314 
Captain G. E. Shelley on the 
black; that this is not a sexual difference is fully proved by 
Mr. J. Biittikofer, who met with a colony all breeding in the 
brown plumage in Liberia in October (Notes from the Leyden 
Mus. 1885, p. 199). That the colouring is not mere seasonal 
is shown by a specimen in the British Museum; labelled “ <$, 
November; Shonga on Niger (Forbes),” which is a large 
specimen in a black plumage ; and I have never seen a bird 
in the moult between the two. 
With regard to size, a typical large brown specimen in my 
own collection measures—wing 2*95 inches; while the type 
of the small race, P. coccineus, has the wing 2*2 inches. 
Two of my own specimens from the Gold Coast; agreeing well 
with the figure of P. coccineus, have their wing 2*45 and 
2’70 inches; so I cannot admit size to be of any specific 
value; and the difference in the strength of the bill; which is 
very variable; is probably due to age. In the British Museum 
there is a black specimen of the small form from the Gold 
Coast. 
23. Pyrenestes ostrinus. 
Loxia ostrinus, Vieill. Ois. Chant. 1805; p. 79; pi. 48. 
Coccothraustes ostrinus, Vieill. N. D. xiii. 1817; p. 548. 
Pyrenestes sanguineus, Swains. B. W. Afr. i. 1837, p. 156; 
pi. 9. 
Pyrenestes coccineus, Cass. Pr. Ac. Philad. 1848; p. 67, 
Sierra Leone; Monrovia ; id. Journ. Ac. Philad. 1849; pi. 31. 
fig. 2. 
Pyrenestes ostrinus, Bp. Consp. 1850 ; p. 450. 
Pyrenestes personatus, Du Bus; Bull. Ac. Brux. xxii. 
part 1; 1855; p. 151, Senegal. 
Hab. W. Afr.; from the Gaboon to Senegambia. 
7. Spermospiza. 
1837. Spermophaga, Swains. B. W. Afr. i. p. 164 Type. 
(nec Schonh. 1833; Ent.) . . . . S. hcematina. 
1840. Spermospiza, Gray, List Gen. B. p. 43 . S. hcematina. 
With regard to the genus Spermospiza I agree with 
Verreaux in recognizing two species— S. hcematina, origi- 
