19 1 7-] the Birds of Yemen. 141 



Loreiiz & TIellmayr, 1901, p. 231, 1907, p. 104 ; O.-Grant, 

 1901, p. 54; id. Ibis, 1901, p. 518. 



a-d. 2 (?, 2 ? . ]\Ienakha, 7000-7500 ft. 1. i.-l. ii. 13. 

 e. ?. Wasil, 4000 ft. 28.ii. 13. 



The Red-winged Sprcuw of southern Arabia is very close 

 to that of Palestine, and is certainly not more than sub- 

 specifically distinct. In size and general coloration the two 

 cannot be distinguished, but the rufous of the primaries is 

 distinctly darker in the Arabian bird, and, as a rule though 

 not constantly, the primary-coverts of the Palestine form 

 are dusky and rufous while those of the Arabian form are 

 entirely black. 



There is a good series of each of the forms in the British 

 Museum in addition to those listed above, which seem to 

 show that they are not migratory from Palestine to south 

 Arabia as supposed by Mr. O.-Grant, viz. : — 



H. t. tristrami. — Jericho and Ain Fishkhat, January. 



{Tristram) ; Petra, April ; and S.E. of Dead Sea, 



May {Carndhers). 

 H. t. hadramauticus. — Yeshbum, December [Percival) ; 



Amiri dist., January, February, March ; and Yemen, 



January, February (Buri/). 



Ploceus (XanthopMlus) galhula. 



Ploceus galbula Ruppell, N. Wirbelth. 1835, p. 92, pi. 32. 

 fig. 2 : Modat valley, Abyssinian coast. 



Yerbury, 86, p. 18, 96, p. 27 ; Barnes, 93, p. 80 ; 

 O.-Grant, 1900, p. 246; Lorenz & Hellmayr, 1901, p. 232. 



a, b. S , S imm. Wasil, 4000 ft. 26-28. ii. 13. 



c,d. (??, ? . Hajeilah, 2080 ft. 1 1-13. iii. 13. 



e,/. cJ,Jimm. Sok-al-Kliamis, 7000 ft. Il.vii.l3. 



This Weaver, also found throughout the Egyptian Soudan, 

 Abyssinia and Somaliland, is a common bird in southern 

 Arabia. Barnes found it nesting throughout the year at 

 Aden and gives a good account of its breeding-habits. 



I find a considerable amount of variation in the distribu- 

 tion of the chestnut-red of the face and also in the depth of 

 the colour, which sometimes is almost blacky but I can see no 



