138 TIMELIID^. 



b. With a black crescentic band from each eye 

 round the nape ; yellowish green above ; crown 

 grey ; centre of throat chestnut lepida, p. 140. 



1. Apalis thoracica. 



Le Plastron noir, Levaill. Ois. d'Afr. iii. p. 96, pi. 123 (1802) ; Sun- 



dev. Krit. Framst., Levaill. p. 38 (1857). 

 Motacilla thoracica, Shaw S)- Nodder, Nat. Misc. xxii. pi. 969 (c. 1812) ; 



Shaw, Gen. Zool. x. p. 562, pi. 56 (1817). 

 Saxicola thoracica, Licht. Verz. Bouhl. p. 32 (1823). 

 Sylvia gutturalis, Boie, teste Grai/. 



Regulus ? thoracicus, Steph. in Shaiv's Gen. Zool. xiii. p. 232 (1826). 

 Apalis thoracia. Swains. Zool. Illustr. 2ud ser. iii. pi. 119 (1832-33). 

 Dryuioica thoracica, Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 163 (1848) ; Bp. Cons}). i. 



p. 282 (1850) ; Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 93 (1867) j Gray, Ifand-l. 



B. i. p. 202, no. 2842 (1869). 

 Apalis thoracica, Grill, Zool. Anteckn. p. 31 (1859) ; Gvrney, Ibis, 



1865, p. 266 ; Sharpe, Cat. Afr. B. p. 32 (1871) ; Shellei/, Ibis, 



1875, p. 71 ; Barratt, Ibis, 1876, p. 202 ; Sharpe, ed. Layard B. 



S. Afr. p. 282 (1877). 



Adult male. General colour above dull olive-green ; lesser wing- 

 coverts like the back ; median, greater, and primary-coverts, and 

 bastard wing dusky, margined with olive green like the back ; quills 

 dusky, with olive-green edges, a little lighter than the back ; pri- 

 maries somewhat ashy on the outer web ; upper tail-coverts ashy, 

 edged with olive-green ; centre tail-feathers ashy, dusky towards 

 the tips ; remainder dusky on the inner web, externally ashy, 

 the four outer feathers with white tips, increasing towards the 

 outermost, which is white with the inner base dusky ; crown of 

 head ashy grey ; occiput, nape, and hind neck like the back; lores 

 and feathers below the eye black, extending onto the fore part of 

 the ear-coverts ; ear-coverts ashy grey ; sides of the neck like the 

 back; cheeks and throat white, slightly tinged with yellow; fore 

 neck with a black band across ; remainder of under surface pale 

 yellow ; sides of body, flanks, thighs, and under tail-coverts washed 

 with light olive-green ; under wing-coverts white, faintly washed 

 with yellow ; axillaries like the sides of the breast, light olive 

 greenish ; quills dusky below, inner edges ashy whitish ; " bill 

 black ; tarsus and feet pale : iris pale chrome-yellow" (F. A. Barratt), 

 "pale greenish yellow" (T. Ai/res). Total length 5 inches, culmen 

 0-55, wing 2-15, tail 2-2, tarsus O'S. 



Female Total length 5 inches, culmen 0-55, wing 1-95, tail 2-05, 

 tarsus O'So. 



In breeding-plumage the general aspect of the bird is greyer 

 above, with scarcely any of the olive-green shade, while underneath 

 the colour is dull white, the yellow tinge being almost lost. 



Young birds have the head olive-green like the back, and show 

 the breast-band much narrower than in the adults. The birds from 

 Macamac have all green heads, and, being shot at different times of 

 the year, are probably constant in this respect, in which case they 

 would belong to a distinct species. 



