i8o 



Finch, while in others the barrings are only to be 

 discerned when the bird is still and fairly close to the 

 observer, and the white of the abdomen and under 

 tail coverts is replaced by a bnffish-grey, scarcely 

 lighter than the other portion of the lower surface ; 

 these variations have also been present in specimens 

 that have inhabited my aviaries at various times. 

 Beak, black ; legs and feet, light brown ; iris, red. 

 Total length, 4^ to 4f inches. 



Adult female: Slightly smaller in size, more 

 ashen in colour, the red portions of the plumage are 

 duller, and the barrings less distinctly defined ; also 

 her beak is narrower at the base than that of the male, 

 but unless the birds are tame enough to permit of 

 comparison in the hand, this is very difficult to de- 

 termine ; at the same time the difference is readily 

 noted when comparing sexed skins. P. phoeyiicoptera 

 is the type of the genus, which the late Dr. A. C. Stark 

 gives as follows : " Bill slender, cone shaped and 

 " lengthened ; culmen swollen and slightly arched. 

 " Nostrils hidden by nasal plumes. Wings rounded, 

 " the distance between the tips of the primaries and 

 *' the tips of the secondaries less than the length of 

 " the tarsus ; the first quill very small. Tail short, 

 " graduated. Tarsi scutellated anteriorly. Feet very 

 " small. The genus Pytelia includes twelve species of 

 ** Weaver-finches. They frequent bushes and rarely 

 "perch much on the ground,* have a somewhat 

 " monotonous song, and are gentle and confiding in 

 " their habits, f Those species whose nesting habits 



• They are strictly arboreal as inhabitants of the aviary, ouly stop- 

 ping on the ground for feeding purposes.— W. T. P. 



t This is also their demeanour in the aviary.— W. T. P. 



