on Birds from Shendi, Sudan. 11 



first was shot the second flew to the ground and pecked its 

 dead mate most savagely. 



18. Pyromelana franciscana (Isert). 

 231 (?), 228 c?, 230 c?, 271 ? , 369 ? . 



All our specimens are in an intermediate state of plumage; 

 we saw no males in the full dress of red and black, which, ac- 

 cording to von Heuglin, is assumed in August and September. 



This bird frequents the fields of millet or "dhurra/' on 

 the seeds of which it feeds; it is not common at Shendi, 

 but a good many individuals were seen a few miles south, 

 while at Wad-Habushi, about fifty miles south, it was 

 exceedingly abundant. 



19. Hypochera ultramarina (Gm.). 



72 c^, 65 6, 68 d, 180 6, 359 6, 400 6, 251 j. 



This little bright blue bird was fairly common along the 

 river-banks, more especially in the cultivated parts. It was 

 generally seen in company with Lagonosticta brunneiceps. 



20. Vidua principalis (Linn.). 

 193 ?. 



Our solitary specimen of this bird is a young female. We 

 did not observe any adult birds in nuptial plumage. 



21. ^DEMOSYNE CANTANS (Gm.). 



51 S, 319 S, 358 S, 416 (?, 417 c?, 31 ? , 46 ? , 50 ? , 

 415 ?, 280 (?). 



Most of our specimens are in a moulting condition. 



According to Lorenz and Hellraayr (Journ. f. Orn. 1901, 

 p. 232), North-east African and Arabian specimens differ 

 in several points from typical West-African specimens, and 

 have therefore been named j^dernosyne 07'ientalis. 



These birds were tolerably common at Shendi and were 

 remarkably tame. They were very sluggish in their habits, 

 and might often be seen in small parties sitting closely 

 huddled together on a branch for hours at a time. 



Towards the end of February a pair of these birds built 

 a nest in a low bush in the midst of our camp ; it was 

 composed almost entirely of scraps of paper and of cotton- 



