160 ON TWO PLOCEINE BIRDS, 



tail-feathers, too, were slightly tipped with white, and the two central 

 ones became gradually slightly more lengthened than the others, and so 

 projected beyond them. The accompanying figure (Plate VII. fig. 1) 

 shows the appearance of this bird at that time, as sketched from life by 

 Mr. Smit. Unfortunately it died on the 29th of March in the present 

 year, being then in very poor plumage, as it was moulting ; 011 dissection 

 it proved to be a male. Thinking I had here a new species of Hypocliera 

 to deal with, I took the skin with me, on a late visit to Berlin, to show 

 to Drs. Hartlaub, Cabanis, and E/eichenow. The latter gentleman speedily 

 recognized this bird as the young male of a species he had lately described 

 from E. Africa as Vidua splendens (Orn. Centralbl. 1879, p. 114). Of 

 this only a single specimen was collected at Kibaradja, E. Africa, by Dr. 

 Fischer, and is now in the Berlin Museum. A sketch from this bird is 

 reproduced in the distant figure of the accompanying Plate ; as will be 

 seen from it, the male bird, when fully adult, possesses enormously elon- 

 P Z S 1880 g a ^ e ^ rectrices, the two of each side fitting into each other, so that at 

 p. 476. first sight there only appear to be two on each side. The excess of these 



four central tail-feathers over the other rectrices is, in this specimen, 

 nearly 6 inches : in the young male that lived in our Gardens, there are 

 only two lengthened feathers, which project only to the extent of i inch. 

 If our bird had lived, the other two tail-feathers would, no doubt, have 

 been duly developed, the birds in other respects being nearly similar. In 

 our specimen all the rectrices, including the two central ones, are slightly 

 tipped with white ; the eyes were very dark red-brown. Vidua splendens 

 is perhaps most like Vidua hypocherina of Verreaux*; from that species 

 it can be at once distinguished by the absence of the white, elongated 

 rump-feathers. Vidua (Hypochera) nitens is also entirely blue-black, but 

 has no lengthened rectrices, and, moreover, has the feet and beak flesh- 

 colour ; in V. principalis the beak is also bright red, but the feet are 

 fleshy, besides many other differences. The discovery of this bird renders, 

 in my opinion, the retention of the genus Hypochera, founded by Bona- 

 parte t in 1850, for Fringilla nitens unnecessary the males of V. splen- 

 dens and V. principalis, as well as probably V. hypocherina $ when in 

 winter plumage, as well as the females and young males at all times, 

 being indistinguishable by any characters, structural or otherwise, from 

 that section of the group including V. nitens and V. nif/errima (Hypocliera 

 nigerrima, Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 133), in which the male has, in 

 nuptial plumage, no elongated rectrices. 



* Vidua hypocherina, J. and E. Verreaux, Eev. et Mag. Zool. 1856, p. 260, t. 16. 



t 0. R xxxi. p. 434. 



J Vidua superciliosa (Vieill. Gal. Ois. pi. 61) I only know by the plate and de- 

 scriptions ; it is said to have only two elongated rectrices ; as there are said to be ten of 

 the ordinary length, this statement is therefore probably correct. 



