212 PLOCEID.?^. 



App. p. 319 ; id. ed. Lnyard's B. S. Afr. p. 452 (1884) ; Ayres, 

 Ibis, 1885, p. 345; Reichen. J.f. O. 1887, p. 70. _ 

 Vidua paradisea orientalis, Heugl. Orn. N.O.-Afr. i. p. 583 (1870). 

 "Vidua sphenura, Blanf. Geol. ^- Zool. Abyss, p. 407 (1870). 

 Steofanura vevreauxi, Antin. ^ Salvad. Viagg. Bor/os, p. 117 (1873); 

 Hohtb ^ Ton Peh. Beifr. Orn. Siidafr. p. 123 (1882) ; Fischer, 

 J. f. O. 1885, p. 135 ; Salvad. Ann. Mus. Genov. (2), vi. p. 286 

 (1886). 

 Adult male. General colour above black, with a patch of white 

 on the sides of the lower back, generallj- concealed by the wings ; 

 wing-coverts and quills black, the primaries browner, with whity- 

 brown edges ; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers entirely black, 

 the two centre ones broadened toM^ards the base, but not so much 

 as the next two, which are exceedingly broad and have the shafts 

 produced into a hair-like appendage ; crown of head black, tawny 

 rufous across the nape, and succeeded by a broad collar of orange- 

 buff across the hind neck ; lores, sides of face, ear-coverts, cheeks, 

 and throat black ; sides of neck orange-rufous or chestnut like the 

 fore neck and chest and upper breast ; lower bi'east and abdomen 

 yellowish buff, as also the thighs ; sides of vent and under tail- 

 coverts black : under wing-coverts and axillaries tawny buff ; edge 

 of wing white, mottled with black ; quills below dusky, ashy along 

 the inner edge. Total length 11 inches, culmen 0-45, wing 3, 

 tail 2-1, centre tail-feathers 8*4, tarsus 0-65. 



Adult female. Different from the male. General colour above 

 reddish sandy, spotted with black, with which the feathers are 

 centred ; rump more ashy ; wings black, the wing-coverts and quills 

 edged with white or sandy rufous ; upper tail-coverts ashy white or 

 isabelline with black centres ; tail-feathers black, tipped with 

 white and edged with sandy rufous, the centre ones very broadly ; 

 crown of head pale sandy buff in the centre, with a broad lateral 

 streak of black ; the crown slightly streaked with black ; a broad 

 eyebrow of isabelline white ; lores and feathers round the eye 

 white ; ear-coverts pale sandy buff, with a broad black streak along 

 the i:pper margin ; cheeks and throat huffy white ; sides of neck 

 tawny buff streaked with black ; fore neck and breast uniform tawny 

 buff, with a few black streaks at the side of the upper breast ; 

 abdomen white ; sides of body and flanks tawny buff; thighs and 

 under tail-coverts white ; under wing-coverts white, the outer ones 

 with black bases ; axillaries like the breast ; quills below dusky, 

 ashy along the inner edge. Total length 6 inches, culmen 0"4, 

 wing 3, tail 2-5, tarsus 0-65. 



Yoimg. Nearly uniform ashy brown, greyer on the head, and 

 especially on the eyebrow, sides of face, and throat ; breast and 

 sides of body brown, washed with tawny ; the lower breast, abdomen, 

 and under tail-coverts white ; bill dusky brown. 



Hah. Senegambia ; N.E. Africa below 17° N. lat. to Shoa and the 

 White-Nile region ; East Africa from the Tana River to Zanzibar, 

 and inland to Lake Tanganyika ; Mozambique, and the Zambesi south 

 to the Transvaal, and west from Lake Ngami to Damara-Land and 

 Angola. 



