Mr. T. Ayres on Trans- Vaal Ornithology. 257 



116. (L. 393.) EsTRELDA SQUAMiFRONS (Smith). Scaly-fea- 

 thered Finch. 



Total length 4 inches^ bill -j^, tarsus -^, wing 2\, tail If. 



These curious little birds are gregarious, but not common in 

 the districts I visited ; I found them on the Limpopo, but never 

 in the open country. When seen they were actively hopping 

 about the low thorn bushes; and in March last I found them 

 building amongst similar bushes about the Hartz river. The 

 nest is placed amongst the thorny twigs of the bush, a few feet 

 from the ground, and is composed outwardly of thin grass 

 stalks, the ends roughly protruding in all directions ; it is thickly 

 and very warmly lined with the soft silky down of a species of 

 Asclepia, and is of much the same shape as the nest of Estrelda 

 astrild, but with a more prolonged entrance, which gives the nest 

 the appearance of a retort placed horizontally in the bush, with 

 the neck inclining slightly downwards. The eggs are five in 

 number, of a greenish white, much blotched with umber-brown, 

 especially towards the thicker end, and sometimes much marked 

 with brown lines. 



117. (L. 387.) Estrelda MINIMA (Vieill.). Amadavat Finch. 

 Total length 3f inches, bill -^, tarsus -^, wing 2, tail ly^ ; 



iris red, bill red, dusky on the ridge. 



This tiny bird is found in small companies, but cannot be 

 called plentiful. The females far exceed the males in number. 

 The note is soft but guttural. 



118. (L. 444.) Crithagra chrysopyga. Swains. Golden- 

 rumped Grossbeak, 



Male -.—Total lengih 4| inches, bill y'V; tarsus ^, wing 2 , 

 tail Ifl; iris dusky, upper mandible of bill dusky, under man- 

 dible pale, tarsi and feet light ash-colour. 



Of this species I only found one company, consisting of five 

 individuals, which I met with amongst the low thorns in the 

 Mariqua district. 



[This species seems to me to be certainly distinct, notwith- 

 standing the high authority to the contrary of Drs. Finsch and 

 Hartlaub, who at p. 455 of their recent work on the ' Birds of 

 East Africa ' treat it as simply a race of C. butyracea, not enti- 

 tled to specific separation.— J. H. G.] 



