542 JIOTACILLID^. 



less remains of olivo edgings to the feathers ; wings hrown, all the 

 coverts and qnills with narrow olive-yellow margins, less pronounced 

 on the inner greater coverts and the secondaries ; tail-feathers dark 

 brown, with narrow lighter edges more or less tinged with olive, 

 the outermost feather with a tip of whity brown on the inner web, 

 less distinct on the penultimate one ; from the base of the bill above 

 the eye a distinct whitish eyebrow ; round the eye a ring of dingy 

 white ; lores dusky blackish ; ear-coverts sandy buff, dark brown 

 on the upper edge ; cheeks and throat dingy whitish ; rest of under 

 surface sandy colour, with distinct reddish-brown shaft-streaks to 

 the feathers of the fore neck, chest, and flanks ; under tail-coverts 

 dark brown, with ashy fulvous edges; edge .of the wing and 

 axillaries dull olive-yellow ; the rest of the wing-coverts brown, 

 with edgings of yellowish fawn-colour ; quills brown below, much 

 lighter on the inner webs. 



The specimen described is a male in breeding-plumage, obtained on 

 the 16th of jS^ovember, 1865, by the late Mr. C. J. Andersson at Cape 

 Town. This specimen was referred in my ' Catalogue of African 

 Birds ' to A. cMoris; bi;t the examination of a specimen of the true 

 A. chlorls shows that this bird is a very distinct species. It is 

 larger, with a unifonn upper surface as in A. 2Jy>'rlionotus, and has 

 no veUow patch on the centre of the breast. The yellow of the 

 axillaries is saffron-coloured instead of sulphur-yellow, while the 

 under wing-coverts are dark brown, with fawn-coloured instead of 

 white margins. Another difference is found in the tail-feathers, 

 A. crenatus having simply a lighter tip to the inner web of the two 

 outer feathers ; while A. cldoris has the outer tail-feather entirely 

 white, with the exception of a diagonal brown mark on the inner web. 

 In winter plumage the present species is more ashy, and not so 

 dark a brown, as the breeding-dress is evidently gained by the 

 wearing-off of the edges to the feathers which are part of the 

 winter plumage. All the other specific characters are preserved in 

 the latter, with the exception that the colours are rather purer and 

 the general appearance more mealy, with larger streaks on the 

 chest. In the male bird there is distinct evidence of a moustachial 

 streak, and the dusky loral spot forms a second streak through the 

 eve when taken in a line with the dark-brown upper ear-coverts ; this 

 dark streak brings out the eyebrow in bolder relief. A pair of 

 birds in the British Museum measure as follows : — 



Total 



length. Culm. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Halluc. h.u. 



a. d . Bm-ghersdoi-p {Atmore) 7-3 OGS 3-5 295 1-1 0-5 0-4 



5. 2 . Colesberg (^<»no»-c) . . 6-7 0-7 3-25 2-7 1-1 0-o5 0-4 



A. crenaius has a differently shaped hind claw to A. chloris, which 

 has the latter very long and nearly straight, whereas in A. crenatus 

 the hind claw is rather stout, by no means long and strongly 

 curved. 



Bab. Southern Africa, not extending beyond the Cape Colony. 



