( 493 ) 



? ad., Elandswater, Bengnella, 27. vii. 04. (No. 462.) 

 ?, Warmbad, Benguella, 28. vii. 04. (No. 465.) 

 ? Kingolo, Bengnella, 21. xii. 04. (No. +941.) 

 <? ad., Colla, Bengnella, 18. viii. 04. (No. 677.) 

 <3 semi-ad., Caconda, Bengnella, 5. ix. 04. (No. 862.) 



5 ad., Gnndua Siva, Bengnella, 12. ix. 04. (No. 935.) 



6 ad. " Iris mahogany red ; feet brown-ochre ; bill chrome-orange." 



? ad. " Iris mahogany or orange-red ; feet brown-ochre ; bill chrome-orange." 

 Younger birds have more or less dark brown on the bill. 



26. Ploceus melanotis Lafr. 



Ploceus melanotis was originally described from the " Senegal." We have no 

 specimens in Tring from the Senegal. I cannot see that Reichenow's erythrogenys 

 can possibly be anything else than an individual aberration. Grant's blundelli 

 requires further investigation, but I do not think that it will prove to be distinct. 

 The type (from Beni-Schongol) is very blackish on the back, but the amount of 

 black on the back varies apparently, perhaps according to age (?). Our blackest 

 specimens are those from Omo, Gelo, and Akobo (E. Sudan), collected by 

 Neumann, and one shot by Dr. Donaldson Smith 26. iii. 1895, between San 

 Kural and Higo, while those from the Kassam River, " Hedeli," " Ladjo River," 

 and " Karawa," from Zapphiro, are on the back palest and greyest. Two from 

 Ussure (Fischer) are also very blackish. A male from Gambaga (Giffard) is 

 too much worn to be of much importance for this question, and the same can 

 be said of a male from Masongoleui in British East Africa (Ansorge), and a 

 male and some females from the Escarpment, Kiknyu Mountains, collected by 

 W. Doherty. 



Though, in my opinion, there is no doubt as to the identity of erythrogenys 

 and melanotis — while blundelli is very doubtful — Shelley's rufigena from Chinta, 

 on the Tanganyika plateau, north-west of Lake Nyasa, is perhaps a distinct 

 form. It is evidently not the same as erythrogenys, having no black at all on 

 the chin, which is red to the base of the bill, a deep black auricular patch, 

 and being very small. Further investigation is necessary to confirm or to deny 

 its value. 



27. Ploceus angolensis (Bocage). 



Sharpia angolensis, Bocage, Jam. Lisboa, 1878. p. 258 (Caconda). 



On account of the peculiar pattern of coloration, and rather fine and slender 

 bill, Ploceus angolensis has been separated generically under the name of Sharpia. 

 This name being preoccupied by Sharpia Tourniei 1873, Mr. Oberholser renamed 

 the supposed genus as Notiospiza* without having seen a specimen of the type of 

 the genus, and thus without being able to judge about the value of the genus. 



Mr. W. J. Ansorge sent us a fine series of this very rare bird. 



c?? ad., Pedreira (Bihe), Angola, II, 13. xi. 04. "Iris <^? blood-red; feet 

 purplish brown ; bill black." (Nos. + 625, + 647.) 



1 S ad., Caiala (Bihd), Angola, 4. xii. 04. (No. + 846.) 



2 c? ? immat., Chingnli (Bibs'), Angola, 12. xii. 04. (Nos. + 894, 895.) 

 " Iris blood-red ; feet greenish slate ; bill greenish grey, lower mandible pink." 



* Smithsou, Mite. Coll. Is, 1. p. 64 (1905). 



