NATURAL SCIENCES OP PHILADELPHIA. 137 



Of the plumage supposed by me to be the adult female and so labelled in 

 the present collection, there may be an error. It is quite possible that the 

 adult female is black, like the male. The female of this species described 

 above is in general appearance not unlike that of some species of Carpodacus. 



Numerous specimens from the Camma and formerly from Cape Lopez. 



147. Spermospiza guttata, (Vieillot). 

 Loxia guttata, Vieill. 



Vieill. Ois. Chant, pi. 68, (female). 



About twenty specimens received from Mr. Duchaillu are all of this species, 

 and are in adult plumage. As yet no specimen of the nearly allied S. hcematina 

 has ever been received in this Academy from Equatorial Africa, though frequent 

 in collections from the Gambia.* 



Specimens from the Camma and formerly from the Moonda. 



* The two species of the genus Spermospiza, G. R. Gray, singularly resemble 

 each other in general characters, but are quite distinct and recognizable with- 

 out difficulty. 



1. Spermospiza hcematina, (Vieillot). 



Loxia haematina, Vieill. 



Spermophaga cyanorhynchos, Swains. B. of W. Afr. i. p. 164. 



Fringilla pustulata, Voigt. 



Vieill. Ois. Chant, pi. 67. Jard. & Selby, 111. Orn. n. s. pi. 11. 



"h Adult. Chin, sides of neck, cheeks, head above and entire upper parts of 

 body, wings and tail glossy black, frequently tinged with brown, especially on 

 the wings. Throat, neck, breast and sides scarlet, middle of abdomen, tibiae 

 and under tail coverts black. Bill shining metallic blue, tipped with bright 

 red. Upper tail coverts black, uniform with other upper parts. $ Adult. 

 Head above and upper parts of body dark brownish ashy, throat, neck before, 

 breast and sides scarlet, cheeks and forehead dull red, upper tail coverts brick 

 red. Abdomen dark ashy brown, with numerous circular spots of white. 

 9 Young. Entire plumage brownish black, lighter on the under parts of the 

 body, and with a few scarlet feathers on the breast, and of dull red on the 

 upper tail coverts. 



Total length about 5 inches, wing 2, tail 2 h inches. $>. Total length 5^ 

 inches. 



Hab.~ "Senegal." "Gambia." Acad. Collection. 



This bird has the cheeks and a narrow space at the base of the under mandi- 

 ble, (or chin) and the rump and upper tail coverts always black in the adult 

 male, by which characters it is easily distinguished from the succeeding. The 

 females of the two species are, however, very much alike, both having the 

 upper tail coverts red or scarlet. In the female of the present bird the circular 

 spots on the abdomen are smaller and more numerous than in the succeeding. 



In the Acad. Coll., specimens of this species are from more northern locations 

 than of the succeeding. 



2. Spermospiza guttata, (Vieillot). 



Loxia guttata, Vieill. Ois. Chant. 

 Vieill. Ois. Chant, pi. 68. ( ). Lath. Gen. Hist. v. pi. 87, ( J ). 

 % Adult. Much resembling the preceding, but with the chin, cheeks, 

 throat and breast bright scarlet, which also is the color of the upper tail co- 

 verts. All other parts of the plumage black, generally tinged with brown on 

 the abdomen. Bill shining metallic blue, both mandibles edged and tipped 

 with red. 9 Adult. Upper parts dark brownish ashy, upper tail coverts scar- 

 let, throat, cheeks, (enclosing the eyes) breast and sides bright scarlet, abdo- 

 men brownish black, with numerous circular spots of white. % Young. 



1859.] 



