50 
Mr. G. L. Bates— Field-Notes on the 
by Reichenow, that he found eggs at Kakoma from the be¬ 
ginning of April to the end of May. Kakoma, in German 
East Africa, is in about 6° S. lat., and Kasongo in about 
4° S. lat. Thus, if the dates are correct, the times of 
breeding and changing plumage in this species at my place 
in W. Africa, a little north of the Equator, are exactly the 
reverse of those in Central and East Africa, a little south of 
the Equator. 
The breeding males use all means to attract attention. As 
if their flaming plumage was not enough in itself, they perch 
on the most prominent bushes and grass-tops, and fly from 
place to place slowly and with much fluttering of wings, all 
the while singing their little chattering, but rather sweet, 
song. 
The nests are about the size and something of the shape 
of those of the ATgas (Heteryphantes nigricollis). But they 
are more loosely constructed than those of most Weavers, 
and have the entrance wide, and its edges with all the ends 
loose, giving them an unfinished appearance. In this and in 
the use of many fine grass-tops for the inside or lining of 
the structure, and more particularly in the fact that the nests 
are not hung or tied to a twig but merely set in the forks, 
these birds shew their relationship to the Spermestine division 
of the family rather than to the Ploceine. 
The number of eggs found in a nest is two or three. 
Five that were measured varied thus : 18-20 X 14-14*5 mm. 
[Six eggs of the species are of a somewhat oval form and 
distinctly glossy. The ground-colour is pale greenish-blue, 
and is generally very sparingly marked, especially towards 
the larger end, with rounded spots of purplish-black or deep 
purplish-lilac.—O.-G.] 
1447. Spermestes cucullata. [Aseleke.] 
Sharpe, Ibis, 1908, p. 345. 
With this bird we come to the first species of the tiny 
Weavers that go about in flocks when not breeding ,and 
here form such an interesting part of the bird-world in 
open grassy places ;they all avoid the dark forest. This 
