52 
Mr. G. L. Bates— Field-Notes on the 
is impossible to be certain to which species they belong. In 
one nest were five nestlings, and in another six, which in 
both cases were old enough to shew that they were those of 
Spermestes poensis. When the tiny things opened their 
mouths they displayed bright yellow palates and tongues, 
with circular black lines running around the inside of the 
mouth. 
1488 e. Estrilda astrild occidentalis. [Zok-Osesang.] 
Sharpe, Ibis, 1908, p. 343. 
This is another bird which I have found only at the Ja, 
where there is so much country suitable for these grass¬ 
dwelling little Weavers. It is smaller than any of the 
other species found here, as its body after skinning proves, 
though measurements of the wing and tail shew no difference 
from its nearest relatives. It is in joking allusion to its 
size that the native boys name it “ Zok Osesang 39 (“zok ; ’ 
meaning “ elephant "). 
1496. Estrilda melpoda. [Osesang, Osanze, or Ejile.] 
Sharpe, Ibis, 1908, p. 344. 
This is a common little species both about Efulen and at 
the Ja, but I have never found its nest—at least a nest that I 
knew certainly to belong to it. It has been heard on two or 
three occasions singing a pretty song. 
1499. Estrilda atricapilla. FOsesang, Osanze, or 
Ejile.] 
Sharpe, Ibis, 1908, p. 343. 
This is the most abundant Estrilda in every place where I 
have collected. Two of my specimens (they were not breed¬ 
ing, for the month was March) were caught after dark by 
boys in an old Ngas’s nest {Heterhyphantes nigricollis ), where 
they had gone to roost. 
Among the numerous nests of Estrildine birds shown to 
me that were not certainly identified, one nest, and I think 
two, undoubtedly belonged to this species. A little girl at 
Efulen found one nest and saw the bird go in ; she quickly 
closed the entrance with her hand and brought me the nest 
