( 490 ) 



IT. Malimbus rubricollis centralis Rehw. 

 Malimbus rubricollis centralis Eeichenow, Orn. Monattber. 1893. p. 30 ("Nduluma"). 



This subspecies inhabits the Central African lake-district : Ndnlnma, NduB- 

 snma, Ntebbi. Dr. Ansorge has considerably extended its range, for he now 

 discovered it in Angola. The red of the head is lighter, and the bill is shorter, 

 than that of M. r. rubricollis. 1 have compared our Angolan specimens with those 

 collected by Mr. Jackson, and found them perfectly similar. It is, however, not 

 always easy to distinguish this form, especially the lighter colour of the red crown 

 is not always evident, and the size of the bill varies. 



3 (JcT, Canhoca, Angola, 20, 25, 30. xi. 03. "Iris dark brown ; feet purplish 

 black, soles greenish j bill black." (Nos. 1188, 1263, 1320.) 



1 £ ad., Golnngo Alto, Angola, 16. i. 04. (No. 55.) 



Recently we have also received three skins from Mpanga Forest, province of 

 Toro in Uganda, collected by Rnd. Grauer. 



18. Malimbus scutatus scutatus (Cass.). 



Scobius scutatus Cassin, Proc. Philad. Acad. 1849. p. 157 (Sierra Leone). 



This form ranges from Sierra Leone to the Gold Coast. 



M. rubropersonatus is a synonym, being described from a yonng bird. 



19. Malimbus scutatus scutopartitus llchw. 



Malimbus scutopartitus Rchw., Journ.f. Orn. 1894. p. 38 (Kamerun). 



The birds inhabiting the Lower Niger, Kamernn, and Gaboon have been justly 

 separated by Reichenow. The females have the red throat-patch divided in the 

 middle by a more or less interrupted line of black patches. This is always present, 

 while in the females of M. s. scutatus no such dividing line and very rarely an 

 indication of it is found. The males of the two forms are not distinguishable. The 

 differences in the extent of the black and red colour mentioned by Reichenow ( Yog. 

 Afrikaa Hi. p. 22) are not constant. Shelley, when not recognising scutopartitus as 

 separable, evidently did not grasp the fact that the line of black spots in the middle 

 of the red throat was never supposed to be present in the male. 



6 £ ad., 6 ? ad., Ogata, on the Lower Niger, October to December 1901, 

 Dr. W. J. Ansorge coll. " Iris dark brown ; bill black ; feet chocolate-brown." 

 (Nos. 219, 259, 276, 282, 288, 289, 290, 321, 360, 385, 386, 472.) 



1 £ juv., Oguta, 14. x. 01. "Iris light brown; feet chocolate-brown; bill — 

 upper horn-grey, lower orange-yellow." (No. 291.) 



The young bird has the head and throat black and the bill pale, not black. 

 4 ££, 1 ¥, Degama, Southern Nigeria, 29. i., 14. ii., 21. iv., 22. v., 17. vi. 02. 

 (Nos. 72, 123, 334, 470, 524.) Dr. W. J. Ansorge. 



2 ££, 3 ? ?, Warri, Southern Nigeria, May, October. Dr. Felix Roth coll. 

 2 ££, Ogrugu, Amambara Creek, Niger, July, August. Braham coll. 



1 ?, Victoria, Kamerun. Prenss coll. Without original label, but marked as 

 one of the types by Reichenow. 



