308 PLOCEID^. 



27. HYPOCH^RA*. ^y^^ 



Hypochaera, Bp. Vunsp. i. p. 450 (1850) ? 



Range. Confined to Africa. 



Key to the Sjjecies. 



a. With a gloss of steel-green or bottle-gTeen, so 



that the eifect of the plumage is gi-eenish 

 black. 

 a. With the wiugs black, not contrasting 



strongly with tlie back anea, p. 308. 



b'. With tlie wiugs brown, contrasting greatly 

 with the back ; green gloss not so pro- 

 nounced and approaching greenish black . . amauropteryx, p. oOO. 



b. With a purplish or violet gloss. 



c . Wiugs dark, scarcely contrasting with the 



back ; gloss of plumage purphsh blue .... ultramarinu, p. 309. 

 d'. Wings light brown, contrasting with the 

 back; gloss of plumage more distinctly 

 purple. 

 a". Purplish gloss more lively and slightly 



more bluish .' ". funerea, p. 310. 



b" . Purplish gloss more dead and general plu- 

 mage more of a dead black both above 

 and below niyerrima, p. 311. 



1. Hypochsera senea. 



? Le Pere noir a bee rouge, JBriss. Orn. iii. p. 1.30 (1760). 



? Moineau du Bri^sil, Daubent. PI. Enl. iv. pi. 291. figs. 1,2; Buf. 



Hint. Kat. Ois. iii. p. 486 (177.5). 

 ? FiingiUa chalybeata, P. L. S. Miill. Syst. Nat., Anhang, p. 255 



(1776, ex Daub.) ; Cass. Proc. Philad. Acad. 1864, p. 255. 

 ? Glossy Finch, Lath. Gen. Syn. ii. pt. i. p. 267 (1783). 

 ? Fringilla nitens, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 909 (1788, ex Lath.). 

 Le Comba-sou, Vieill. Ois. Chant, p. 44, pi. 21 (1805). 

 Fringilla nitens, Bonn, et Vieill Enc. Meth. iii. p. 955 (1823). 

 Loxigilla nitens, Less. Traite, p. 444 (1831). 

 ? Amadlna nitens, Sivains. B. W. Afr. i. p. 199 (18-37). 

 Amadina nitens. Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 370 (1849). 

 Hypochera nitens, Bp. Consp. i. p. 450 (1850); Cah. Mus. Hein. 



"Th. i. p. 175 (1850) ; Hartl. Orn. W.-Afr. p. 142 (1857) ; id. 



J.f. O. 1801, p. 259; Reichenb. Sinyv. p. 53, pi. xxii. figs. 184- 



189 (1861). 

 Hypoclisera aenea, Hartl. J.f. 0. 18-54, p. 115. 

 Amadina chalybeata. Gray, Hand-l. B. ii. p. 58, no. 6809 (1870). 

 Hypocheera chalybeata, pt., Sliarpe, Cat. Afr. B. p. 64 (1871). 



Adult male. Black, with a distinct gloss of steel-green ; quills and 

 tail-feathers blackish. Total length 3-8 inches, cuhnen 0"35, wing 

 2-35, tail 1*35, tarsus 0-5. 



Hah. Senegambia. 



* Further diiferences in these species may probalily be found in the colour 

 of the bill. The southern birds appear to have.had red bills ; while some Uving 

 birds I saw recently in Paris (presumably from Senegal) had the bill ivory-white. 



