304 
Captain G. E. Shelley on the 
b. Mantle striped in some stage of plumage. Hind 
claw longer, less curved, and more slender. Gene¬ 
rally with some of the inner feathers of the wing 
lanceolate. Tail-feathers often obtusely pointed. . T)iv. 2. ViduvE. 
b l . In adult males feathers of the hack never mottled 
with dark centres. 
b 2 . Tail square, or square with the exception of 
the four centre feathers. Plumage with no 
bright red nor yellow. 
b 3 . Tail entirely square. Entire plumage glossy [p. 338. 
black. Bill and legs red . 14. Hypochera, 
c 3 . Tail square, with the two or four centre fea- [p. 339. 
thers very much elongated. 15. Vidua , 
c 2 . Tail rounded or graduated, and never very 
short: the ends of the feathers never obtusely 
pointed. Plumage: tail and breast entirely [p. 343. 
black. 16. Coliuspasser , 
dr. Tail square, very short, and the feathers ob¬ 
tusely pointed. Plumage: tail brown, with 
pale margins to the feathers; adult males [p. 350. 
always with some bright red or yellow .... 17. Pyromelanci , 
c l . Back always brown, with dark centres to the 
feathers. Tail short and square, with the ends [p. 355. 
of the feathers obtusely pointed. 18. Quelea, 
1. Nigrita. 
1841. JEthiops, Strickl. P. Z. S. 1841. p. 30 Type. 
(previously employed in Mammalia). N. canicapilla. 
1842. Nigrita , Strickl. P. Z. S. 1842, p. 145 . N. canicapilla. 
1860. Percnopis, Heine, J. f. 0.1860, p. 144. N. fusconota. 
The genus Nigrita is a very abnormal form with regard to 
the bill, and has been placed by Prof. Sundevall ( f Avium 
Tentamen/ p. 20) in his family Ampelinse, but, I consider, 
should be retained in the present family. 
This genus consists of three groups : the first represented 
by the white-breasted and more slender forms N. fusconota, 
from south of the equator, and its northern representative 
N. uropygialis , 
The second group consists of two stout little birds, with 
very arched bills, much compressed at their sides, N. luteifrons 
and N. lucieni, which I believe to be distinct species, although 
Dr. Hartlaub once described N. lucieni as the immature 
