Mr. R. B. Sharpe oyi some African Birds. 237 



" Upper parts brown-grey, dashed longitudinally with a 

 dark brown ; rump greenish yellow ; eyebrows, chin, throat, 

 middle of belly, vent, and under tail-coverts white ; breast 

 and sides of belly brown-grey ; quills and tail brown. Length 

 6 inches." 



That Sir Andrew Smith is alluding to the same bird, in 

 both the above instances is clear from the fact that to both 

 descrij)tions he gives a note to the effect that, " although a 

 distinct species, it has been figured by Sir William Jardine 

 and Mr. Selby as the young of Crithagra sulphur ata^ 



Genus Spermospiza. 

 4. Spermospiza licematina. 



Loxia hcsmatina, Vieill. Ois. Cliant. pi. 67 ( ^ ad.) 



guttata, Vieill. Ois. Chant, pi. 68 ( 5 sen.). 



Crhn'son-hreastcd Grosbeak, Lath. Gen. Syn. v. p. 222, pi. 88* (1822). 

 Coccothraustes guttata et hcematina, Bonn, et Vieill. Enc. M6th. iii. p. 1007 



(182.3). 

 Frmgilla pustiilata, Voigt, ed. Cuv. Thierr. i. p. 222 (1830). 

 Spermophar/a cyanorhynchus, Swains. B. of W. Afr. i, p. 164 (1837) ; 



Jard. Contr. Orn. 1849, p. 9. 



hcematina, Jard. & Selby, 111. Orn. n. s. i. pi. 11 (1837). 



Sperinospiza hcematina. Gray, Gen. of B. ii. p. 356 (1844) ; Hartl. Abhandl. 



Naturw. llamb. ii. p. 31 (1852), et J. f. 0. 1854, p. 115, et 1855, p. 361 ; 



Cass. Proc. Phil. Acad. 1858, p. 137 ; Heine, J. f. 0. 1861, p. 142 ; 



Hartl. J. f. 0. 1861, p. 257 ; Gray, Hand-1. of B. ii. p. 49 (1870) ; 



Sharpe, Cat. Afr. B. p. 68 (1871). 

 (luUata, Hartl. J. f. O. 1854, p. 115, et 1855, p. 361 ; Cass. Proc. Phil. 



Acad. 1858, p. 137 ; Heine, J. f. O. 1861, p. 142 ; Hartl. J. f. 0. 1861, 



p. 257; Sharpe, Ibis, 1869, p. 384; Gray, Hand-1. of B. ii. p. 49 (1870). 



Both 8. hcematina and ;S'. guttata were figured by Vieillot 

 originally as different species, as indeed they would appear to 

 any one at first sight to be — the former bird having a black 

 rump, while the latter has a beautiful crimson rump and 

 a spotted breast. It was, however, afterwards discovered 

 that the latter bird was a female, and that the male was 

 jet-black on the breast and upper surface of the body. To 

 S. hcematina, however, no female has ever been discovered, 

 and Dr. Hartlaub, in his standard work on the Birds of 

 Western Africa, says, " Foem. ignota." But, on looking 

 through the large series of these birds in my collection, I was 

 able to solve the mystery ; for I am now in a position to de- 

 clare that 8. hcematina is nothing but the perfectly adult male 

 of S. guttata. The males, before they get fully adult, have 

 black rumps 5 and the crimson colour is only gradually as- 

 sumed ; for I have now before me examples in which there is 

 no trace of crimson on the rump, some where a slight lustre 



Ann. ds Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. viii. 18 



