262 LAGONOSTICTA RUFOPICTA 
three in number and much incubated, were white, and had 
average measurements of 0°58 x 0°46 inch. 
“In our series the adult males have the white spots on the 
sides of the breast well defined. An adult female shot on 
January 5, has these spots also clearly, and at the same time 
more numerously, marked; while two females obtained four 
months earlier, on September 6, do not possess any of these 
spots, and the crimson on the lores is less conspicuous. These 
breast-markings, therefore, appear to come with age. An 
immature male with a few feathers becoming crimson on the 
chin and forehead, obtained on August 10, resembles in 
plumage these two females,” 
The most northern range known to me for this species in 
Hastern Africa is the Shiré Valley, where Dr. Percy Rendail 
discovered the types, a female in March, and a male with his 
nest containing seven eggs on May 9. 
Lagonosticta rufopicta. 
Estrelda rufopicta, Fraser, P. Z. 8. 1848, p. 27 Gold Coast; id. Zool. 
Typ. pl. 51 (1849). 
Lagonosticta rufopicta, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii. p. 278 (1890); Shelley, 
B. Afr. I. No. 431 (1896) ; Nehrkorn, Kat. Hiers. p. 125 (1899) egg ; 
Reichen. J. f. O. 1902, p. 87 Togo; id. Vog. Afr. iii. p. 198 (1904). 
Lagonosticta (Hstrelda) laterita, Heugl. J. f. O. 1864, p. 251 Djur, Bongo, 
Kosanga. 
Adult male. Upper parts brown, slightly greyer on the crown; forehead 
bright crimson like the eyebrow ; lower back, upper tail-coverts, and edges 
of basal half of tail-feathers crimson ; edges of upper wing-coverts slightly 
washed with red; under coverts and inner margins of quills whitish brown ; 
sides of head bright crimson, becoming pinker on the chin, throat, front and 
sides of breast; feathers of the crop, front and sides of chest with small 
white twin-spots, inclining to form bars ; centre of breast, abdomen and thighs 
brown, fading into buff on the under tail-coverts. Iris brown; bill orange 
red, with the culmen black; tarsi and feet dusky brown. Total length 3-7 
inches, culmen 0:4, wing 1:85, tail 1:5, tarsus 0°55. g, Abutchi (Forbes). 
