XANTHOPIIir.US AURANTIUS 473 



Ploceus aurautius, Eeichen. Vog. Afr. iii. p. 49 (1904;). 



" Hyphantornis royrei, Verr." Hartl. J. f. O. 1865, p. 97 Gaboon. 



Adults.- Head and entire underparts deep golden yellow with a slight 

 chestnut tinge, strongest on the throat ; eyelids and a few feathers in front 

 of the eyes black ; back of neck, back and tail yellowish olive, with the rump 

 deep yellow ; wings blackish brown, with the edges to the feathers yellow 

 tinted with olive, most strongly so on the lesser coverts, primary-coverts 

 and primaries ; inner edges of the quills and the under wing-coverts yellow. 

 " Iris orange brown ; bill black ; feet fJesh-colour " (Forbes). Total length 

 5 inches, culmeu 0'6, wing 2-7, tail 1-6, tarsus 0-7o. 3 , Landana (Lucan). 



Immature. " Upper parts uniform olive green, with darker centres to 

 the feathers; edges of secondaries and wing-coverts olive yellow; chin, 

 throat and eyebrow, edges of wings and the under wing-coverts yellow ; 

 chest, abdomen and under tail-coverts pale grey, inclining to white on the 

 centre of the breast, abdomen and under tail-coverts. Bill flesh-colour. 

 November 25, Liberia" (Biittikofer). 



The Orange Weaver ranges from Liberia to tlie Congo and 

 eastward into Uganda. 



The species is apparently abundant in Liberia, for Demary 

 obtained it at the Snlymah River, and Dr. Biittikofer collected 

 specimens at Rol^ertsport and Grand Cape Mount, and remarks 

 that they frequented the sea-shore, the small islands and banks 

 of the rivers, and were breeding in November in widely spread 

 colonies of twelve to twenty nests, never clustered together on 

 a single tree. The nests were hung at 4 to 8 feet from the 

 ground or over the water, and were of a somewhat kidney- 

 shape, measuring 5 inches by 4"5, with the opening beneath, 

 were strongly woven and firmly fastened to the bough from 

 which they hung. The eggs, generally three in a nest, were 

 pale green, spotted with violet and brown, and measured 

 0-6 X 0-5. 



Dr. Ansorge has obtained the species in the Lower Niger 

 district, and there are specimens in the British Museum from 

 Bonny (Crossley), and Abutschi (W. A. Forbes), otherwise it 

 has not been recorded from the West Coast between Liberia 

 and Graboon, The type of Hyphantornis royrei was in the 



