]2 Hon. N. C. Rothschild and Mr. A. F. R,. WoUaston 
wool^ and was shaped somewhat like a very untidy nest of a 
Greenfinch. Unfortunately^ when two eggs had been laid, 
the nest was ruthlessly destroyed by a pair of Passer rufi- 
dorsalis, who paid the penalty of their crime with their 
lives. 
22. Lagonosticta brunneiceps Sharpe. 
66 ^ , 146 S, 259 S, 350 $,260 ? , 263 ?, 403 $ . 
The adult males are exceedingly bright, very much more 
so than specimens from Tropical Africa in the Tring 
Museum. 
These beautiful little birds were never observed far from the 
huts on the river-bank, where they were often se'en picking 
up crumbs of dhurra-meal almost out of the hands of the 
natives. 
23. Hyphantornis vitellinus Gray. 
30 S, 143 S, 268 (^,132 ? , 269 ?, 270 ? , 301 ?. 
The adult male is a very conspicuous bird, and his long- 
drawn wheezy call-note might be heard about every fifty yards 
in the thick scrub. Several of their hanging bottle-shaped 
nests were found, sometimes three or four depending from tlie 
same branch ; one pair of birds was observed building at 
intervals for three or four weeks, but no eggs were laid 
during our stay at Shendi. 
24. Spreo pulcher (P. L. S. Miill.). 
115 ? , 324 ? , 440 puilus. 
The last specimen has the upper side slaty black with a 
very faint greenish gloss ; the abdomen is dull rufous in 
colour, the rufous extending upwards towards the throat. 
These Starling-like birds w^ere occasionally seen in small 
parties of four or five, always several miles out in the desert. 
They were very wary and difficult to approach. 
According to von Heuglin, this species breeds in September 
and October ; but our young bird, caught on March 23rd, 
cannot have been out of the nest for more than a few days. 
We were very much puzzled by the large number of empty 
nests in the trees in the desert ; in some places every little 
tree contained one or more nests compactly built of twigs 
