PYROMELANA CAPENSIS. 463 
Vaal River, Kronstadt, near Rustenberg, Pretoria, and Potchefstroom. 
It is a very local bird; and I found it in only a few places along the 
Vaal near the diamond-fields; but I did not observe it flying every- 
) 
; 
H where, like Chera progne.”’ Mr. Frank Oates obtained a specimen 
; at Hope Fountain, near Gubuleweyo, about the beginning of 
} December, 1873, and Dr. Kirk found it on the Zambesi. Mr. 
\ Andersson found the species abundant at Lake N’gami and in 
| Ondonga, and though rarer in Damara and Great Namaqua Land, it 
occurs in those countries also; it likewise extends into Benguela 
(Anchieta). 
A small race of the present species known to naturalists as 
Pyromelana sundevalli occurs in many parts of South Africa, some- 
times by itself in distinct localities, and sometimes mingling with 
the larger race. We have not thought it necessary to separate these 
two Bishop Birds specitically. 
| Male.—In breeding plumage: upper parts brilliant scarlet ; lower 
; parts, with the exception of throat and vent, which are scarlet, deep 
velvety black; forehead, cheeks, and chin black; wings and tail 
brown. Length, 5’’; wing, 2’’ 9'’’; tail, 1’’ 10’’’, Female and male 
in non-breeding plumage, brown, the centre of each feather with a 
dark stripe. Mr. T. E. Buckley says that the bill is black, the legs 
light brown, and the iris hazel. 
Fig. Shaw’s Nat. Mise. pl. 240. 
453. PyroMELANA carensis, Linn. Black and Yellow Bishop Bird. 
Ploceus capensis, Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 184. 
As in the case of P. oryz there is both a large and a small race of 
the present bird found in South Africa, and the latter is generally 
known as P. aanthomeelas (Riipp.), but as they both occur in various 
parts of South Africa, and have not a distinctive range, we can 
only consider them as races of the same species. It is a very 
common bird throughout the colony, affecting indiscriminately the 
solitary vley (morass) in the midst of the veldt (open, uncultivated 
country), or the homestead of the farmer. During the breeding 
season it is seen about reeds, among which it breeds, placing its 
nest with great art, so as to include in its structure three or four 
of the firmest and most upright stems, which support it like 
pillars. The male generally perches on the topmost twigs of the 
bushes mingled with the reeds, or on the heads of the reeds them- 
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