Annals of the Transvaal Museum 
271 
species occurs on the south-east coastal tract, its place being taken 
apparently by a smaller and brighter yellowish species in the north-east. 
The subgenus Xanthophilus, type H. hojeri Finsch and Hartlaub, is allied 
to the present one ; but differs in having a weaker bill, less than four-fifths 
of the length of the tarsus, and the males very bright yellow, the head 
becoming chestnut yellow. In the event of these two names being con- 
sidered synonymous, Xanthophilus takes precedence. Another larger sub- 
group is found in “ Ploceus” xanthops, which differs in being larger and 
having the tail three-fourths of the length of the wing. 
Euploceus subg. nov., type Oriolus capensis L., resembles the pre- 
ceding in colour characters, but differs very markedly in its very long and 
pointed bill, which arches only very slightly on the culmen, longer than 
the outermost primary and often as long as the tarsus ; the tail is normally 
less than two-thirds of the length of the wing, and the outermost primary 
less than a third of the length of the second primary. Two subspecies have 
so far been recognised, the typical one in the southern region and another 
over the rest of the temperate part of South Africa. “ Ploceus” princeps 
of Princes Island would seem to belong to the same subgenus, though I 
have not had a specimen for comparison. Holub recorded Hyphantornis 
olivacea ” from the Upper Zambesi and it seems not unlikely that it is found 
in Bechuanaland, as it is essentially a dry district species. 
Finally, we have in the north-west a very distinctly coloured species, 
in which chestnut predominates in both sexes, and in this respect differs 
from all the yellow weavers of the South African region. This is “ Ploceus 
trothae’' Reichenow {Orn. Monatsh. 1907, p. 147), which is said to be allied 
to “ Ploceus ” ruhiginosus Rupp, and would therefore come under Melano- 
pteryx Rchw., type Ploceus nigerrimus Vieillot, according to Reichenow's 
latest arrangement, or under Cinnamopteryx Rchw., type Ploceus castaneo- 
fuscus Lesson, according to an arrangement he followed in 1886. Shelley 
{Birds of Africa, vol. iv.) admits both Melanopteryx and Cinnamopteryx 
as genera on colour grounds, and places them near Malimhus, which 
Reichenow has kept apart as a genus quite distinct from Ploceus X I 
have only seen one specimen of “Ploceus” trothae from Ovamboland and 
cannot speak therefore as to the value of the above groups, but note that 
it comes very near to Pleseositagra in structure, colour being the most 
marked difference. In the case of Melanopteryx nigerrimus the nest is 
described as having a protruding entrance and the eggs of all the species 
described are said to be uniform bluish green, so that it seems advisable 
to retain this generic name at least ; but a reorganisation of all the groups 
is much needed to establish some definite arrangement. 
Oberholser {Smiths. Misc. coll. Quart, xlviii. No. i, p. 64, 1905) has 
replaced the name of Sharpia Bocage, which is preoccupied, by Notiospiza. 
Textor Temminck = Buhalornis A. Smith (cf. Iredale and Bannerman, Bull. 
Brit. Orn. Club, xli. 129). 
Sturnidae 
Sharpe’s arrangement of the Starlings should be adopted for the 
greater part, the exceptions being the following. I should separate the 
Black-bellied Glossy Starling {Phoenicopterus melanogaster Swainson = L. 
corusca Nordmann, cf. Neumann, Orn. Monatsher. 1913, p. 8) under the 
