FEINGILLID^E FRINGILLABIA 189 



Even on the barren sandy coast of Little Namaqua Land it is to be 

 found wherever there is the slightest outcrop of rock. The " Streep- 

 Kopje" is an extremely tame little bird and allows a very close 

 approach as it sits, piping its simple song of "zizi-zizi-zi " and 

 opening and shutting its wings, on the top of a rock. It feeds on 

 insects, small beetles, grasshoppers and spiders, as well as on the 

 seeds of various grasses and weeds. The nest, rather deeply cup- 

 shaped, is flimsily constructed of dry grass and rootlets, scantily 

 lined with hair, and is usually placed in a low bush close to the 

 ground or by the side of a rock. The three or four eggs, laid in 

 September or October in the Colony, are pale greenish-white, 

 thickly spotted and blotched with reddish-brown and yellow, 

 frequently in a cap over the larger end. They average O80 x O62. 



104. Fringillaria tahapisi. Bock Bunting. 



Emberiza tahapisi, Smith, Rep. Exp. Centr. Afr. App. p. 48 (1836). 



Fringillaria tahapisi, Gray, Gen. B. ii, p. 378 (1844) ; Layard, B. 8. 

 Afr. p. 207 (1867) ; Sharpe, ed. Layards B. S. Afr. pp. 490, 851 

 (1884) ; id. Cat. B. M. xii, p. 558 (1888) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 18 

 (1896). 



Description. Adult male in summer. Above, reddish-brown 

 mottled with black ; lesser wing-coverts like the back ; middle and 

 greater coverts black edged with reddish-buff ; primary coverts and 

 quills dusky-brown edged with rufous ; tail-feathers dusky-brown 

 edged with pale reddish-brown ; crown black with a white streak 

 down the centre ; eyebrow white ; below this a black followed by a 

 white streak ; cheeks black ; malar streak white ; throat black ; 

 rest of under surface pale reddish-brown ; axillaries and under 

 wing-coverts reddish-brown ; under surface of quills dusky, their 

 inner margins reddish-brown. 



Iris brown ; upper mandible brown, the lower paler ; feet 

 brown. 



Length 5-25 ; wing 3-05 ; tail 2-35 ; tarsus 0*75 ; culmen 0-35. 



Adult male in winter. The plumage is less bright and the face- 

 stripes less distinct ; the black feathers of the throat are edged with 

 white. 



Adult female. The crown is like the back; the head and face 

 markings are less distinct than in the male; the feathers of the 

 throat have black bases and grey tips. 



