194 
BLACK-BELLIED BENGALY. 
Estrelda mdcmogaster, Swains. 
Delicate cinereous ; belly and tail, black ; lower part of the 
back, rump and upper tail-covers, dark crimson ; lower tail- 
covers black. 
This delicate and very rare species seems to be en- 
tirely undescribed ; the only specimen, indeed, we 
have even seen, is one in our museum supposed to 
have come from this part of Africa ; a supposition 
highly probable, from its near resemblance to the 
species next described. 
The Black -bellied Bengaly is one of the very least 
of its species, measuring only two inches and a 
quarter from the base of the tail to the tip of the 
bill. The tail, however, which is long, makes the 
bird appear larger, so that its total length is rather 
more than four inches. The general colour of the 
whole plumage is nearly of a uniform cinereous, 
without any mixture of brown, and scarcely paler on 
the throat and breast ; on the under part of the 
body, however, this colour gradually changes into 
deep black, which spreads over the belly, vent, 
under tail-covers, and to the tail itself; when this 
black begins on the under plumage, deep red com- 
mences on the upper, which extends to the su- 
