IN WESTERN LIBERIA. 189 



This bird is found in colonies of from 12 to 30 nests 

 in thickets along the sea-sliore , on the small islands lying 

 before the mouth of rivers, and on the river-banks. The 

 nests are not , like those of other weavers , built close 

 together, but rather spread over a tolerably large territory, 

 hanging from boughs of shrubs between 4 to 8 feet above the 

 ground or, on the river-side, above the water. The nest 

 has some resemblance in form to a kidney and is about 

 13 cm. long and 9 cm. high , with aperture and cup un- 

 derneath. It is very strongly woven and firmly fastened 

 to the bough. The eggs , generally three in number , are 

 2 cm. long and from 1,4 to 1,5 cm. wide; ground-color 

 pale green , covered with irregular violet and brown spots , 

 which are mnch concentred on the larger pole. 



A large series of nests and eggs collected in November. 



Hy phantornis hr achy pt era. 



Ploceus hrachypteriis ^ Swains. Birds W. Afr. I. p. 168, 

 pi. 10. 



Hyphantornis brachypterus , Hartl. Orn. W. Afr. p. 121. 



Hy phantornis ocularius (part.), F. & Hartl. Vög. 0. Afr. 

 p. 397. 



Hab. West Africa, from Senegambia to the Congo. 



Collected near Robertsport. 



As far as the material in the Leyden Museum allows a 

 conclusion , H. brachyptera may always easily be disting- 

 uished from the closely allied H. ocularia (Smith) by its 

 somewhat smaller size and more especially by its shorter 

 and somewhat stouter bill. In the Leyden Museum are 3 

 specimens of H. ocularia from the Senegal and two others 

 from Natal perfectly similar in every respect, while H. 

 brachyptera is represented by a series of 11 specimens from 

 Senegambia , the Casamanze , Liberia and from the Gold 

 Coast. As the usual measurement of the culmen of the billis 

 rather uncertain , I have it , in this special case , replaced 

 by that of the distance between the nostril and the point 



Notes from the Leyden üMuseum, Vol. VH. 



