98 



upper surface is not washed with olive-greenish, but 

 with yellowish ; the occiput has no tinge of red, but 

 is a clear ashy grey. Another marked point of differ- 

 ence is that in the Dark-red Firefinch the under tail- 

 coverts are plain rusty black, while in the others they 

 are edged with red ; the bill in the new birds is also 

 lighter and bluer. The females too can easily be dis- 

 tinguished, Duhring's bird having an almost orange 

 wash over the plumage. 



In reference to the general colour of the two birds, Dr. 

 Russ gives a foot-note for which he is indebted to an artist 

 friend, Herr Meyerbeer, who describes the colour of the Dark- 

 red Firefinch as a crimson, that technicall}' known as true 

 "Vandyke red," while that of the male of the other species is 

 *' Caput mortuum red," the hen being ochreous brown. This 

 ma}' interest some of our artistic readers. Dr. Russ then 

 continues thus : 



After searching the whole literature of the sub- 

 ject, I have come to the conclusion that this bird is 

 that named by Heuglin Aigi7itha (^Lago?iosticta) rho- 

 dopareia, although in this bird the vent and under tail- 

 coverts are stated to be black, which is certainly not 

 the case in the birds we are dealing with. I cannot 

 at present be quite sure that this difference is suffi- 

 ciently marked to neccessitate the separation of 

 Duhring's bird as a valid species. It is to be hoped 

 their possessor will succeed in breeding them, or in 

 the event of their death will be able to get their 

 identity definitely settled. Should they turn out to 

 belong to a new and hitherto undescribed species, 

 I name them Duhring's Firefinch (^^ghitha djcJwmgi, 

 Rss.), and conclude with a hope that we shall hear 

 more of them in the future. 



