262 PLOCEID^. 



whito, with a black patch near the outside of the wing : " bill blue ; 

 feet black ; iris black " (/. Buttikofer). Total length 3"5 inches, 

 culmcii 0-45, wing 2, tail 1-25, tarsus O'S. 



Ohs. Occasionally a white spot or two is visible on the outer webs 

 of the secondaries. 



Yoinig. Chocolate-brown, darker on the head ; quills brown, with 

 lighter brown edges ; tail-feathers blackish ; throat, fore neck, and 

 sides of body chocolate-brown, the breast and remainder of under 

 parts whity brown. 



Hab. West Africa, from Sierra Leone to Dahomey. 



a. Ad. sk. Sierra Leone {Dr. Clark). Sliai-pe Coll. 



b. Ad. sk. Sierra Leone. Tweeddale Coll. 



c. J. Ad. etjuv.sk. Cape Palmas. L. Fraser [0.]. 



(Types of species.) 

 e. Ad. sk. Elmina, April {H. F. BUssett). Sharpe Coll. 



/,(/. Ad.etjuv.sk. Fautee. Sharpe Coll. 



h. Ad. sk. Fautee {H. T. Ussher). Shelley Coll. 



i. Ad. sk. Ashantee. Gould Coll. 



k, I. Ad. sk. River Volta, Aug. (11. T. Ussher). Sharpe Coll. 



m. Ad. sk. River Volta (//. T. Usshcr). Shelley Coll. 



n. Ad. sk, Abouri, Aguapim, Feb. 23 Shelley Coll. 



{T. E. Buckleij). 

 0, p. Pull, sk, Abeokuta. F. Nicholson, Esq. 



[P.]. 



2. Spermestes punctata. 



Spermestea punctata, Hewjlin, Orn. N.O.-Afr. p. SO-i, note (1870). 

 Spermestes poensis (nee Fraser), Sharpe, Cat. Afr. B. p. 64 (1871). 



Adult. Intermediate between S. hicolor and 8. poensis, but 

 lacking the spots on the rump of the latter. The primaries are not 

 checkered with white spots as in *S'. poensis, but the secondaries are 

 numerously checkered with white, which character separates the bird 

 from 8. hicolor. Total length "6 inches, culmen 0*4:, wing 1-9, tail I'l, 

 tarsus 0"5. 



Hah. West Africa. 



a. Ad. sk. Cameroons. Sharpe Coll. 



3. Sparmestes poensis. 



Amadina poensis, Fraser, P. Z. S. 1842, p. 145 ; Allen S,- Tho7nj}s. 

 Exped. Niger, ii. p. 600 (1848) ; Fraser, Zool. T%jp. pi. 50. fig. 1 

 (1849) ; Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 370 (1849) : id. Iland-l. B. ii. p. 54, 

 no. 0747 (1870). 



Spermestes poensis, Bp. Cunsp. Av. i. p. 454 (1850) ; IIai-tl. Orn. 

 W.-Afr. p. 148 (1857) ; Cass. Pr. Philnd.Acad. 1859, p. 138; Mont. 

 P. Z. S. 1860, p. Ill ; Eeichenb. Sinyv. p. 3G, Taf. xiii. fig. Ill 

 (1861); Ilartl. J.f. O. 1861, p. 2-09; Eeichenoic, J.f. O. 1875, 

 p. 42, 1877, p. 29; Bocage, Orn. Anqola, p. 351 (1881); Oust. 

 Nouv. Arch. Mus. (2) ii. Bidl. p. Ill (1879); Shelley, Ibis, 

 1886, p. 309. ^' ' 



Adult. Similar to S. hicolor, but not so greenish, and differing 

 in the white bars on the lower back, n mp, and upper tail-coverts, 



