IJ'lixdahs. 
17 
SyiuMiomy. 
I 
Red-shouldered Whydali, Ked-shouldered W idow-bird. 
Short-tailed Whydah. 
" I'lop " in Xatal. 
II 
Vidua axiHaris. Smith 1S38. I'robracliya axillaris (Bp. k^50). 
& Cat. 224. & Sh. B. Afr. 
Pcnthctria axillaris (Licht. 1854). C olinspasscr axillaris (Sh. 
1886). 
Referenxes. Smith. III. Zool. S. Afr. Aves. Plate. 17. 
(1838). Singv. 64. Plate. 29. fig. 229. Sh. iv. 60. B.S.A. i. 
134. Butler, i. 191. Russ. i. 221. 
R.ANGE. S.E. Africa (Pondoland to the Zambesi). 
Stark writes as follows on these Whydahs. " Like all the 
" members of this genus they are polygamous in their habits, 
" and in the spring the handsome males, looking very brilli- 
" ant and spruce in their recently acquired plumage of velvety- 
" black, with scarlet and orange epaulettes, may be seen 
" flitting over the reeds or grass with a curious " flopping " 
" flight each one attended and closely followed in all his 
" movements by ten or twelve females, insignificant-looking 
" little brown birds, which nearly always keep close together 
" in a " bunch " a few yards behind their lord and master. 
" About the beginning of November the females separate and 
" commence building their nests." He goes on to say that 
each occupies a separate nest, the cock in the meantime taking 
no share in the business, except to watch for and give warning 
at the approach of intruders. The nest, he describes, as usually 
built in a tuft of grass. 8 to 10 inches off the ground, " a beauti- 
" fully light and airy structure, oval in shape and domed, with 
" a side entrance near the top; it measures about four inches 
" and a half in height, and three inches in diameter, is cons- 
" tructed of fine grass with the flowering tops attaclied, 
" woven in a sort of open network, so that the sides can be 
" seen through without any additional lining. The sides of 
" the nest are attached to many of the surrounding grass- 
" stalks, the blades and tops of the latter being bent over in 
" the form of a canopy so as to completely conceal it from 
