PLOCEID^ HYPOCHERA 153 



i 



80. Hypochera funerea. Black Widow Finch. 



Fringilla funerea, De Tarragon, Eevue Zool., 1847, p. 180. 

 Tiaris funerea, Gray, Genera B. ii, p. 375 (1849). 

 Hypochaera funerea, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii, p. 310 (1890). 

 Hypochera funerea, SJielley, B. Afr. i, p. 23 (1896). 



Hypochera funerea. $ . 



Description. Adult male in summer. Entire head and body, 

 as well as the wing-coverts and inner secondaries, purple-black, 

 slightly glossy, with or without a tuft of white feathers on each 

 side of the lower back ; primary wing -coverts and quills, also the 

 outer secondaries light brown ; tail-feathers light brown edged with 

 whitish ; axillaries, under wing-coverts and inner margin of the 

 quills buff. 



Iris brown ; bill white ; feet red. 



Length 4-25; wing 2-70; tail T 60 ; tarsus O55 ; culmen 0-40. 



Adult female. Above brown, each feather with a dark centre ; 

 wing and tail-quills brown with paler edges ; eyebrow whitish with 

 a dusky streak above ; sides of face whitish ; below ash-white, 

 darker on the sides and flanks. 



Length 4-00 ; wing 2-50 ; tail 1-40 ; tarsus 0'55 ; culmen 0-40. 



Adult males in winter and young males closely resemble the 

 female. 



Distribution. From Natal through Zululand, Portuguese East 

 Africa and the Eastern Transvaal to Nyasaland and German East 

 Africa ; doubtfully from Senegambia and the Niger. 



Weenan Natal (Arnold) ; Berg Mountain, Natal (Gordge) ; 

 Zomba, Nyasaland (Whyte). 



Habits. Very little has been recorded regarding the habits of 

 the present Widow Finch ; those of the closely allied H. ultramarina 

 of North-east Africa are much better known, thanks to Brehm 

 and Heuglin, and as they are probably very similar, I have 

 taken the following account of the more northern bird from the 

 latter author, who states that in Nubia " it is an abundant resident 



