EAST AFRICAN filRDS, , - 843 



accomplished this by flying to a frayed edge and taking this in its 

 beak, flying slowly down with it (Morogoro, 20.xii. 16). 



One of" the Black-headed Weavers surprised me to-day by 

 dodging after a Praying Mantis in the manner of a flycatcher. 

 Almost; immediately after catching the insect, however, it dropped 

 it ; presumably owing to the mantis making good use of its fore- 

 legs (Morogoro, T.xii. 17). 



Ploceus spekei Pleugl. 



Out of a large colony of freshly-made nests found on the plains 

 and dependant from a thorn-tree, only one was found to contain 

 anything, and that but a single fresh egg (Nairobi, 10. vii. 15). 



Oriolus brachyrhynchus l^tior Sharpe. 



The note of the Black-headed Oriole is as lovely as its plumage. 

 On a hot afternoon, when all is still, you may be surprised by 

 suddenly hearing a liquid cry of " tokio " ringing out very clearly 

 quite close to you. You look in the direction from which the 

 sound came and hear it again, but perhaps behind you. The 

 bird appears to be aware that its cry is likely to draw attention 

 to it, and so frequently after giving a call it slips away to some 

 fresh perch, where it is concealed by the foliage. The natives 

 say that it calls " ndugu, ndugu," which is Kiswahili for " brother, 

 brother." By imitating the call, I have frequently been success- 

 ful in attracting the bird to the very tree beneath which I was 

 waiting (Morogoro, 7. vii. 17). 



Amydrus morio RiJppELLi Yerr. 



Riippell's Red- winged Starling and A. tenuirostris go about in 

 the same flocks, for both sj)ecies fell to one shot from a gun when 

 they were pillaging fruit-trees in the Uluguru Mts. A. ividleri 

 was taken later near the same place. A solitary bird was shot 

 on the lower slopes of the mountain near Morogoro, where they 

 very rarely come ; its neck was stripped bare of feathers, which 

 gave it so peculiar an aspect that I quite failed to recognise it 

 till shot. The only explanation I could think of was that it had 

 been snai-ed at some time or had been worried by lice and 

 sci'atched them ofl'; the skin was, however, uninjured. At Fort 

 Hall, A. on. rilppelli made such a noise on the roofs and gutters of 

 the houses that it was a perfect nuisance ; they seemed to have 

 adapted themselves to the habitations of man as much as the 

 English Starling. 



Sprbo superbus Riipp, 



The White-banded Glossy Starling will build in holes in clifis 

 or trees, or make a great untidy nest in thorn-bushes. A pair 

 were seen carrying food to their chirping young in a. cliff-fissure 

 in the Kedong Valley (vii. 15). A nest containing young was 

 found in a hollow tree at Longido West (30. i. 16). Another 

 nest with young was found in a thorn-tree at Dodoma (20. xii. 

 18), whilst nests with bright blue eggs were found at Mpwapwa 

 (30.iv. 17). 



