; 
486 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
Cinereous grey, striped above, and immaculate bencath ; the stripes 
on the crown, and the spots on the back, dark brown; wing and 
tail-feathers blackish brown, edged with light grey; stripe above 
the eye, a small spot beneath it, and another divided into two, 
beneath the ears, white ; rump yellow; middle of throat, belly, and 
vent white. Length, 6”; wing, 3”; 2”. 
484, CrirHaGra sutrurata (L.) Large Yellow Seed-eater. 
This species is widely spread over the Cape Colony, being found 
in the vicinity of Cape Town itself. We have received it from 
Swellendam, from Mr. Cairncross, and it was found in the George 
district by Mr. Atmore. Victorin likewise procured it at the 
Knysna. It did not occur in Mr. Rickard’s lists from Port Elizabeth 
and East London, but it extends its range into Natal, where, 
according to Mr. Ayres, it is a tolerably common bird. He says 
that they feed upon the hard nutty seeds of small berries, common 
to many of the shrubs in Natal ;} the shell they appear easily to 
break, and then deyour the kernel. 
It is apparently not uncommon in the Swellendam district, 
extending as far westward as Caledon. It is also plentiful at Nel’s 
Poort, where we took the eggs in some abundance. The nest is 
usually placed in a low bush, often only a few inches from the 
ground; it is very compact, and cup-shaped; the eggs, generally 
four in number, are white, slightly tinged with green, and dotted 
at the obtuse end, mostly in an annular form, with intensely dark 
or light purple spots, with here and there a wavy streak ; axis, 10’; 
diam., 7”. The colonists call this grosbeak “ Geel Saysie.” 
General colour above greenish yellow, much variegated with dark 
brown; a yellow band extends from the nostrils over each eye; 
another shorter band extends downwards, commencing below the 
eye; at the base of the lower mandible a small yellow spot; chin 
and under parts bright yellow in some specimens, faintly streaked 
with rufous; pectoral band greenish; the outer edges of the wing A 
and tail-feathers bright yellow; rump rather free from the brown 
markings of the back. Length, 6” 2’’’; wing, 3” 2””; tail, 2’’ 5”. 
Fig. Jard. and Selby’s Ill. Orn. pl. 109, fig. 1. 
485, CrITHAGRA CHLOROPSIS, Cab. Von der Decken’s Seed-eater. 
This brightly-coloured species was discovered by the late Baron 
