SPERMESTES SCUTATUS 171 
of the chest, which are brown, with broad white terminal edges to all the 
feathers. ‘Iris brown; bill and legs dark slate colour’’ (Delamere). Total 
length 3:5 inches, culmen 0°4, wing 1:9, tail 1:2, tarsus 0:55. 9,17. 10. 75. 
Pinetown (T. L. Ayres). 
Adult female. Differs only in having slightly less metallic green on the 
wing-coverts and scapulars. Wing2-0. 9, 25.7.75. Pinetown(T. L. Ayres). 
Heugiin’s Bronze Mannikin ranges over Africa south from 
the Congo and Abyssinia, with the exception of Western South 
Africa, and inhabits the Comoro Islands. 
In the lower Congo district this species and its nearest 
ally, S. cucullatus, meet. The present form is represented 
in the British Museum from West Africa by two specimens 
from the Congo, one of which was procured at Kabinda 
by Sperling, two of Monteiro’s from Angola, and one of 
Anchieta’s from Benguela. In Angola, according to Mr. 
Monteiro, it is known to the natives as the ‘ Canquijamba.” 
He found it in small flocks on the ground and also breeding 
in trees. In Benguela the species has been obtained by 
Anchieta at Quindumbo, Dombe and Caconda, all localities 
near the town of Benguela, and I cannot trace its range further 
south in Western Africa. 
Its occurrence in Cape Colony is reported by Layard, who 
writes: ‘‘ Appeared in a considerable flock at Table Farm, near 
Grahamstown.” Mr. Shortridge calls it a common resident 
near Port St. John, in Pondoland. According to Stark, it is an 
uncertain and irregular migrant in Hastern Cape Colony, but 
is resident in Natal, ranging northward through the ‘l'ransvaal 
to the Zambesi, and he further writes: ‘“'lhese pretty little 
Weaver Finches are in Natal usually met with in small parties 
of from six to a dozen in the more open ‘ Bush,’ as well as in 
gardens.. ‘hey spend much of their time on the ground search- 
ing for small seeds, but frequently perch on bushes and occasion- 
ally on tall trees. ‘hey are shyer than the majority of the small 
