THE OOLOGISTS' RECORD. 



Edited by KENNETH L. SKINNER. 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



Vol. II— No. 2.] [June 1, 1922. 



NYASALAND NOTES II. 



In the issue of this journal for December, 1921, I tried to give 

 a general idea of how Nyasaland strikes the ornithological observer : 

 the present notes, and those which I hope will follow, will deal with 

 the nidification of particular species. The nomenclature used is 

 that of Reichenow's " Birds of Africa." It would be more syste- 

 matic to take the families in order as he gives them, but on 

 reflection I recognised that my experiences of many groups, and 

 those, too, coming at the head of the hst, have been so limited 

 as to be hardly worth recording, though I hope to fill up such 

 lacunae later : on the other hand, ten months' residence near 

 Blant\Te has given me a very fair acquaintance with the nesting 

 of the Passerines and other land-birds inhabiting the better- 

 wooded parts of the Shire Highlands. I begin, therefore, with some 

 of these families at once : for to wait till knowledge is complete 

 is a counsel of perfection, and in tropical Africa one does not lay 

 personal plans far ahead. Priority is given in these notes to those 

 families in respect to which, relatively, fortune has chiefly favoured 

 me. The Editor, I feel sure, will raise no objection if I begin with 

 the Fringillidae. 



Family Fringillidae. 



Of the true Finches, ten species have been recorded for the 

 Protectorate. Two of these, Poliospiza ivhytei (Shell.) and P. 

 reichardi (Rchw.), occur only on the Nyika plateau, which it has 

 not been my good fortune to visit, but the other eight all breed in 

 the Highlands. 



Passer grisetis (Vieill.). — ^The Grey-headed Sparrow, which 

 closely resembles P. domesticus in general habits and in its chirping 

 notes, is nowhere common. In neither Zomba nor Blantyre are 

 there more than a few pairs, but it is not so rare on the Lake Nyasa 

 stations, especiallv Karonga. I never saw any in the bush proper. 

 r)n February 13th, 1921, 1 was staying with a planter at Mpiml)i on 



A 



