OP NEW OR LITTLE KNOWN BIRDS. 307 



claw -j^g. Feathers of the back with a dusky central brown 

 stripe : wing covers and quills with pale yellowish edges : bill 

 black, strong, and the culmen more curved than the gonys : 

 the black mask which is in front of the head, includes the 

 eyes, but only half of the ear feathers : legs brown : under tail 

 covers nearly white; tail rounded, coloured like the quills. 

 The first quill is nearly half as long as the second, the third 

 longest; claws large : commissure sinuated. 



82. Ploceus melanotis. 



Small. Above, olive green ; beneath, yellow : front, 

 ears, chin, and halfway down the middle of the throat 

 enveloped in a black hood. Bill slender : tail even. 



Inhabits > Paris Mus. (Jg. 56./, g) 



Total length about 41 inches; bill, gape fg ; wings Sy^ ; 

 tail, beyond, i^g ; tarsus .^3 ; hind toe and claw ^V Exceedingly 

 like the last ; but the black in front does not include the eyes ; 

 it likewise spreads over the ip/wle of the ear feathers, and de- 

 scends in a much broader stripe in front of the throat : the 

 bill is likewise differently formed, more reguhirly conic, and 

 the commissure not sinuated : claws small : first quill small, 

 spurious ; second f^ shorter than the third. An aberrant spe- 

 cies, leading to Euplectes. 



83. Ploceus flaviceps. 



Above, olive yellow, spotted with black : upper part 

 of the head, and plumage beneath, pure and bright 

 yellow : sides of the head and chin deep black, con- 

 tinuecl in a narrow stripe down the middle of the throat, 

 and beyond the breast. 



Inhabits Senegambia. 



Total length Ci inches ; bill, gape f^^ ; front nearly the 

 same; wings Si; tail, beyond, 1 ; from the base 2y1j ; tarsus 

 ■^5 ; middle toe and claw the same ; hinder ditto, -j^,. Size ra- 

 ther larger than P. lextor, but precisely of the same form and 

 structure. The black patch which covers the ears, lores, and 

 chin, suddenly contracts and forms a slender line, which is 

 continued beyond the breast. 



84. Ploceus cucullatus. 



Above, olivaceous yellow ; beneath, pure yellow : the 

 whole of the head, ears, and fore part of the throat 

 enveloped in a black hood. 



