28 The Oologists' Record, June i, 1922. 



into the names of things which are not obviously good to eat, bores 

 Africans almost to tears, and leads to their saying the first name 

 that comes into their heads. I well remember the smprise of a 

 man, who gave me as the name of a kite what I knew to be the 

 ])roper appellation of Neophron monachus, when I corrected him. 

 I am sure he thought it was not playing the game. That by the 

 way : revenons a nos serins. I have taken perhaps half a dozen 

 clutches. The nests are usually built in a slender fork of a small 

 shrub near the extremity of a bough and well hidden by leaves, at 

 not more than five or six feet from the ground ; they are compactly 

 made of plant stems with generally some cocoon binding, and look 

 much neater than those of 5. sharpei. The lining is always fine 

 grass or shredded vegetable fibres ; I have never seen feathers or 

 hair. Three is here the normal clutch : in Uganda, I found four 

 on several occasions, but that was the northern form, 5. i. barbaius. 

 The eggs are darker green in ground colour than those of S. sharpei, 

 and much more profusely spotted, though the spots are smaller. 

 There are usually present sub-surface markings also, and quite 

 frequently the distribution takes the form of a regular cap, less 

 often that of a ring. i6| mm. x I2| mm. are average measure- 

 ments. Dates I have noted are April 25th, May 7th. December 

 26th and 28th. They are late breeders : I do not remember ever 

 finding eggs before Christmas ; and they do not finish before the 

 rains are well over in May. 



Spinns citrinclloides (Riipp.). — ^The Black-faced Siskin, in 

 the form S. c. hyposticius (Rchw.), is not at all uncommon on the 

 higher levels, particularly on "Zomba Mountain. One is likely to 

 confuse this bird at first with the Mozambique Serin, but the dusky 

 face is soon made out as a distinguishing mark, and if the bird is 

 flying away it may be noted that the rump of this species is much 

 duller than the bright patch of \'ellow displayed by the Serin. The 

 note of the Siskin is entirely different from the Serin's song, being a 

 clear low whistle of three or four notes. This is often heard about 

 Zomba township in January and February, which I have no doubt 

 is the breeding season, though so far I have not found a nest. Eggs 

 shown me in 1921 were almost spotless pale green and rather larger 

 than the Serins', and were said to have been taken from a nest 

 built in an ear of maize on a tall standing stalk. 



Eniberiza major (Cab.). — ^The Greater Bunting inhabits scrubby 

 country at about 3,000-4,000 feet and spends a good deal of its 



