SERINUS SULPHURATUS. 205 



crop and flanks. " Iris brown ; bill pale horn brown ; lower mandible dusky 

 horn white ; feet brown." Total length 5'8 inches, culmen 05, wing 3-25 

 and 3'1, tail 2-5, tarsus, 0-7. <? , ? , 23. 7. 97. Eavine (Jackson)=22. 7. 65. 

 Table mountain (Andersson). 



The Brimstone Canary ranges over South. Africa generally 

 and northward to Mossamedes in Western Africa and to the 

 Equator on the east side of the continent. 



Mr. Buttikofer records two specimens of this species as 

 having been procured by Mr. Van der Kellen at Humpate in the 

 Upper Cunene district in February, 1885, which much extends 

 the range of this species on the west coast of Africa, for it was 

 not previously known from north of the Orange river on this 

 side. When I visited South Africa in 1874:, I found these 

 Canaries common in the pine forests near Capetown. They 

 appear to be very evenly distributed over the colony and are 

 known to the Dutch as the " Geel Saysie." " It is," Stark 

 wrote, " rather common in many parts of Cape Colony, both 

 on open pasture land and in bushy localities. In winter these 

 birds form considerable flocks, often joining with other Finches 

 to search for seeds on the ground. The principal part of their 

 food, however, consists of small berries and their seeds ; the 

 latter they crack with their powerful bills for the sake of the 

 kernels. In spring the males sing delightfully, their notes 

 being both powerful and mellow ; for this reason they are 

 frequently kept as cage-birds and even exported to Europe. 

 The nest, usually built in September in Cape Colony, is a small 

 and neat cup-shaped structure, and is nearly always placed in 

 a low bush, rarely more than four feet above the ground. It is 

 constructed outwardly of dry grass-stems and cottony down. 

 The eggs, generally four in number, are either white or white 

 faintly tinged with blue ; about one half of them are unspotted, 

 the remaining half have a few deep black spots, or one or two 

 zig-zag markings towards the larger end. They are usually 



