200 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



395. Estrelda Sabflava. (VieU.) n. Diet. d'Hist. 



Nat. XXX, p. 575 ; Sporaeginthus Suhfiava, Hart. 

 Orn. W. Af., p, 14 4; Fringilla^ Suhfiava, Vieil. ; F. 

 Saaguinolenia, Temm., Col. 221, fig. 2 ; Estrelda 

 Sanguinolenta, Swain., Nat. Lib., Vol. II, p. 190. 



Above, light-brown; beneath, varied with yellow and orange ; 

 flanks with transverse brown lines ; eyebrows and rump, 

 crimson ; tail blackish ; two lateral feathers on each side 

 edged with white. Length, 3" 3'" ; wing, 1" 8'". 

 South Africa. — Hartl., loc. cit. 



Genus AMADINA, Swainson. 

 Bill short, very thick, and broad at the base ; tail short, 

 rounded, or even ; tarsus longer than hallux. 



396. Amadina Alario. (Lin.) Pi. Eni. 204; 



Grithologus Alario ; Grithagra Bistrigata, Swain., 2 

 Cent, p. 318, adult. ; C. Ruficauda, Swain., 2 Cent., 

 p. 317, juv.; Spermatophila Dauhentoni, Gray, Gen. 

 B. ; Fringilla Personata, Licht. Bp. Consp. ; Berg- 

 canarie of Colonists, lit. Mountain Canary. 



6 — Upper parts, rufous ; under parts, white ; tail rufous ; 

 head, neck, and throat, black : this colour extends from the 

 throat, and divides into two broad lines on each side of the 

 breast ; quill- feathers of wing, black ; shoulders and coverts 

 rufous, a white colour extends from the back of the throat 

 round to the back of the neck ; bill black. The p is 

 generally of a dull brown colour, lightest on the under parts. 

 Length, 5" ; wing, 2" 8'" ; tail, 2" 2'". 



I have received this species from the Kuysna, Malmesbury, Swellen- 

 dam, and Colosberg. It is not uncommon in the neighbourhood of 

 Nel's Poort (Beaufort), ranging in small flocks among the thorn- 

 bushes, and feeding on grass seeds. It often intermingles with flocks 

 of the common A. Astrild. Its song is very sweet and sustained, for 

 which reason it is kept in con6nement, which it endures very well. It 

 seems to vary somewhat in the distribution of its colours : but that 

 described above is the general character. 



397. Amadina Erythrocephala, Hart., Cm. 



W. Af, Pi. 146 ; Loxia Erythrocephala, Lin. ; Smith, Z. 

 S. Af, PI. 69 ; Gardinalis Angolensis, Briss. ; Orn. 

 App., p. 78 ; Fringilla Reticulata, Vogt. ; Loxia 

 Maculosa, Burch. ; Sporothldstes Erythrocephaliis, Cab. 



Above, brown ; beneath, grey-browo, with a tinge of red, and 

 barred with dark-brown, which imparts to it a scaled appear- 



