DESCRIPTIONS OF THREE NEW AFRICAN 



WEAVER-BIRDS OF THE GENERA 



ESTRILDA AND GRANATIN A 



By EDGAR A. MEARNS 



ASSOCIATE IN ZOOLOGY, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



This paper is the nineteenth dealing with the results of the Smith- 

 sonian African Expedition under the direction of Col. Theodore 

 Roosevelt. It includes one new form from the collection of the 

 Childs Frick African Expedition. 



The names of special tints and shades of colors used in this 

 paper conform to Robert Ridgway's " Color Standards and Color 

 Nomenclature," issued March 10, 1913. All measurements are in 

 millimeters. 



ESTRILDA RHODOPYGA POLIA, new subspecies 

 Gato Waxbill 



Type-specimen. — Adult male, Cat. No. 247436, U. S. National 

 Museum; collected on the Gato River, altitude 4,000 feet, southern 

 Abyssinia, May 2, 1912, by Edgar A. Mearns. (Original number, 

 21687.) 



Characters. — Similar to Estrilda rhodopyga rhodopyga from north- 

 east Africa, but more heavily cross-barred above and below, whiter 

 on the throat, and paler on the chest and abdomen. From Estrilda 

 rhodopyga hypochra 'Mearns (described below) it differs in being 

 much more heavily cross-barred above and below, and grayer on the 

 upper surface. The bill of typical E. r. polia differs from other sub- 

 species in having a broad red band on the sides. 



Measurements of type (adult male) . — Length (of skin) , 100 ; wing, 

 46; tail, 45; culmen (chord), 10; tarsus, 12.5. 



Geographical range. — Lowlands of southern Abyssinia and adja- 

 cent region of Somaliland (Dr. A. Donaldson Smith), south to Mount 

 Lololokui (Edmund Heller), the northern Guaso Nyiro River, and 

 Mombasa, British East Africa (Dr. Glover M. Allen). 



Remarks. — Specimens from the coast and adjacent portion of Brit- 

 ish East Africa are slightly darker than those from Somaliland and 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 61, No. 9 



