138 PLOCEID^ COLIOPASSER 



b 1 . Tail not twice the length of wing. 

 c 2 . Lesser wing-coverts bright yellow ............ C. albonotatus, $ 



in summer, p. 138 

 b. Tail shorter than the wing. 



c 1 . Larger : wing exceeding 4*00. Lesser wing- 



coverts brown, edged with orange -red. 

 tf. Wing about 4'50 ................................. C.procne, ? p. 139 



e 2 . Wing about 5'40 ................................. C.procne, $ 



in winter, p. 139 

 d l . Smaller: wing less than 3*00. Lesser wing- 



coverts dark brown edged with buff. 

 / 2 Wing about 2'50 ; tail dark brown ............ C. ardens, ? p. 142 



g*. Wing about 2'90; tail black .................. C. ardens, $ 



in winter, p. 142 



74. Coliopasser albonotatus. White-winged Widow Bird. 



Vidua albonotata, Cass. Proc. Philad. Acad. 1848, p. 65 ; id. Journ. 



Philad. Acad. i, p. 241, pi. 30, fig. 1 (1849) ; Layard, B. S. Afr. 



p. 189. 

 Penthetria albonotata, Bocage, Orn. Angola, p. 342 (1881) ; Holub and 



Pelzeln, Orn. Siidafr. p. 124 (1882) ; Sharpe, ed. Layard' s B. S. Afr. 



p. 460 (1884) : id. Cat. B. M. xiii, p. 219 (1890). 

 Coliuspasser albonotatus, Shelley, Ibis, 1886, p. 348. 

 Coliipasser abonotatus, Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 24 (1896). 



Description. Adult male in breeding plumage. Entire head, 

 body and tail jet black ; lesser wing-coverts bright yellow ; middle 

 and greater coverts black edged with brownish-white, the outer- 

 most of the greater coverts and the primary-coverts pure white ; 

 quills black narrowly edged with brown, all excepting the inner- 

 most secondaries white at the base ; axillaries and under wing- 

 coverts white ; edge of wing yellow ; the axillaries tinged with 

 yellow. 



Iris hazel ; bill pale blue ; feet black. 



Length 6'60 ; wing 3'00 ; tail 3-50 ; tarsus 0'80 ; culmen 0-50. 



Distribution. On the east coast from Natal to Nyasaland ; on 

 the west coast from the Cunene Kiver to Gaboon, extending along 

 the valley of the Zambesi into Northern Bechuana and Matabili 

 Lands. In Natal it is rare, but becomes more common in Zulu- 

 land and the Eastern Transvaal. Dr. Kirk obtained specimens 

 on the Zambesi and Shire Eivers ; Dr. Holub at Panda-rna-Tenka ; 

 and Mr. A. Whyte at Mpimbi, in Nyasaland. I have myself only 



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