from the Colony of Natal. 51 



thein on a hill called the Changa, between Pieter-Maritzburg and 

 D' Urban — a very precipitous country, where aloes and low 

 bushes are plentiful. 



EuPLECTEs XANTHOMELAS, Riippell. Northern Black-and- 

 yellow Finch. [E. capensis, No. 268, Ibis, 1865, p. 269.) 



Male. Iris dusky, upper mandible black, under mandible pale, 

 but in some specimens both mandibles are black ; tarsi and feet 

 pale, tinged with dusky. The glossy black plumage is only as- 

 sumed during the summer months ; in the winter the plumage is 

 brown, but the yellow is retained. 



[I find that the specimens sent to me from Natal appear to 

 be identical with the Abyssinian race described and figured by 

 Dr. Riippell (Syst. Uebers. Vog. N.-O. Afr. p. 67, tab. 28) 

 under the name here given, and that I was therefore wrong in 

 my former determination {ut supra) of this bird. It is readily 

 distinguishable from the more southern race by its smaller size 

 and proportionately feebler bill. — J. H. G.] 



Sycobius bicolor, Vieill. Solitary Weaver-bird. (No. 233, 

 Ibis, 1864, p. 352.) (Variety.) 



Female. Iris bright reddish grey ; bill white, rather dusky on 

 the ridge ; tarsi and feet pale. 



This specimen was shot and presented to me by the late Mr. 

 Norris. It was a single bird of the kind amongst a flock of 

 Weavers, and was killed in September 1864 on the Umgeni-flat 

 near the sea-coast. 



[I think this specimen is certainly a variety of the species 

 above named. It is very nearly a complete albino ; but there is 

 a tinge of brown on the head and of yellow elsewhere, especially 

 on the wings. — J. H. G.] 



Gallinago nigripennis, Bp. South-African Snipe. (No. 

 245, Ibis, 1864, p. 355.) 



Though not plentiful in Natal, these Snipes are extremely so 

 in the swamps surrounding the town of Potchefstroom, in the 

 Transvaal, where they afford excellent shooting, and also breed 

 during the months of July and August. At this season the 

 cock birds are a great deal on the wing — evidently wooing. 

 They fly about like so many Swallows — rising in the air, and 



E 2 



