SERINUS ALBIGULARIS. 223 



" This species is sparingly met with in Damara and Great 

 Namaqualand ; it is generally seen about rocks in the imme- 

 diate neighbourhood of water, to which it resorts in small 

 flocks in the morning and evening to quench its thirst. Its 

 food consists of seeds and berries." 



Serinus albigularis. 



Crithagra albigularis, Smith, S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p. 48 (1833) 



S. Afr. 

 Serinus albigularis, Sharps, Cat. B. M. xii. p. 360 (1888) S. Afr.; 



Kuschel, J. f. 0. 1895, p. 342 egg: Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 289 



(1896); Nehrkorn, Kat. Eiers. p. 110 (1899) egg; Stark, Faun. 



S. Afr. B. p. 174 (1900). 

 Crithagra selbyi. Smith, Eep. S. Afr. Exped. App. p. 50 (1836) S'. Afr. 

 Crithagra cinerea. Swains. Class. B. ii. p. 294 (1837). 



Adult. Very similar to S. crocopygia, but slightly darker both above and 

 below ; the yellow on the lower back duller, and there is a less amount of 

 white on the sides of the forehead and the eyebrows. Total length 6 inches, 

 culmen 0'55, wing 3-1, tail 2-3, tarsus 0-8. Cape Colony (Butler.) 



The Cape White-throated Canary is apparently confined to 

 Cape Colony. 



Layard wrote : " This species is called by the colonists 

 ' Dic-bec Saysie ' and ' Berg Saysie ' ; it is very abundant about 

 Saldanha Bay, Colesberg and the Berg river." According to 

 Stark, it is very common to the north of Cape Town, especially 

 towards Saldanha Bay. " Here it inhabits the bush-overgrown 

 sand-duns close to the beach, and feeds on the seeds of several 

 of the more common weeds. In spring the cocks sing loudly 

 and melodiously from the tops of the bushes, their song being, 

 to my ear, superior to that of the Cape Canary. About the 

 beginning of September they proceed to build their nests, open 

 cup-shaped structures, in the bushes, frequently in a 'milk- 

 bush,' about four feet from the ground. These are rather 

 loosely constructed of thin, pliable twigs and dry grass-stems, 

 and are invariably lined with the white downy blossoms of a 



