| OCR Text |
Show 1881.] BIRDS FROM EASTERN AFRICA. 589 to Inhambane, near the mouth of the Limpopo, where the type was collected. 126. AMBLYOSPIZA UNICOLOR. Pyronestes alhifrons, Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 715. Pyronestes unicolor, Fischer & Reichenow, J. f. O. 1878, p. 264 ; Fischer, torn. cit. pp. 283, 354 ; id. J. f. O. 1879, pp. 280, 303 ; Fischer & Reichenow, torn. cit. p. 353; Fischer, J. f. O. 1880, p. 193. Lamo ; Pangani; Usambara mountains. This species is confined to East Africa, where as yet it is only known of from the northern half of the Zanzibar province. It differs from the South-African P. alBifrons in its smaller size and darker colouring. The young, as in the South-African species, has the bill bright yellow, the plumage much paler and more rufous than in the adult, and the breast mottled with whitish. 127. PASSER SWAINSONI. Passer swainsoni (Riipp.), Finsch & Hartl. Vog. Ostafr. p. 450 (pt.) ; Fischer, J. f. O. 1877, p. 180 ; Fischer & Reichenow, J. f. O. 1878, p. 266; Fischer, torn. cit. p. 281 ; id. J. f. O. 1879, pp. 286, 302. Melinda. In Africa there are three closely allied species of Sparrows, which Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub {loc. cit.) unite as one. These are:- P. swainsoni, Riipp. P. gularis, Less. (The title P. simplex, Licht., was misapplied to this species by Swainson.) P. diffusus, Smith. Collectively they range over the whole of Africa south of about 15°N. lat. P. swainsoni inhabits the north-eastern region to as far south as Zanzibar; P. gularis, West Africa, from Senegal to the Gold Coast; P. diffusus, the whole of South Africa and the east coast northward to Lamo. Although P. swainsoni and P. diffusus meet in East Africa, they preserve their identity, and therefore cannot, in my opinion, be regarded as mere races of one species. 128. PASSER DIFFUSUS, Smith. Passer diffusus, Nicholson, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 358 ; Cab. J. f. O. 1878, p. 228 ; Fischer & Reichenow, J. f. O. 1880, p. 143. Lamo ; Pangani; Dar-es-Salaam. 129. CRITHAGRA CHRYSOPYGA. Crithaara Butvracea, Finsch & Hartl. Vog. Ostafr. p. 455 (part); Fischet J f. O. 1877, pp. 181, 206 ; id. J. f. 0.1879, pp. 280, 300, 303. |
