TUF. FINCHES AND WIlWKli HUiOS OF THF, SUIIAN 173 



Genus: Ainijilecle.i 



G6. Auiiplectes- mrld.niilis, Iiafr. (R(!(l-\vini;eil Anaplectes). Length, inches; 

 wing, 3-2. Male with top of the head, neck, throat, and breast vermilion ; rest of 

 upper parts brown, the back washed, and the wings and tail edged, with vermilion. 

 A broad black patch on each side of the face. Abdomen whitish. Females brown, 

 whitish below, with wings and tail washed with red. Occurs on the Upper Nile, 

 in the Bahr-El-Ghazal, and in southern Sennar, but seems to me to be very scarce. 

 I have a male from Raffile, and I saw it once or twice between Wau and Chak Chak. 



Genus : Malimhii.^ 



67. J\[aUmhm ?ntem, Gray (Gray's Malimbe). Length, 6 inches ; wing, 3-4. 

 Black, with the lower part of the throat and the crop bright crimson. The black 

 on the head, neck, upper back, and breast is intense and glossy; elsewhere duller. 

 Apparently just extends into tlie south of the Bahr-El-Ghazal, as Bohndorff obtained 

 it in the Nyam-nyam country. 



Genus : TLyphanhinjus 



68. Syphantimjus ocularius, Smith (Smith's Spectacled Weaver). Length, 6-2 

 inches ; wing, 3. Male : front half of crown, sides of head, and underparts bright 

 olive-yellow ; upper parts uniform unstriped yellowish-olive-green. Chin and throat 

 and a narrow line from the bill through the eye, black. Female similar, but without 

 the black throat. (This and the next species have longer and more slender bills 

 than the other Weavers which follow). I have a single male of this Weaver from 

 Tembura, in the Bahr-El-Ghazal, which is tlie only record I can find of its occurrence 

 within Sudan limits. 



Genus : Sifar/i-a 



69. Silai/ni. lii/nilii, Liclit. (Lichtenstein's Slender-billed Weaver). Length, 4-7 

 inches ; wing, 2-5. Male with a jet-black " mask " covering the frontal half of the 

 crown, sides of the head, and throat. This mask is bordered by bright canary- 

 yellow, which extends down the sides of the neck and over the whole under-surfaee 

 of the bird. Back yellowish-olive, with dusky centre streaks to the feathers. 

 Wings margined with pale yellow. Female browner-greenish above, with no black 

 on the face, and paler beneath. 



This pretty little Weaver Bird is common and widely distributed on the Blue 

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

 Roseires, Bara, Mazrub, Wau, the Zeraf River, Bor, Mongalla, Lado, etc. It does 

 not congregate in very large flights, and, though I have seen it on crops occasionally, 

 I do not think it is responsible for nmch damage. 



It weaves beautiful little oval nests, with a tubular entrance, suspended from 

 acacia trees. I have found them singly and in small colonies. On the Upper Nile 

 the fibre of the Uoleib palm alone is used, and then the nest is so elastic that 

 when crushed in the hands it springs back into shape like an India-rubber ball. 

 At the same time it is so thinly woven as to be quite transparent, and the sitting 

 bird, or the white eggs, can be seen in it distinctly from beneath. North of the 

 range of the Doleib palm its nests are made of grass, and in this material are nuich 

 less artistic structures. 

 Genus : Hyphantorms 



70. Hi I phantom in hem/liiii, Reichenb. (Heuglin's Masked Weaver). Ijength, 5-5 

 inches ; wing, 2-8. Male with a black " mask " covering the sides of the head and 

 the whole throat. Grown of head, sides of neck, and entire under-surface " old 



