112 QUELEA QUELEA 
Male in breeding plumage. Forehead, cheeks, ear-coverts, chin and 
upper throat black; remainder of the head and throat as well as the sides 
of neck glossy sandy buff, with the nape ashy brown like the back of the 
neck; back, wings and tail dark brown, with pale edges to the feathers ; 
primaries and most of the tail-feathers edged with chrome yellow; under 
wing-coverts sandy; quills ashy brown, with whitish inner edges; breast, 
thighs and under tail-coverts buff; front of chest and sides of body with a 
wash of brown or with brown centres to the feathers. ‘Iris light hazel; bill 
dark rosy red; tarsi and feet bright red brown.’ Total length 4:7 inches, 
culmen 0:55, wing 2°6, tail 1-6, tarsus 0°'7. g, 11.12.76. Potchefstroom 
(T. Ayres). 
Var. a. Pale portion of head, throat and breast washed with crimson. 
3, 20.12. 71. Potchefstroom. 
Var. b. Similar to the last, but with the forehead, cheek, ear coverts, 
chin and upper throat sandy buff. Transvaal. 
Adult female. Coloured like the male first described, with the exception 
of the head and neck ; forehead and crown ashy brown like the back of the 
neck; sides of head, chin and throat buff, with a shade of brown on the 
ear-coverts. Total length 4:4 inches, culmen 0°55, wing 2:5, tail 1:4, tarsus 
0-7. 2, 11.12.76. Potchefstroom (T. Ayres). 
The Black-fronted Dioch inhabits Africa south from the 
Senegal River, the Albert Nyanza and Lake Nyasa. 
Hartlaub described his Q. occidentalis from specimens 
labelled ‘‘ Senegal,” ‘‘ Casamanse,’ and “ Guinea.” In the 
British Museum there is a single specimen from the Gambia, 
in the plumage of Q. russi, Finsch. In that country Mr. J. 8S. 
Budgett found the species common and brought home an 
example from Nianimaru. Mr. Boyd Alexander, while travel- 
ling inland from the Gold Coast, met with these birds in flocks 
at Binduri to the north of Gambaga. 
There is, in the British Museum, a typically coloured 
adult male from Kibero on the eastern side of the Albert 
Nyanza, and from the Albert Edward Nyanza there are five 
specimens collected by Mr. Scott Elhot, which more nearly 
approach Q. quelea than Q. exthiopica, but are intermediate 
forms. 
I do not find the species recorded from West Africa 
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