( 333 ) 

 NASUA VITTATA Tsch. 



r.v THE HON. WALTER ROTHSOlllLD, Pn.D. 

 (Plate 1.) 



THE specimen from wliii^h the accompanying' plate was drawn dnrintf life, lived 

 for several years in the Zoological (Jardens in London. My reasons for 

 ficjnring it were twofold : firstly, to show the very prolonged nose as compared with 

 ordinary N. riifn, and secondly, to draw attention to the peculiar periodic'ai change 

 of colonr. Every year tlie long pelage was shed, and for some months tlie animal 

 was covered with a rather shorter new pelage of a black colonr. This was again 

 shed, and the long brownish isabelline pelage reappeared. Thus this animal, in 

 spite of its tropical habitat (British Guiana), sheds its coat twice a year and appears 

 to have thicker hair at one time than at another. The black colonr of the one phase 

 may, however, have made the liair appear less long, for, owing to its vicionsness, 

 it was impossible to handle the animal while alive. 



One of the Schombnrgks mentioned, in addition to the brownish isabelline type 

 specimen now in the Berlin Museum, a black individual, but ('onsidered it was 

 ^V. socialis. That this was not so was already pointed out by Tschndi. 



ON SOME RECENTLY DISCOVERED AFRICAN BIRDS. 



By ERNST HARTERT, Ph.D. 

 (Plates XIV. k XV.) 



1. Xenocopsychus ansorgei Hart. 

 (PI. XIV. fig. 1.) 



THIS remarkable bird was described in the Ball. B. 0. Club, xix. p. 81, May 

 1907. It is of an unusual interest because it cannot be united with any known 

 genus of African birds. It appears to be related to the genus Copsi/chiis, which 

 inhabits India, the Greater Sunda Islands and Philippines, and one sjiecies of which 

 is found on the Seychelles. Xcnocopxi/cluis is, in fact, so closely allied to Copsyclms 

 that Professor Reiehenow, to whom I sent one of our two specimens for inspection, 

 wrote to me that in his opinion my new bird might be included in <^n/js>/f//its. 

 However, I think it is better to separate it, because the bill of the new bird is 

 slightly more depressed, the culmen less arched, the operculum covering the 

 nostrils bare, and the frontal feathers are directed backwards, while in i'opsi/ckua 

 the nasal operculum is covered with stiff, short feathers which are directed forwards. 

 Moreover, the tail is differently shaped : the lateral pair of rectrices is about 23 mm. 

 shorter than the following pairs, while the middle pair is, in tlie male, considerably 

 {i.e. ~ mm.) shorter than the rest (except the lateral pair) ; in the female this 

 latter jiecnliarity is only indicated. In Indian ('np.'ii/r////.s the tail is graduated or 

 strongly rounded. 



The sexes are alike, as in Copsi/rlnm .vyrlwllnndii. wliile in all Indian species 

 the female differs considerably from the male. 



