FRINGILLIDjE. 187 



Genus PLOCEPASSER, Smith. 



Bill large, conical, pointed, and laterally compressed ; the 

 culmen slightly arched, advanced on the forehead in a point ; 

 wings moderately long and rounded, with the first quill very 

 short, the second and third equal and longest ; tail square at 

 the end, or slightly emarginated ; tarsi strong, with distinct 

 shields in front, and entire behind ; toes moderate, the outer 

 and inner toes equal, the hinder toe slightly shorter, but 

 stronger, the middle one much the longest ; claws strong and 

 curved. 



372. Plocepasser Mahali, Sm. ; z. s. A., PL 65 ; 



Agropkilus Mahali, Swain. ; PL Melanorhynchus, 

 Riipp. 



UPPER part of head, and stripe on each side of neck, black- 

 brown ; eyebrows white ; side of head, brown ; side of neck 

 and back, light-brown ; rump, vent, chin, and throat, pure 

 white ; breast and belly, dull- white ; wings with two white 

 stripes across the shoulders. Length, 6" 6'" ; wing, 4" ; tail, 

 2" 9'". 



Congregates in large flocks between the Orange River and the 

 tropic ; builds in companies. The nests are composed of the stalks of 

 grasses, the thickest extremities being placed so as to protrude exter- 

 nally, and offer a defence against snakes, &c. Dr. A. Smith, loc. cit. 



I have received a few specimens of this bird from Kuruman and 

 Damaraland. 



Dr. Smith's statement that the protruding sticks of the nest are 

 meant as a defence against snakes, appears to me about as well founded 

 as the idea that other members of this family construct their bottle- 

 shaped nests at the extremity of branches, so as to be out of the way 

 of monkeys and snakes. Why should these birds, beyond all others, 

 be endowed with such prescient wisdom ? Why should they depart 

 from their custom sometimes, and build their nests on reeds ? Or 

 why take these precautions in places where neither snakes nor monkeys 

 exist? 



373. Plocepasser Pileatus; Leucopkrys 



tus, Swain., An. in Menag., p. 347. 



ABOVE, light earthen-brown ; beneath white ; front, crown, 

 and sides of the chin, black ; stripe above the eye, rump, and 

 upper tail-covers, pure white ; the white stripes over the 

 eye are very broad behind, and narrow in front, and almost 

 meet at the nape ; wings with two broad cream-white bands. 

 Length, 7" ; wing, 4" 2"'. 

 "Inhabits South Africa," Swain., loc. cit., non vidi. 



