ESTRILDA CLARKEI 209 
comical ; the song scarcely more than a sparrow-like, yet not 
inharmonious, chirp, repeated an innumerable quantity of times 
in the early morning during the nesting season.” He further 
remarks: ‘‘ Laying three to four, even sometimes seven to 
nine, eggs, which are incubated alternately by the male and 
female for two hours at a time. Nestling-down whitish yellow. 
Expansions of beak yellowish white. Young plumage bright 
yellowish grey, to be distinguished by the weak, but clearly 
perceptible, reddish yellow colouring of the croup, little beak 
shining black; eyes dark brown; feet black brown. ‘The 
change of colour begins after three weeks: in five weeks the 
feathering below is clear yellowish, upper surface darker 
brown ; after eight weeks the yellow becomes deep and 
shining, the little bill red, and the superciliary stripe, which 
began to appear about the sixth week, is perfected. Then the 
bird is fit to propagate its kind. The lively orange red of the 
male is first shown in the second year; by the fifth year it has 
sometimes extended itself uniformly over the throat, breast 
and front of abdomen; males so coloured are, however, rare.” 
The eggs are described by Mr. Nehrkorn as pure white and 
measuring 0°6 x 0-44. 
Estrilda clarkei. 
Coccopygia clarkei, Shelley, Bull. B. O. C. xiii. p. 75 (1903) Natal. 
Estrilda subflava (non Vieill.), Clarke, Ibis, 1904, p.524 S. Afr. ; Reichen. 
Vog. Afr. iii. p. 186 (1904) pt. S. of Hquator. 
Adult male. Similar to H. subflava, from which it differs in the entire 
throat and centre of the breast being pale yellow, with, at most, a slight 
wash of orange on the crop. ‘Iris red brown; bill crimson, the ridge and 
gonys black; legs and feet flesh colour” (Stark). Total length 3:8 inches, 
culmen 0:3, wing 1:8, tail 1:4, tarsus 0°45. Type, 9,8. 12. 81, Richmond 
Road, Natal (Reid); also g, 3. 2. 00, Msara (Delamere). 
Adult female. Differs in having no red band on the side of the head ; 
less red on the rump and upper tail-coverts; throat and centre of the breast 
(December, 1904. 14 
