38 
The Birds of Ga7nbia. 
Lagonosticta rnfopicla. vSPOTTED FIREFINCH. 
Range. Seiiegaiiil)ia to Niger, Equatorial Africa and Upper Nile. (Sh.) 
Distinctly rare in Gainbia; very local ; where the)' occur, are met with 
in company with Common Firefinches. Have seen more at a place called 
Nianimarn, 150 miles up the river, than elsewhere. Nearer the sea they do 
not seem to occur. 
In size they resemble the Common Firefinch, but instead of being 
brick-red, the cocks are a pinky red, with very distinct white spots or bars on 
the sides of the breast. The eye-ring is pale blue-grey, and not yellow asiu 
L. senegala. 
Tlie j'oung are very like the young Common Firefinches, but the 
earliest signs of colour are a pinkish tinge and the Ijill too is pinker. 
Lagonosticta vinacea. VINACEOUS FIREFINCH. 
Range. Senegambia. [Sh.) 
Not uncommon in Gambia but very local. Are much more birds of 
the bush than the other Firefinches; go about in small parties and are 
especially fond of bamboo thickets ; I cannot remember ever meeting with 
them far from such places. 
I have had a good many of these two species in captivity, and found 
both of them distinctly hardier than the common species. 
The male is a puce-coloured bird with a black face, the hen the same 
colour but rather paler, without any black on the face. We had an excellent 
plate of the species in Vol. III. of Bird Notes. 
Pytelia phoenicoplera. AURORA FINCH. 
Range. W. and N.E. Africa. {Sh.) 
Rather uncommon in Gambia, and very localh- distributed. Even 
where they occur are not often met with, as they are most retiring birds, 
and prefer thicker bush and higher trees (where they also nest) than the 
Waxbills. I once got ten, all caught in one place, where I was stationed six 
months without ever seeing a single specimen wild. 
Pytelia citerior. MELBA WAXBILL. 
Range. N.E. Africa to Senegambia. {Sh.) 
I have never met the species in the Gambia. 
Spentiospiza hcsmatina. 
Range. West Afi ica, »Senegambia to .Abeoknta. {Sh.) 
The cock is a black bird with a red breast about the size of Crimson- 
crowned Bishop. 
Sporopipes Jrontalis. BEARDED SCALY-FRONTED FINCH. 
Range. Senegambia to N.E. Africa. {Sh.) 
A small pale brown bird with a patch of black and white speckles on 
the forehead. There were some specimens from S. Africa in the Zoo this 
year. (Vide plate Bird Notes, vol. VII., p. 265). 
I liave never yet met with them in Gambia. 
