410 Mr. H. E. Strickland on some new 



mity of tlie second phalanx of the middle toe, and the end of the 

 inner toe is parallel with the middle of the third phalanx, while 

 in most other Raptorial birds the outer toe is longer than the 

 inner. 



SYLVIIDiE, SAXICOLIN^. 



Pratincola pastor, Strickl. 



Le Patre, Levaill. Ois. Af. pi. 180. 

 P. ptilosi omnino Pratincolce rubicolcs (Linn.), nisi uropygio, abdo- 



mine, caudseque tectricibus omnibus (etiam in foemina) pure albis, 



pectore intense rufo. 

 Hab. In Africa meridionali. 



Several authors have mentioned the common stonechat of 

 Europe {Pratincola ruhicola) as occurring in South Africa, but I 

 believe that all the specimens which have been so considered will 

 be found to belong to the present nearly allied species. It was 

 first indicated as a distinct species by Levaillant, but as later 

 writers have persisted in uniting it with P. ruhicola, it has never 

 yet received a systematic name. The plumage is identical with 

 that of P. ruhicola, except that the rufous of the breast is more 

 intense, and the belly and upper and lower tail-covers in both 

 sexes are uniform pure white. The dimensions are moreover 

 rather larger than in P. ruhicola. 



Total length b^ inches ; beak to gape 7^ lines, to front 5 lines ; 

 wing 2| inches ; medial rectrices 2 inches 4 lines, external 2 inches 

 2 lines; tarsus 11 lines. 



turdidtE, pitting. 



Pitta cucullata, Hartlaub. [Plate XL] 



P. summo capita ferrugineo, loris, mento, gutture, genis, auriculari- 

 bus, nuchaque nigerrimis, dorso, scapularibus, remigibus tertiali- 

 bus, tectricibusque dorso proximis obscure viridibus, tectricibus 

 majoribus externis obscure viridi-cseruleis, minoribus et urojoygio 

 vivide lazulinis, remigibus primariis nigris, P et 2^ macula alba 

 mediana in latere interiore, quatuor sequentibus utrinque similiter 

 notatis ; remigibus secundariis nigris, apicem versus in latere ex- 

 teriore viridi-cseruleis ; caudse tectricibus superioribus nigris, plu- 

 mis uropygii lazulinis obtectis, rectricibus nigris, apicibus obscure 

 cseruleis. Pectus, venter et hypochondria pallide viridia, nitore 

 cserulescente ; abdomen, crissum, tectricesque caudse inferiores 

 coccinea, rostrum /uscum, pedes pallidi. 



I had described and figured the above bird under the im- 

 pression that it was a new species, when I found that it was 

 already described by M. Hartlaub of Bremen in the ^ Revue 

 Zoologique,^ 1843, p. 65. As however the species is rare in 

 collections, the present delineation will make it better known. 

 It inhabits Malacca. 



