244 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



that the definite sohition published in 1910 has been overlooked and 

 hence may well be quoted here. Stejneger,''*' in a footnote in Jouy's 

 paper on the paradise flycatchers of Japan and Korea, writes : 



The generic term Tcrpsiplwne (Gloger, 1827) is here used in preference to 

 Tchitrea (Lesson, 1831) for the following reason. Terpsiphone, as already 

 stated by Oberholser (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 22, 1900, p. 245), is only a 

 substitute for "Muscipeta Cuv.," and the type of the latter is of necessity also 

 the type of the former. Cuvier instituted the genus Muscipeta in 1817 (Regne 

 Animal, vol. 1, p. 344) for a number of "moucheroles", the fii-st species enu- 

 merated being Todus regms Gmelin. This fact probably accounts for Ober- 

 holser's statement that this species is the type of Muscipeta. The first species 

 rule not having been incorporated in the Rules of Nomenclature of the Inter- 

 national Zoological Congress, the type has to be ascertained according to article 

 30 of this code. Dr. C. W. Richmond has kindly called my attention to the 

 fact that Vigors, as early as 1830 (Mem. Raffles, p. 657), consequently even 

 before Lesson's Tchitrea appeared, designated Muscicapa paradisi Linnaeus as 

 tlie type of Muacipeta. This species then becomes also the type of Terpsiphone 

 (1827) which takes the place of Muscipeta Cuvier, because the latter is pre- 

 occupied by Muscipeta Koch, 1816. 



Terpsiphone viridis is a bird of striking plumage variations and 

 has, as a consequence, been much studied. The latest review is that 

 by Stresemann,^" who recognizes four forms — viridis^ plumheiceps, 

 perspicillata^ and suahelica. In a later publication ^^ he states that 

 plumbeweps is a distinct species, a conclusion with which all recent 

 investigators agree. There are left, then, three races of T. viridis. To 

 these three I find it possible (and natural) to add at least two and 

 probably three more. The races and their ranges are as follows : 



1. T. V. mndis: The Upper Guinean region from Senegal east 

 through the Sudan to the Bahr el Ghazal and the West Nile district 

 of Uganda and the White Nile. 



2. T. V. speciosa: Lower Guinea from Cameroon and Gaboon and 

 Loango east through the Belgian Congo to central Uganda, where 

 it intergrades with malhelica and viridis. Very similar to viridis 

 (perhaps only doubtfully separable) but generally darker (where 

 not white) and with the sheen extending caudally to the upper 

 abdomen, whereas in viridi'i it is confined to the chin, throat, and 

 upper breast; the least distinct of all the forms. Both this and the 

 typical race have white-backed, white-tailed adult males, but long- 

 tailed brown birds occur as well. It appears that it usually takes 

 three years to acquire the white stage. I follow Sclater ^"^ in using 

 Cassin's name for this race. I am not convinced, however, that 

 melampyra Verreaux is a different bird, as Sclater considers it. 



3. T. V. ferreti: Eritrea, Bogosland, Ethiopia, and Kenya Colony 

 south to the Tana River, south of which it intergrades with suahelica. 



" Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 37. p. 652, 1910. 



«^Journ. fur Orn., 1924, pp. 89-96. 



«8 Orn. Monatsb., vol. 34, p. 87, 1926. 



•» Systema avium .iEthiopicarum. pt. 2, p. 433, 1930. 



