21. PYCXONOTDS. 131 



Ixus capensiti, Bp. C'onsp. i. p. 2Ct;t. 



Pycnonotus aurigaster Gray, Cat. Brit. B. 1863, p. 78 (nee V.). 



Adult. General colour above brown, a little blacker on the head, 

 sides of face, and throat ; wiug-coTerts like the back ; quills dark 

 brown, with faintl}' indicated margins of paler brown ; tail-feathers 

 dark brown, with narrow whity-brown tips ; crown of head slight!)^ 

 darker brown than the back, as also the sides of face and throat, the 

 ear-coverts and region of the eye blackish ; remainder of under 

 surface of body brown, inclining to dull whitish near the vent ; 

 under -tail-coverts yellow ; under wiug-coverts and axillaries brown, 

 the edge of the wing light brown ; quills dark brown below, paler 

 along the edge of the inner web ; " cyehd vinous red ; bill and legs 

 blackish; iris reddish brown" {G. E. SJwUey). Total length 

 7"6 inches, culmen 0*7, wing 3-G5, tail 3-55, tarsus 0-85. 



The colouring of this species varies from an earthy brown to a 

 chocolate-brown, and I have examined specimens moulting from one 

 into the other ; but I am not certain whether the paler brown dress 

 is that of the young bird, or whether the dark-brown feathering is 

 the normal state of the bird in perfect plumage just after the moult. 

 Either case is possible, as the pale colouring might be the result of 

 abrasion of the feathers. 



The Cape Yellow-vented Bi;lbul is strictly an inhabitant of South 

 Africa, where it is confined to the Cape Colony. Notwithstanding 

 the apparently circumstantial evidence on which its occurrence in 

 Ireland is based, I can imagine no bird more unlikely to have been 

 met with there in a wild state. The bird may have been a caged 

 specimen ; but even this appears improbable. 



a. Ad. sk. South Africa. Purchased. 



6. Ad. sk. South Africa. E. B. Sbai-pe, Esq. 



c, d. Ad. sk. South Africa (E. L. Layard). E. B. Shai-pe, Esq. 



e. (S ad. sk. Knysna, Jan. 6, 1866 (C J. E. B. Sharpe, Esq. 



Andcrssoti). 



f,g, h. Ad. sk. George District {H. Atmore). E. B. Sharpe, Esq. 



t. Ad. sk. Port Elizabeth. E. B. Sharpe, Esq. 



k. Ad. St. Cape Colony. G. Campbell, Esq. 



8. Pycnonotus tricolor. 



Pycnonotus capensis, StricM. &: Sclater, C'ontr. Or». 1852, p. 120. 



Pycunnotus auriventris, i/«r^/. J. f. O. 1861, p. 166. 



Ixus tiicolor, Ilarfl. His, 1862, p! 341. 



Pvcnonotus tiicolor, Grai/. Ilaiid-l. B. i. p. 260, no. -3932 ; Fimcfi ^■ 



'Hart/. Toy. Ostafr. p. '2(l!l ; Sharpe, Cat. Afr. B. p. 23 (pt.) ; id. 



P. Z. S. 1871, p. ]3I, pi. vii. fig. 2 ; Gvriuy, in Anderss. B. Dam. 



Ld. p. 120; Sharpe S( Bouv. Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 1876, p. 44; 



Beichen. J.f. O. 1877, p. 25 ; Bocnge, Orn. Angola, p. 244. 



Adult male. General colour above light earthy brown, the upper 

 tail-coverts rather darker brown, obscurely margined with a shade 

 of dull olive ; wing-coverts and quills all darker brown than the 

 back, narrowly margined with lighter olivaceous brown ; tail 

 blackish brown, shading oft' into paler greyish brown at the tips of 



k2 



