200 ZOOLOGICAL RESEARCHES 



is lined with soft panicles of grass. The eggs , generally 

 6 in number, are pure Avhite, 1,7 cm. long and 1,3 cm. 

 wide. Birds, nests and eggs were collected in October. 

 Amongst my collected nests exists a double one, viz. one 

 built on the top of the other, the upper one only being 

 inhabited when it was collected. 



The fact that I have neither seen nor collected an adult 

 male with black plumage — though I observed the co- 

 lony during several days and got a whole series of un- 

 doubtedly adult males, females and young specimens — 

 weighs very heavy for P. personatus being a good species. 



The adult male agrees perfectly well with the description 

 and plate 9 in Swainson , Birds W. Afr. (P. sanguineus) , 

 which is considered to be the female of P. ostrinus Vieill. 

 The entire head, neck, breast, sides of body and upper 

 tail-coverts are glossy crimson, while the upper surface of 

 the tail is darker red with a brownish tinge. All the other 

 parts of the plumage are olive-brown. The adult female 

 differs from the male in having the glossy crimson , but 

 faintly extended on the occiput, breast and sides of the 

 body, which latter show but very slight marks of red. 

 All the other parts are olive-brown. The full-grown young 

 male is entirely olive-brown , except the upper tail-coverts 

 and upper surface of tail , which are brownish red with- 

 out any gloss. 



Like P. coccineus this species differs from P. ostrinus by 

 its smaller size, the wings being 6,2 cm. instead of 8,3 

 like they are in the latter species. While thus P. ostrinus 

 is easily distinct by its larger proportions , it is really dif- 

 ficult if not impossible to say whether a brown-colored 

 small specimen belongs to P. coccineus or to P. persona- 

 tus. To make the matter still more intricate, both species 

 inhabit the same contries, as one of Cassins types of P. 

 coccineus came from Monrovia, thus nearly from the same 

 locality as our OAvn specimens. 



Iris brown , eye-lid in adult males cobalt-blue , in females 

 and young birds ochraceous, bill in adult males metallic 



>Iotes from the Leydon IMiisetirri, Vol. VII. 



