314 Captain G. E. Shelley on the 



black ; that this is not a sexual difference is fully proved by 

 Mr. J. Biittikofer, who met with a colony all breeding in the 

 brown plumage in Liberia in October (Notes from the Leyden 

 Mus. 1885j p. 199) . That the colouring is not mere seasonal 

 is shown by a specimen in the British Museum, labelled " ^ , 

 November, Shonga on Niger {Forbes),'' which is a large 

 specimen in a black plumage ; and I have never seen a bird 

 in the moult between the two. 



With regard to size, a typical large brown sjjecimen in my 

 own collection measures — wing 2" 95 inches; w^hile the type 

 of the small race, P. coccineus, has the wing 2*2 inches. 

 Two of my own specimens from the Gold Coast, agreeing well 

 with the figure of P. coccineus, have their wing 2*45 and 

 2" 70 inches ; so I cannot admit size to be of any specific 

 value, and the difference in the strength of the bill, which is 

 very variable, is probably due to age. In the British Museum 

 there is a black specimen of the small form from the Gold 

 Coast. 



23. Pyrenestes ostrinus. 



Loxia ustrinus, Vieill. Ois. Chant. 1805, p, 79, pi. 48. 



Coccothraustes ostrinus, Vieill. N. D. xiii. 1817, p. 548. 



Pyrenestes sanguineus, Swains. B. W. Afr. i. 1837, p. 156, 

 pi. 9. 



Pyrenestes coccineus, Cass. Pr. Ac. Philad. 1848, p. Q7j 

 Sierra Leone, Monrovia ; id. Journ. Ac. Philad. 1849, pi. 31. 

 fig. 2. 



Pyrenestes ostrinus, Bp. Consp. 1850, p. 450. 



Pyrenestes personatus, Du Bus, Bull. Ac. Brux. xxii. 

 part 1, 1855, p. 151, Senegal. 



Hab. W. Afr., from the Gaboon to Seuegambia. 



7. Spermospiza. 



1837. SjJermophaga, Swains. B, W. Afr. i. p. 164 Type. 



(nee Schonh. 1833, Ent.) .... S.hcBmatina. 

 1840. Spermospiza, Gray, List Gen. B. p. 43 . S. hcematina. 



With regard to the genus Spermospiza I agree with 

 Yerreaux in recognizing two species — S. hamatina, origi- 



