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regarded as applicable only to the very large island species (cf. Richmond, 
Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. liii. 596, 1917) and Iredale and Bannerman have 
therefore applied the name of Pleseositagra, type H. spekei Heuglin, to 
the African members of the genus. This genus would contain “ Ploceus” 
spilonotus and nigriceps found within our limits, and the characters of the 
group are as follows : bill very stout and fairly long, curving only slightly 
downwards at the tip along the culmen, over four-fifths of the length of the 
tarsus, which is relatively short and stout; tail under two-thirds of the 
length of the wing ; outermost primary about one-third of the length of the 
second and approximately of the same length as the culmen, but some- 
times as much as one and a quarter times the length of the culmen ; males 
have the face black during the breeding season. In size they are larger than 
the next group. One species is distributed over the thorn country of the 
south and west, the other occupies a small territory in the Lower Zambesi 
region. The eggs are variable in colour. 
Microplectes subg. nov., type Ploceus velatus Vieillot, differs from the 
preceding in its smaller size and particularly in its shorter bill, which is 
less than three-fourths of the length of the tarsus ; the outermost primary 
varies in length, but is usually shorter than the tarsus and about one-third 
of the length of the second. There are three species or subspecies of this 
subgenus within our limits, namely Hyphantornis velatus in Great Nama- 
qualand and Damaraland, a small paler yellow form, H. velatus tahatali 
(A. Smith) (as to which see Shelley, Birds of Africa, iv. 408, this name 
taking precedence over auricapillus Swainson and shelleyi Sharpe), a small, 
bright yellow form, found in the north on the east, and arundinarius Bur- 
chell (cf. Oriolus arundinarius Burchell, Travels, i. 464, 1824), for which 
Shelley has used the name of mariquensis A. Smith, which occurs widely 
distributed over the temperate south, a larger form that is usually light 
yellowish like the typical velatus. 
Xanthoplectes subg. nov., type Hyphantornis xanthopterus 'Finsch 
and Hartlaub, characterised by its more arched and attenuated bill, which 
is about four-fifths of the length of the tarsus and about two-thirds of the 
length of the outermost primary ; the tail is between two-thirds and three- 
fourths of the length of the wing, the outermost primary about half the 
length of the second, and the toes are long in proportion to the length of 
the tarsus. In colour the species found within our limits are very bright 
yellow all over in the males in breeding plumage, except that the upper 
part of the throat is chestnut and the primaries are partly brown. Of the 
two species occurring within our limits, the type species occurs in the Lower 
and the other [castaneigula Cab., which is greenish on the back) in the 
Upper Zambesi. 
Oriolinus Rchb., type Ploceus subaureus A. Smith, is one of several 
groups in which the male in breeding dress has no black on the head or 
throat, and the female, immature and male in non-breeding dress, more or 
less dull greenish. This subgenus has the biU stout and evenly arching on 
the culmen, over four-fifths of the length of the tarsus, two-thirds to three- 
fourths of the length of the outermost primary; the tail is less than three- 
fourths of the length of the wing and the outermost primary is two-fifths 
to half the length of the second ; males in breeding dress are dull yellowish 
all over, the bill dark brown, and the eggs vary in colour. The typical 
