Check List of the Birds of South Africa. 367 



to 0. notatus. It can be distinguished from that species by the 

 black base to the otherwise yellow outer tail feather. 



GENUS HYPHANTORNIS. 



The key given by Dr. Stark (p. 55) does not seem to me a very 

 satisfactory one. I would suggest the following, which, however, 

 only deals with the males in breeding plumage, but which appears 

 to me to make matters somewhat clearer. 



A. Throat black. 



a. Back mottled black and yellow. 



a 1 . Head black all round, bordered by a narrow yellow collar round the 

 neck H. nir/riceps. 



h l . Head yellow, no black on the crown H. spilonotus. 



I. Back greenish yellow, sometimes with traces of darker centres to the 

 feathers. 



a 1 . Fore part of the crown to behind the level of the eye black, occiput and 

 nape yellow H. cabanixi. 



1> 1 . Only a narrow band of black across the forehead, sometimes interrupted 

 in the middle ; crown golden yellow. 



a-. Larger, wing 3'0 to 3"25 H. velatux. 



b-. Smaller, wing 2-5 to 3'0 H. uuricitpilliix. 



B. Throat not black. 



a. Smaller, wing 3'35 ; entire head yellow H. snbaurcitx. 



b. Larger, wing 3'75 ; only the forehead yellow, rest of the head and face 

 greenish yellow H. jamesoni. 



Eeicheiiow (Vog. Afr. iii. p. 29) puts together all the yellow 

 Weaver birds included in the South African genera, Hyphantornis 

 Sitagra, and Sycobrotus, and other genera from tropical Africa and 

 South Asia, under one genus Ploceus ; he recognises seventy-two 

 African species, and arranges these in twelve subgenera separated by 

 colour characters. 



27. HYPHANTORNIS AURICAPILLUS (Swains.). 



Reichenow (Vog. Afr. iii. p. 79) adopts the older name auri- 

 capillus of Swainson for this species. It is merely a smaller and 

 brighter coloured form of //. rclatus. Males in the non-breeding 

 season appear to have a strong tinge of pinkish below, judging from 

 examples sent to the South African Museum by Dr. Stoehr. 



30 



