PLOCEINiE. 
the length of the middle toe. Toes moderate, the lateral toes nearly equal, the hind toe long and strong ; 
the claws rather short, much curved, and grooved on the sides. 
Peculiar to Western Africa. 
1. N. canicapilla Strickl. Proc. Z. S. IS-il. 30. | 2. i^.fuiconota Fras. Proc. Z. S. 1842. 145. Zool. Typ. pi. . 
Plocepasser Smifli* 
Bill large, conical, pointed, and laterally compressed ; the culmen slightly arched, advanced on the 
forehead in a point. Whigs moderately long and rounded, -with the first quill very short, the second 
and third equal and longest. Tail square at the end, or slightly emarginated. Tarsi strong, with 
distinct sliields in front, and entire behind. Toes moderate, the outer and inner toes equal ; the 
hinder one slightly shorter, but stronger, the middle one much the longest ; claws strong and curved. 
The birds of this genus are peculiar to North and South Africa, where they appear to live in flocks on the margins 
of the streams. Their food consists of seeds and small insects ; for these they generally search on the ground. 
Their nests are formed in society, sometimes twenty or thirty of them being observed on one tree. In form they 
approach those of the Weavers. " The entire of the walls of each nest," says Dr. Smith, *' was composed of stalks of 
grass, the thickest extremities of which were so placed as to protrude externally for several inches beyond the more 
compact structure destined to contain the eggs. By this management each appeared armed with numerous projecting 
spines, and bore considerable resemblance to the body of a porcupine, when its spines are partially erected." 
1. PI. mahali A. Smith, 111. S. Afr. Zool. pi. Go. — Plocepasser , 3. PI.? pileatus (Swains.) Two Cent, and a Quart, p. 347. — 
melanorhyncus Rilpp. 
2. PI. superciUosus (lUipp.) A. Smith, Riipp. Zool. Atl. pi. 15. 
Type of Leucophrys Stvaiits. (1837). 
Vidua Cuv.f 
Bill more or less lengthened, conic, laterally compressed ; with the culmen much arched, or nearly 
straight from the base to the tip, and advancing on the forehead in a point ; the lateral margins 
sinuated or straight, and the gonys lengthened and ascending ; the nostrils basal, lateral, mostly hidden 
by the frontal feathers, and rounded. Wings moderate ; with the first quill spurious ; the second nearly 
as long as the third ; the third, fourth, and fifth nearly equal and longest. Tail vaiying in length, with 
some of the coverts and tail-feathers considerably lengthened and of various forms. Tarsi slender, 
shorter than the middle toe, covered in front with conspicuously divided scales. Toes long and 
slender, the lateral ones nearly equal, the hind toe as long as the inner, and all armed with long 
claws. 
All the species are from the vast continent of Africa, and are generally found on the trees that grow in the neigh- 
bourhood of the rivers. The males undergo a change of plumage, and become like the females during the winter 
• Proposed by Dr. A. Smith {Bep. S. Afr. Exped. p. 51.) in 183G. Mr. Swainson's Agrophilus of 1837 is coequal, and probably 
Leucophrys of the latter author. 
f The late Baron (.'uvier proposed this division ^Anatomie Coiuparee) in 1790 or 1800 ; and Dr. Riippel separated some of the species, 
under the subgeneric appellation of CoUuspasser, in 1837. 
