227 
hj Mr. Claude Grant in South Africa. 
outwards and forming a sort of porch to the entrance. The 
breeding season was apparently just over at the time of my 
visit, as only one nest still contained young. This is a tame 
and confiding little bird and easily secured. 
The soft parts are:—Irides rich hazel; bill, lower man¬ 
dible pearly white, upper pink; legs and toes fleshy. In 
the young the bill has black markings.] 
Pyrenestes granti. 
Sharpe, Bull. B. O. C. xxi. 1908, p. 67. 
P. Beira, Dec. 27, 1906 (1 type of the species). 
Masambeti, Nov. 7 (<J juv.). 
This species closely resembles P. minor (Shelley, Ibis, 1894, 
p. 20) from Nyasaland. It differs only in the greater 
extent of the red of the head, which reaches back over 
the whole crown, well behind the eyes and to the upper 
breast. It seems probable that the Beira bird is in full 
breeding plumage, while the only two examples of P. minor 
are in winter plumage; they were taken in August. 
The second specimen from Masambeti has only a small 
spot of red near the gape and on the chin. It is obviously 
a young bird. 
[This Weaver was only twice seen ; on the second occasion 
a pair were together, but what was probably the female 
slipped away in the undergrowth. It frequents densely 
wooded localities, spending all its time amongst the lower 
branches and undergrowth, and greatly resembles in all its 
actions Lagonosticta niveo guttata. The call is a loud “ zitP 
The soft parts are :—Irides dark claret-coloured ; bill 
black; legs and toes horny brown.] 
45. PyTELIA MELBA. 
Tv. Klein Letaba, Aug. (1); Turfloop (1). 
[I have only found this little Finch in the North-Eastern 
Transvaal, but as it usually inhabits thick bush I have 
probably overlooked it elsewhere. On both the occasions 
when I secured specimens a pair were together. I have not 
heard its call-note, and it appears to spend its time among 
the lower parts of the thickets searching for food. 
