Weaver- Birds and Whydahs. 55 



Crimson-winged Waxbill or Aurora Finch 

 (Pytelia phoenicoptera) . 



The female is much duller than the male, with the crimson 

 colouring less prominent, especially on the margins of the mantle 

 and flights, where it is buffish in tint ; the under parts are browner, 

 much less ashy, and far more distinctly and broadly barred with 

 whitish. This sex is not described either by Dr Sharpe or Captain 

 Shelley. In this, which is one of the larger Waxbills, one can dis- 

 tinctly see that the beak of the male is broader at base than that of 

 the female ; this is probably the case in all the Waxbills, but, owing 

 to their small size, it is impossible to follow the difference with the 

 naked eye. 



HEAD OF MALE AND FEMALE CRIMSON-WINGED WAXBILL. 



Red-faced or Wiener's Waxbill (Pytelia afro). 



The female differs from the male "in having no red on the head; 

 the upper parts browner, with only a slight yellow shade on the 

 mantle; sides of head, chin, and upper throat greyish ash, the latter 

 with obscure narrow buff bars ; whitish bars on the body broader ; 

 iris light brown ; bill and legs dusky " (Shelley, Birds of Africa, 

 vol. iv. part 1, p. 269). 



Senegal Yellow-throated Waxbill (Pytelia citerior). 



" Adult female : Differs from the male in having no red or yellow 

 on the head and throat ; forehead ashy brown, like the crown ; sides 

 of head paler ash ; chin and throat white, with narrow ashy brown 

 bars most strongly marked on the lower half, where they are as 

 broad as the alternate bars of white ; the dark bars on the body are 



