Birds from Southern Abyssinia. 565 



typical examples of P . flommiceps in having tlie under tail- 

 coverts white, often with black middles, a difference which 

 lias been lost sight of by recent writers. 



The name Lo.via {Euplectes) petiti Prev. & des Murs 

 [c/. Voy. en Abyss, p. 112 (1845-50)], generally regarded 

 as a synonym of P. flmnmiceps, cannot be applied to the 

 present form, for the description is obviously founded partly 

 on P. flammiceps and partly on P. franciscana, as is shown 

 by the words " Testomac et les convert ures inferieures de la 

 queue rouge de feu/' which can only apply to the latter 

 species. On the other hand, the figure of '' Ignicolor de 

 Petit '^ (Atlas, pi. x. fig. 1) appears to have the under tail- 

 coverts white as in all the specimens procured by Zaphiro, 

 and the bird figured is a fairly accurate representative of 

 them, except that the scarlet lower back and riimp are 

 not indicated. The British Museum does not possess any 

 examples of P . flammiceps from Abyssinia. Prof. Neumann 

 collected specimens at xMadali and Abai', on the upper Blue 

 Nile, which he referred to P. f. petiti, but for the reasons given 

 above, des Murs' name cannot be used, and we have there- 

 fore employed the next oldest name, which appears to be 

 Ploceus craspedopterus Bonap. [Consp. Av. i. p. 44G (1850)]. 

 Another name given by Heuglin {of. J. f. O. 1864, p. 247) 

 is Eiiplectes jryrrliozona, in which the white under tail- 

 coverts are specially mentioned. He writes : " Von E. petiti 

 scheiiit sich mein Yogel noch durch die weissen Unter- 

 schwanzdeckfedern zu untersclieiden." 



Zaphiro secured a series of specimens at Didessa, Konta, 

 Kullo, Omo River, Gofa, Uba, Baku, and Gamo. INIost 

 of the birds obtained between May and September are in 

 full plumage. But few females of this species were brought 

 liorae. 



27. Pyromelana francisc.\na. 



Pyromelana franciscana franciscana (Isert) ; p. 345, and 

 P.fpusilla Hartert ; p. 346, Neumann, J. f. O. 1905. 



Pijromelana franciscana Ogilvie-Grant, Trans. Zool. Soc. 

 xix. p. 287 (1910). 



SER. X. VOL. I. 2 Q 



