obtained in Somaliland. 399 



a big bill as the latter. The ear-coverts and cheeks are ashy- 

 grey, like the sides of the neck and breast, and the absence 

 of the white cheek-spot is, perhaps, the most characteristic 

 feature of the Somali bird. The young bird is densely 

 striped with blackish brown below, and has dusky centres to 

 the feathers of the back. The black on the throat is absent, 

 the golden-yellow of the quills and tail is less developed, 

 and the greater coverts are black, with broad saffron-coloured 

 margins, instead of being golden yellow, as in the adults. 

 That so brightly-coloured and conspicuous a bird as this 

 new Finch should have escaped being recorded for so long is 

 indeed remarkable. In 1895, at the foot of the Sheikh Pass, 

 I procured a specimm out of a small flock, but as it was 

 badly shot I gave up the attempt of skinning it and threw 

 it away, thinking that I should see plenty more, but I did not 

 see any during the whole time I was then in the country. 



17. Serinus MAcuLicoLLis Sharpc, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 470, 

 pi. xx\ii. fig. 1. 



No. 92. ? juv. Sheikh, Jan. 31, 1897. Iris black. 

 The only place where we noticed this Finch was on tlie 

 plateau at the top of the Sheikh Pass. 



18. Fringillaria septemstriata (Riipp.) ; Elliot, Field 

 Columb. Mus., Orn. i. no. 2, p. 36 (1897). 



No. 174. ?. WaggaMountain, Feb.23, 1897. Iris black. 

 No. 181. S- „ „ Feb. 25, „ „ „ 



No. 203. 6- „ „ „ „ „ „ 



These little Buntings used to frequent the Hankadeeiy 

 Avells at mid-day in flocks of about a dozen. I did not 

 notice them anywhere else during the expedition. 



19. Fringillaria tahapisi (Smith) ; Sharpc, Cat. B. Brii. 

 Mus. xii. p. 558 (1888). 



No. 189. (J ad. Wagga Mountain, Feb. 26, 1897. Iris 

 brown. 



This specimen was in a flock of F. septemstriata, of which 

 I shot several. The occurrence of this species so far north 

 would be the more remarkable had it not been found by 

 Prof. Balfour on the island of Socotra. 



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