30G AMBLYOSPIZA UNICOLOR 



Amblyospiza unicolor. 



Pyrenestes unicolor, Fisch. and Reichen. Orn. Centralb. 1878, p. 88 ; 

 id. J. f. 0. 1878, p. 354 Zamihar, Mombasa. 



Amblyospiza unicolor, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii. p. 503 (1890) ; Shelley 

 B. Afr. I. No. 455 (1896); Nehrkorn, Kat. Eiers. p. 131 (1899) egg ; 

 Neumann, J. f. 0. 1900, p. 283 ; Eeichen. Yog. Afr. iii. p. 99 (1904). 



Pyrenestes (Coryphegnathus) unicolor, Oust. Bibl. Ecole Haute Etudes, 

 xxxi. art. 10, p. 9 (1886) Somali. 



Adult vialc. Similar to that of A. albifrons, with the same amount of 

 white on the forehead and wings ; but differs in its blacker colouring, the 

 head and neck, with the exception of the white forehead, being sooty black 

 with only a trace of brown ; mantle black like the tail and the dark portion 

 of the wings; breast dusky black. "Iris brown; bill and legs black." 

 Total length 7-2 inches, culmen 1-0, wing 3-7, tail 1-8, tarsus 0-9. <? , 3. 2. 00. 

 Msara (Delamere). 



Adult female. Similar to that of A. albifrons, but with the brown parts 

 a shade darker. " Iris dark brown ; bill with the upper part dark brown 

 and the lower part yellowish ; tarsi and feet dark brown." ? , 10. 8. 99. 

 Mt. Kenia (Mackinder). 



Immature male. Differs from the adult in having no white on the fore- 

 head ; head, neck and upper back sepia brown, with some sandy brown 

 edges to the feathers ; abdomen and under tail-coverts deep slaty grey, with 

 buff margins to the feathers. Lamu (Kirk). 



The Black Grrosbeak-Weaver ranges from Zanzibar to 

 Mount Kenia, and lias been recorded from Somaliland. 



The species appears to be abundant and very evenly dis- 

 tributed over the coast country, between the Kingani and 

 Tana Rivers. Fischer procured the typical specimens in the 

 neighbourhood of Zanzibar and Mombasa, and gives an inter- 

 esting account of its breeding, in which it resembles its 

 southern ally. It breeds in colonies in marshy places ; the 

 nest is constructed of grass and shreds of reed-leaves, is of a 

 long oval form, 7-5 inches deep by 4 broad, and is suspended 

 between two reeds. The eggs, from four to six in number, 

 are white or reddish white, with pale reddish brown and violet 

 spots, measuring 0*92 x 0-65. During the construction of 

 the nest the birds are very noisy. 



