The temperature dependence of the resistivity ρ (T) and of the dc magnetic susceptibility χ (T) were measured on high-quality L NiO 3 (L= La, Pr, Nd, Nd 0.5 Sm 0.5) samples synthesized under high oxygen pressure. Subtraction of the rare-earth contribution to χ (T) allows the presentation of the evolution of the susceptibility of the NiO 3 array from Pauli to Curie-Weiss paramagnetism with decreasing bandwidth. A metal-insulator transition occurring at a temperature T t= T N is first order for L= Pr and Nd; it becomes second order and produces no anomaly in χ− 1 (T) at a T t> T N for L= Nd 0.5 Sm 0.5. In the antiferromagnetic domain T< T N, the χ (T) curve for the NiO 3 array resembles that of a paramagnet.