188 BIRDS OF DAMAEA LAND. 



[Mr. Layard (loc. cit.) mentions having seen Passer simplex, 

 which is a West-African race, from Damara Land ; but it seems 

 probable, as suggested by Mr. Sharpe (loc. cit.) , that in this 

 instance P. diffusus may have been mistaken for P. simplex. 

 These two Sparrows are in fact very nearly allied ; and Drs. 

 Finsch and Hartlaub (loc. cit.) refer them both, and also the 

 Abyssinian P. Swainsoni, to one and the same species. I, how- 

 ever, agree with Mr. Sharpe in considering P. Swainsoni, P. sim- 

 plex, and P. diffusus as forming three specifically distinct local 

 races, though the differences between them are but slight. 

 ED.] 



230. Fringillaria flaviventris (Vieill.). Southern Yellow- 

 bellied Bunting. 



Eniberizaflavig aster, Riippell's Atlas, pi. 25. 



Fringillaria Jlaoiventris, Gurney, Birds Damar., Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, 



p. 3. 



Layard's Cat. No. 410. 



Emberizaflavig aster ) Chapman's Travels in S. Afr., App. p. 403. 

 Emberiza Jlaviventris, Finsch & Hartlaub, Vogel Ost-Afrika's, 



p. 458. 

 Fringillaria Jlaviventris, Sharpe's Cat. No. 667. 



This very handsome bird is pretty common in 

 northern Damara Land and thence onward to the 

 Okavango. I have usually met with it in well- wooded 

 localities ; and I obtained my specimens by quietly 

 awaiting their arrival at some small water, which they 

 were sure to visit in the morning and evening, especially 

 the former; they are fearless birds, and consequently 

 easy to secure. 



The upper mandible is dark liver-brown, the under 

 mandible salmon-yellow ; the legs yellowish brown, and 

 the toes also, but more dusky. 



