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ESTRILDA PERREINI 
Subspecies c. 
Kstrilda incana, Sundey. (ify. Vet. Akad. Forh. Stockh. 1830, p. 98, 
Natal; Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 417 (1896); Woodward, Ibis, 1897, 
p. 411 Zulu; Reichen. Vog. Afr. iii. p. 192 (1904 pt.). 
Lagonosticta incana, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii. p. 284 (1890). 
Habropyga natalensis, Cab. Mus. Hein. i. p. 170 (1851). 
Adults. Crown, mantle, scapulars, wing-coverts and edges of the quills 
lavender grey, remainder of quills dusky brown; lower back and upper tail- 
coverts crimson, tail entirely dusky black; sides of head and the under parts 
paler grey than the mantle; band in front of the eyes, eyelids and chin jet 
black; abdomen gradually shading into the dusky black of the thighs and 
under tail-coverts ; occasionally there is some crimson on the flanks. Bill 
glossy greyish black, generally with a paler mark on the upper mandible ; 
tarsi and feet black. Total length 4:15 inches, culmen 0°35, wing 1°9, tail 
1:8, tarsus 0°65. g and ¢, Landana (Lucan and Petit). 
E. thomensis. ‘Similar to the above, but differs in its more vinous 
shade and in having the flanks carmine red like the rump ”’ (Sousa). 
E. poliogastra. Differs from ZL. perreini in having the red of the lower 
back and upper tail-coverts a shade darker and duller; abdomen and under 
tail-coverts slightly paler, the dusky black being confined to the vent and 
under tail-coverts. Wing 2:0, tail 2:0. Karunguisi (A. Sharpe). 
E. incana. Differs from EH. perreii in having the abdomen and under 
tail-coverts paler grey, with a dusky shade confined to the vent and under 
tail-coverts. ‘Iris red; bill grey; feet black.” Wing 19, tail1‘9. g and 
9 , Durban (T. L. Ayres). 
The Black-tailed Lavender Waxbills range from St. Thomas 
Island to Loango and the Congo, through Nyasaland to 
Inhambane, and occur in Natal and Zululand. 
These Waxbills I divide into four subspecies. The St. 
Thomas Lavender Waxbill is represented by the type which 
is in the Coimbra Museum, nominally from the Island of 
St. Thomas, and supposed to have been obtained there in 
1885 by Moller; but no mention is made of it in the list 
of his collection published in “ L. V. Instituto,” No. 11 (1887) ; 
and Mr. Almada Negreiros obtained a second specimen at 
Guadalupe. It is known to me by the description only, and 
I cannot help doubting its being a good species, as no other 
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