ESTRILDA OCCIDENTALIS 201 
Spermestes cucullatus, Vidua serena, and a small kind of rat. 
In September, these and the other Waxbills pair for the breed- 
ing season and then cease to be gregarious.” These Waxbills 
not having been recorded from anywhere between Sierra 
Leone and Fernando Po, shows how much we have yet to learn 
regarding the avifauna of Africa. 
The species was discovered by Fraser on Fernando Po, 
where, according to Mr. Boyd Alexander, it is abundant. In 
Camaroons, it has been procured at Jaunde by Mr. Zenker, and 
further inland, at the Ja River, Mr. Bates obtained a male and 
female in May, 1904. The species is also represented in the 
British Museum by a specimen from Gaboon (Du Chaillu), one 
from Kibondo (Béhndorff) and another from Benguela obtained 
by Mr. Monteiro, who writes: ‘Very abundant in Angola, 
particularly to the south: gregarious in flocks of hundreds of 
individuals.” Anchieta has obtained the species at Quissange, 
and gives “ Maracaxong’”’ as its native name, so to this species 
probably belongs a bird procured by Van der Kellen in Mossa- 
medes, but I have not seen the specimen, nor have I seen any 
Estrilda from St. Thomas Island, so cannot express an opinion 
as to the specific merits of H. astrild souse, but presume it 
should have been compared in the original description to 
H. occidentalis rather than to H. minor. To E. occidentalis 
belongs a specimen from the Albert Edward Nyanza (Scott 
Elliot), also the specimens in Mr. Jackson’s collection from 
Uganda and Toro near Katwe. I therefore presume that the 
specimens collected at Lado, Bukoba and Bujambo (Emin) 
belong to this species, to which I also refer the North-east 
African birds, my H. peasei, represented in the British Museum 
by a male and female from Dunsa (Pease), two males from the 
Lakes Harrar Meyer and Chercha (Lovat), and one from 
Abyssinia (Harris). Probably to this form belongs the 
BE. astrild minor, Oustalet, from Somaliland. 
