17'2 THE FINCHES AND WEAVEK BlltnS OF THE SUDAN 



live mostly on berries and large forest seeds, beetles, termites, and locusts. They 

 roost and breed in reed beds, resorting to forests to feed, and, in spite of their 

 clumsy-looking bills, are said to construct beautifully-woven nests. 

 Genus : DinemeUla 



62. DinemMia (li,nemelli, Riipp. (White-headed Weaver). Length, 8'2 inches ; 

 wing, 4'7. Head, neck, and breast white ; above brown, with the rump and ujjper 

 tail coverts washed with vermilion ; lower abdomen and under tail-coverts also 

 vermilion. Upper Nile. Eecorded from Lado by Emin, and from the Bahr-El- 

 Ghazal by von Heuglin. I have not met with it. There is a coloured illustration 

 of this bird in Sir Harry Johnston's book on Uganda. It frequents open country 

 in flocks, and breeds in colonies, making huge untidy nests of thorns, lined with 

 grass, at the top of high acacias. 



Genus : TeMor 



63. Tijxtor alhinistrU, Vieill. (White-billed Buffalo Weaver). Length, 8'6 inches ; 

 wing, 4-8. Entire plumage glossy-black, with the concealed bases of the feathers 

 whitish, and a trace of white edging on the wings. Bill whitish in young birds, 

 black in older ones. Occurs in Sennar, Kordofan, on the White Nile and Sobat, 

 and at Lado. My specimens are from Bara, Kosti, and Tawela. These birds 

 construct enormous masses of sticks and thorns, in each of which several nests are 

 placed, on the tops of high acacias. These conspicuous structures must often be 

 noticed by travellers on steamers passing the neighbourhood of Kosti, and they are 

 quite big enough to be taken for the nests of vultures or marabous. They are 

 sometimes 6 or 8 feet across, and the material used would almost fill a cart. The 

 birds are not in very great numbers, and they appear not to attack crops. 



Genus : Ploccipaitser 



64. Ploceipasser melanorhynclius, Eupp. (Black-billed Sparrow Weaver). Length, 

 7 inches ; wing, 4. Above brown, with the rump and tail coverts white, and a good 

 deal of white on the wing. Top of the head, and a line from the lower mandible 

 down each side of the neck, black ; a very broad white eyebrow stripe from above 

 to behind the eye. Underparts white. Bill black. General appearance very sparrow- 

 like. Upper Nile as far north as the Sobat. My specimens are from Mongalla and 

 Gigging, at both of which stations it is abundant, and, from its white rump, 

 conspicuous. Nests which I found placed in colonies on the outer branches of 

 thorny trees were very solid bundles of coarse grass, about a foot in length, woven 

 so that the stiff stems projected outwards. Tlie weight of these nests for their 

 size, was remarkable, and the manner in which the sharp grass stems projected 

 made them as inconvenient to carry in the hand as hedgehogs. I have not noticed 

 the bird on crops. 



65. I'luceipa.'^ner superciUosus , Eupp. (Chestnut-crowned Sparrow Weaver). 

 Length, 6'4 inches ; wing, 3'4. Ujjper parts brown, with some whitish margins on 

 the wings. Crown of the head chestnut, with a conspicuous buffy-white eyebrow. 

 Sides of the head brown, with a whitish stripe from the lower mandible below the 

 cheeks. Throat white, with a black line on each side of it. Underparts buff'y-grey. 

 Bill brown, .\nother very sjjarrow-like bird. Widely distributed on the Blue and 

 White Niles, in Kordofan, and in the Bahr-El-Ghazal. My specimens are from 

 Eoseires, El Obeid, Eaffile, Wau, and Chak Chak. Common in bush or forest. 

 I have not seen it attacking crops. My specimens from Eoseires have the bill 

 markedly stouter than those from the Bahr-El-Ghazal. 



