142 PLOCEID^E COLIOPASSER 



placed a few inches off the ground, in the centre of a tuft of grass, 

 attached by its sides to many grass stalks, the blades and tops 

 of which are bent down and tied together to form an additional 

 concealment and protection. The female sits for fourteen days. 

 The eggs, usually four in number, are small considering the size of 

 the bird. They are white or bluish- white closely marked with 

 small spots and dashes of dark brown and slate-grey. They average 

 0-90 by 0-67. 



76. Coliopasser ardens. Red-collared Widow Bird. 



Emberiza ardens, Bodd. TaU. PL Enl. p. 39 (1783). 



Vidua ardens, Gray, Gen. B. ii, p. 355 (1849) ; Layard, B. 8. Aft: p. 



190 (1867) ; Sharpe, ed. Layard? s B. S. Afr. pp. 455, 849 (1884). 

 Penthetria ardens, Cab. Mus. Hein. i, p. 177 (1850) ; Finscli and Hartl. 



Vog. Ostafr. p. 423 (1870) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii, p. 215 (1890) ; 



Butler, Foreign Finches, p. 290, pi. $ and ? (1894). 

 Coliipasser ardens, Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 23 (1896). 



Description. Adult male in breeding plumage. Entire head and 

 body jet black, with a crescent-shaped half collar, varying from 

 orange to scarlet, separating the throat from the breast ; this collar 

 is sometimes absent. The feathers of thighs and under tail-coverts 

 edged with grey ; tail black ; wings black, most of the feathers 

 edged with grey. 



Iris bright brown ; bill black ; legs and feet dark grey-brown. 



Length 12-50; wing 3-00; tail 9-50; tarsus 0-80 ; culmen 0-60. 



Adult female. Above brown, the feathers with black centres ; 

 wing and tail-feathers dark brown edged with buff ; crown like the 

 back ; eyebrow, lores and feathers below eye yellowish-white ; ear- 

 coverts buff-brown ; under surface of body buff-yellow, the under 

 tail-coverts streaked with brown : axillaries and under wing-coverts 

 greyish- white. 



Iris brown ; bill, legs and feet pale brown. 



Length 4-75 ; wing 2-50 ; tail T60 ; tarsus 0-80 ; culmen 0-55. 



Adult male in winter. Resembles the female ; but the wing- 

 feathers are black edged with buff ; the tail black ; the chest tinged 

 with red ; he is also larger. 



Young. On leaving the nest resemble the female, males being 

 slightly larger, with darker wings and tail. 



Distribution. From the neighbourhood of Port Elizabeth, in 

 Eastern Cape Colony, through Natal, Zululand, the Transvaal, and 



