the length of the second. Tail rather long, and its apex slightly rounded,
legs and toes robust, the tarsi in front distinctly scutellated, behind entire ;
claws strong and slightly curved.
DIMENSIONS.
Inches. Lines.
Length from the point of the hill to
the tip of the tail................ 6 10
of the bill from the angle of
the mouth........................... 0 8
of the wings when folded... 3 5
of the tail................................. 2 9
Length of the tarsus.... ........................ 0 10
of the outer toe........................ 0 5f
of the middle toe.................... 0 Sj
of the inner toe......................... 0 5^
of the hinder toe .................. 0 5^
The colours of the female are not quite so. bright as those of the male.
The head-quarters of this species and of Plocens ocularius must be looked for to the northward
of the Tropic of Capricorn; at least the paucity of specimens to the southward of it would
warrant such an inference. During a residence of fourteen years in South Africa, I only
met with four specimens of the last named species and ten of the present, and even a part of
these were contained in the numerous collection, which during that period were submitted to
my inspection. The specimens of P . subaureus, which I myself procured, were all killed in
the neighbourhood of Algoa Bay, and those which were contained in the collections alluded to
were either got in the same locality or more to the eastward.
A closely allied bird is found on the western coast of North Africa, and will require to be
considered as of the same species if the opinion of Temminck* be founded upon facts. That
learned ornithologist, when speaking of the differences in size between what he calls L ’A ig le
oceanique (F alco leucogaster, Lath) and L e B la g r e , Levaillant, observes that he has noticed
as great differences in that respect in other species. “ The birds of prey of Senegal and the
whole coast of Guinea/’ he remarks, “ are one-third smaller than the same species which
inhabit the middle of Africa, while all the birds of the genera L a n iu s , Merops, P remerops, and
the greater number of the Gallinacece of the eastern coasts of Africa are larger and their
plumage of purer colours and more brilliant than the same species in the more sterile parts of
the middle of the continent.”
As our experience does not incline us to such opinions, we shall continue to regard the Sierra
Leone bird {Ploc eus aureoflavus, nobis) f as distinct, until more detailed evidence be
adduced to show that climate and food are productive of such modifications.
* Planches colores, Plate 49. Text.
f Ploceus aureo-flavus. Head, throat, and breast saffron-yellow; belly, vent, and under tail coverts
light chrome-yellow ; back of neck, interscapulars, back, shoulders, tertiary quill feathers, and tail, intermediate
between sulphur and honey-yellow. Primary and secondary quill feathers yellowish brown,
and margined externally with pure yellow. Bill horn-coloured. Legs and claws flesh-coloured. Length
from point of bill to tip of tail 5^ inches; wings when folded, 3 in. 2 lin .; tail, 2 in. Inhabits Western
Africa.
A ves.— P late XXX.—Fig. 2. (M ale.) ,
P. fronte, vertice, pectoreque auro-flavis; dorso, uropygio, humerisque flavo-virentibus; abdomine cau-
dseque tectricibus inferioribus subvitellinis; gula, gutture, fasci&que per oculos nigris ; remigibus
griseo-brunneis externe flavo-marginatis; rectricibus flavo-brunneis, flavo-marginatis. Rostro nigro;
oculis flavo-rubris ; pedibus livido-purpureis.
Longitudo corporis cum capite 3 une. 11 lin.; caudse 3 unc. 1 lin.
Ploceus ocularius, Smith.—Proceedings of the South African Institution, Nov. 1828.
C olour.—Front, crown, cheeks, sides of neck and breast golden yellow ;
nape, back, rump, upper tail coverts and lesser wing coverts greenish yellow
verging towards oil-green ; belly and under tail coverts gamboge-yellow, the
latter inclining to king’s-yellow. Chin, throat, and a transverse stripe on each
side of the head enclosing the eye, deep black. Bill black ; eyes reddish
yellow : legs and toes livid purple ; claws horn-coloured.
F orm, &c.|||Figure rather slender. Bill long, considerably curved, and not
so robust as in the more typical species; nostrils circular and near to the
capistrum. Wings rounded, and when folded extend but little beyond the
base of the ta il; the third and fourth quill feathers rather the longest, the
second and fifth slightly shorter, the first about one-third of the length of the
second. Tail rather long and slightly rounded. Tarsus strong ; the hinder
toe very robust, and its claw strong and much curved ; anterior toes rather
slender and the claws delicate ; the outer toe slightly longer than the inner
one.
DIMENSIONS.
from the point of the bill to
Inches. Lines.
Length of the tail ..................
Inches.
......... 3 1
the tip of the tail ...........
of the bill to the angle of the
7 0 of the tarsus .............
of the middle toe........
........ 1
......... 0
1
mouth............................ . 0 9 i of the outer toe .......... ......... 0 4
of the wings when folded ... 3 8 of the hinder toe......... ......... 0 4
The principal difference between the male and female consists in the latter
having the chin and throat of the same colour as the upper surface of the