more in keeping with our still all too incomplete informa- 

 tion. The courtship antics of the combassous are simpler, less in- 

 volved, apparently more primitive than are those of the long-tailed 

 species. All the viduines are quite similar in their vocalisms and, ex- 

 cept for size (in Stegmmra), in the appearance of their eggs. It is 

 perhaps a necessary commentary on so much of our present avian 

 systematics to end this discussion with the observation that the one 

 point of agreement in all these attempts is that we need to know 

 more about the birds themselves. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Chapin, James P. 



1954. The birds of the Belgian Congo. Part IV. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 

 Bull. 75 B, 846 pp. 

 Fhiedmann, Herbert. 



i960. The parasitic weaverbirds. U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 223, 196 pp., 16 pis. 

 Morris, Desmond, 



1957- The reproductive behaviour of the bronze mannikin, Lon-cfmra cucul- 

 lata. Behaviour, vol. 11, pp. 156-201. 

 Neunzig, Rudolf. 



1929. Zum Brutparasitismus der Viduinen. Journ. fiir Orn., vol. 77, pp. 

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 NicotAi, J. 



1961. Die Stimmen einiger Viduinen. Journ. fiir Orn., vol. 102, pp. 213- 

 214. 

 Southern, H. N. 



1954. Mimicry in cuckoos' eggs. In Evolution as a process, ed. J. Huxley, 

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 Steiner, Hans. 



i960. Klassifikation der Prachtfinken, Spermestidae, auf Grund der 

 Rachenzeichnungen iherer Nestlinge. Journ. fiir Orn., vol. loi, 

 pp. 92-112. 

 Thorpe, Wm. H. 



1958. The learning of song pattern by birds, with especial reference to 

 the song of the chaffinch, Fringilla coelehs. Ibis, vol. 100, pp. S35- 

 570. 



