distinct scuta in front, entire behind; the outer and inner toes of equal
length, the hinder one slightly shorter, but stronger, the middle one much the
longest. Claws of the front toes slightly curved and pointed ; those of the
hind ones with a greater curvature, and considerably stouter.
DIMENSIONS.
Length from the point of the bill to the
Inch. Lines.
Length of the tarsus ................ .......... 0
Lines.
10 J
tip of the ta il........................ 6 1 of the middle toe ....... .......... 0 7
of the bill from the gape ....... 0 §a of the-outer toe ....... . .......... 0 H
of the wings when folded....... 4 of the inner toe ........... .......... 0
of the tail .................... 2 1 of the hinder toe........... .......... 0 « 1
The Female in respect of colours is very similar to the male.
On our first seeing this bird upon a tree on one of the tributary streams of the great
northern branch of the Orange River, we found it a matter of difficulty even to surmise what
would be its position in our systems of ornithology. Its figure, viewed either when it was perched
on the tree, or resting upon the ground, had much resemblance to that of a P lo c e u s ; while its
colour, habits, &c., bespoke its close alliance to the Sparrows; and the discovery of a tree,
studded with their nests, tended to support the idea of such a double relationship. The nests, as
far as figure and texture were concerned, had many of the characters of those of P lo c eu s ; while
from the manner in which they were armed they resembled those of some of the P y r g ita of
Southern Africa. The entire of the walls of each nest was composed of stalks of grass, the
thickest extremities of which were so placed as to protrude externally for several inches
beyond the more compact structure destined to contain the eggs. By this management each
nest appeared armed with numerous projecting spines, and bore considerable resemblance to
the body of a Porcupine, when its spines are partially erected. Several of the P y r g ita arm
their nests after the same fashion, only they select for the purpose the delicate twigs of shrubs
or brushwood, instead of stalks of grass: the object of both being the same, to offer an obstacle
to the advance of snakes towards the reservoir of their eggs and young ones. A solitary
specimen of Plocepasser is seldom seen; it is a bird disposed to congregate, and we met with
small, and even occasionally with large flocks, as far north as the Tropic of Capricorn. The
disposition for society is also evinced during the breeding season, when oftentimes twenty or
thirty nests are to be seen upon one tree, and disposed as represented in the back ground of
the plate. It feeds upon seeds and small insects, and in search of these it passes much of its
time upon the ground. When disturbed while so employed, the whole of the individuals of
the flock move away in a body, and resort to some tree in the neighbourhood, upon which they
remain until they are satisfied that they may with safety return to their labours. This and
P lo c eu s superciliosus of Ruppell are the only species of the groupe yet known, and as Plocepasser
was employed by me to designate the groupe more than twelve months before the term
A g ro p h ilu s was proposed by Swainson, the species must stand as
Plocepasser Mahali, Sm ith .
Plocepasser Superciliosus—Agrophilus superciliosus, Swainson.