MIRAFRA AFRICANA. 
pale orange-coloured brown, more or less shaded with dark liver-brown, and 
each distinctly edged with white, the inner margin of which is bounded by 
a dark liver-brown line. Tail intermediate between umber and broccoli- 
brown, the outer vanes of the two lateral feathers of each side cream-yellow. 
Eyebrows sienna-yellow ; eyes clear brown. Bill clear yellowish brown, 
shaded with chesnut-brown. Legs, toes, and claws intermediate between 
buff orange and flesh-red. 
Form, &c.— Figure rather full. Head small; bill lengthened, subconical, 
moderately strong, and the culmen towards tip slightly curved ; nostrils 
uncovered. Wings rounded, and when folded, reach nearly to the middle 
of the tail, the fifth quill feather rather the longest, the third and fourth 
equal and scarcely shorter than the fifth, the second about three lines shorter 
than the third, and the first not exceeding an inch in length ; the tertiary 
and secondary quill feathers nearly of equal length, and about half an inch 
shorter than the primaries. Tail slightly rounded. Legs and toes stout, the 
former anteriorly and posteriorly scutellated ; claws of anterior toes, short, 
rather strong, and slightly curved, claw of hinder toe long, slender, pointed,' 
and slightly curved. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Inches. Lines. 
Length from the point of the bill to 
the tip of the tail 7 6 
of the bill 0 10 
of the wings when folded ... 3 9 
of the tail 2 4 
The colours in both sexes are the 
brightest. 
Inches. Lines . 
Length of the tarsi ] .3 
of the outer toe 0 3! 
of the middle toe 0 6 
of the inner toe 0 3^ 
of the hinder toe 0 3J 
of the claw of hinder toe ... 0 6 
same, — only those of the male are 
„ This bird, as far as my experience goes, is principally confined to the Eastern districts of the 
Cape Colony, and specimens are most readily procured upon the grassy plains which exist near 
Algoa Bay, or between it and Graham’s Town. Over these flats it is thinly distributed, and 
rarely are more than two individuals found together. It feeds upon seeds and small insects. 
