PLOCEID^] PYTELIA 89 



c l . Tail graduated ; the tail-feathers with narrower 



ends and not tinged with red ; breast un- 



spotted and not red ................................... Estrilda, p. 97. 



d l . Tail square and very short ; breast and sides 



barred with black and white ........................ 0, iygospiza, p. 108. 



b. Bill robust and finch-like and blue-black in colour ; 



the culmen more arched. 

 e l . Tail short and rounded ; breast white, the sides 



mottled dark ............................... . ............. Spennsstes, p. 110. 



f l . Tail short and square, plumage almost entirely 



brown ...................................................... Philetcerus, p. 114. 



</ 1 . Tail rounded; all but the two centre feathers 



tipped with white ; head and throat in male 



partly red ................................................ Amadina, p. 118. 



Genus I. PYTELIA. 



Type. 

 Pytelia, Swains. Class. Birds, ii, p. 280 (1837)...,.. P. phoenicoptera. 



Bill slender, cone-shaped and lengthened ; the culmen swollen 

 and slightly arched. Nostrils hidden by nasal plumes. Wings 

 rounded, the distance between the tips of the primaries and the 

 tips of the secondaries less than the length of the tarsus ; the first 

 quill very small. Tail short, graduated. Tarsi scutellated ante- 

 riorly. Feet very' small. 



The genus Pytelia includes twelve species of African Weaver- 

 finches. Two species occur in South Africa. They frequent bushes 

 and rarely perch much on the ground, have a somewhat monotonous 

 song, and are gentle and confiding in their habits. Those species 

 whose nesting habits have been observed build domed nests of dry 

 grass in bushes, and lay three or four white eggs. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Forehead, face, and upper throat scarlet-vermilion P. melba <$ , p. 90. 



b. Forehead, face, and upper throat ash-grey ............ P. melba ? , p. 90. 



c. Feathers of breast and abdomen with dusky centres, 



each enclosing two round white spots ............... P. nitidida, p. 91. 



* ^ 



45. Pytelia melba. Southern Bed-faced Weaver Finch. 



Fringilla melba, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 319 (1766). 



Pytelia melba, Strickland and Sclater, Contr. Orn. 1852, p. 150 ; 



Gurney in Anderssorfs B. Damara Land, p. 176 (1872) ; Sharpe, ed. 



Layard's B. S. Afr. p. 468 (1884) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 32 (1896). 

 Estrelda melba, Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 199 (1867). 

 Zonogastris melba, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii, p. 296 (1890). 



