. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. Vol. 76 134 1956 Nesting of the Tanganyika Masked-Weaver by Mr. D. F. Vesey-FitzGerald Received 10th June, 1956 The Tanganyika Masked-weaver appears to be restricted in distri- bution to the south-western corner of Tanganyika, the type locality being Karema (Long: 30° 25' E; Lat: 05° 50' S.). The species was only known from a few specimens and little has been recorded of its habits (Pread and Grant, 1955). Recently this weaver has been found to be a common bird in the Rukwa Valley, where a series has been collected and the nests observed. Chapin,
. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. Vol. 76 134 1956 Nesting of the Tanganyika Masked-Weaver by Mr. D. F. Vesey-FitzGerald Received 10th June, 1956 The Tanganyika Masked-weaver appears to be restricted in distri- bution to the south-western corner of Tanganyika, the type locality being Karema (Long: 30° 25' E; Lat: 05° 50' S.). The species was only known from a few specimens and little has been recorded of its habits (Pread and Grant, 1955). Recently this weaver has been found to be a common bird in the Rukwa Valley, where a series has been collected and the nests observed. Chapin, (1954), places reichardi as a race of the Vitelline Masked- weaver, Textor vitellinus, and Benson, (1955), notes its resemblance to the Southern Masked-weaver, T. velatus. But the latter author after examin- ing the Rukwa birds is satisfied that they are distinct, and so it seems worthwhile recording observations on this little known species. Males in breeding dress and with testes enlarged have been c ollected is February and a nesting colony was found in April, so the breeding season can be taken to be during the latter part of the rains when the grass in seeding, which is the usual time for weavers to nest. The colony was com- posed of rather more than 20 nests which were situated in a tall stand of Pennisetum purpureum, Elephant grass, on the bank of a river flowing across a level plain of open grassland which was extensively flooded. The nests were situated at 5-8 feet up the grass stems to which they were attached at one point, usually along one side. The nest is retort-shaped,. Colony of Textor reichardi in stand of Pennisetum Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Taylor, Nancy M. Oxford : Clarendon Press
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