26 VIDUA PARADISEA 
with black; back of neck ang mantle sandy brown, mottled with black 
centres to the feathers ; lower back and upper tail-coverts uniform ashy 
brown ; wings and tail dark brown, with some pale edges to the feathers ; 
under wing-coverts and inner margins of the quills white, the former 
mottled with black along the bend of the wing; throat and under surface 
of body white, shaded with sandy brown on the crop and sides of the 
body ; lower throat and flanks slightly marked with dusky stripes.  ‘‘ Iris 
dusky brown; bill light dusky brown, lower mandible pale; tarsi and feet 
pale.” Total length 5:25 inches, culmen 0:45, wing 3, tail 2-4, tarsus 0°65. 
9, 28.11. 82. Rustenburg (T. Ayres). 
Immature. Upper parts uniform earthy brown, often mottled with a 
few black feathers; sides of head, throat and sides of body uniform pale 
brown fading into white on the centre of the abdomen and the under tail- 
coverts. 
Adult males in winter plumage. Similar to the females. 
The Paradise Whydah ranges over Africa generally south 
of 17° N. lat. 
In West Africa specimens have been procured by Laglaise 
at St. Louis on the mouth of the Senegal River, by Marche 
at Daranka and Bathurst, and Beaudouin at Casamanse. 
Between this latter place and Gambaga, a distance of 900 miles, 
I do not find any record regarding the occurrence of this 
Species, yet it appears to be fairly plentiful in Togoland, where 
specimens have been collected at Bismarckburg, Krachi and 
Jendi. On following down the West Coast I again find no 
record of the species for another 1,500 miles, till we come to 
Angola: here the type was discovered, and in the British 
Museum there is a full-plumaged male procured by Toulson 
at Loanda. To the south of the Quanza River specimens have 
been collected by Anchieta at Capangombe and Quillingues, 
and, according to Prof. Barboza du Bocage, it is fairly abundant 
from Loanda to Mossamedes. The only specimen recorded 
from St. Thomas Island was probably a cage-bird. Andersson 
found it not unfrequent at Lake Ngami, but scarce in Damara- 
land, and Mr. Fleck has procured specimens at Moxowi in the 
Kalahari district. I cannot trace the species further south in 
