364 MELANOPTERYX ALHINUCHA 



" Iris pale yellow ; bill black ; tarsi and feet dark brown." Total length 

 5-3 inches, culmen 0-75, wing 2-9, tail 1-8, tarsus 0-7. J , 31. 11. 02, 

 Eibola (Alexander). 



" The sexes are alike in ijlumage and measurements. 



"Immature male. General colour above sooty brown, with traces o£ 

 yellowish olive edges to the feathers of the hind neck and crown, the latter 

 mottled with black ; sides of head and under parts pale yellowish olive, 

 inclining to whitish on the under tail-coverts ; thighs light brown ; bill horn- 

 brown ; legs and feet dark brown. 



" Immature feviale. Similar to immature male, but with no yellowish 

 edges to the feathers of the hind neck and crown ; sides of neck and under 

 parts ashy white, inclining to pale tawny on the abdomen and under tail- 

 coverts ; outer edge of quills ashy white ; iris pale green, legs and feet light 

 brown. 



"This species is a good intermediate form between M. nigcrrima and 

 M. alhinucha. It differs from the former in being smaller, in the jet black 

 of the upper parts, throat and breast, and in the brownish black legs and 

 feet " (Alexander). 



Maxwell's Black Weaver is confined to the island o£ 

 Fernando Po. 



This is a well-marked local species, most nearly allied to 

 M. (ilbinucltd, but intermediate between that form and M. 

 nirjerrima. It closely resembles the former in size, but may 

 be readily distinguished from it by the entire absence of white 

 bases to the feathers, and from the latter by its smaller size, 

 the jet-black of the upper parts, throat and breast, and in the 

 brownish black tarsi and feet. 



Mr. Boyd Alexander, who discovered the species, writes : 

 " We found this Weaver-bird on the lowlands frequenting the 

 woods, where it nests in colonies, the tops of thick-leaved 

 forest-trees being chosen as nesting sites. The note is a 

 running chatter." 



Melanopteryx albinucha. 



Sycobius albinucha, Bocage, Jorn. Lisb. 1876, p. 217 W. Afr. 

 Melanopteryx albinucha, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii. p. 177 (1890) ; Shelley, 



B. Afr. I. No. 492 (1896). 

 Ploceus albinucha, Reichen. Vog. Afr. iii. p. 52 (1904). 



