292 Mr. T. Ayres on the Ornithology of Transvaal. ' 



The whole plumage is of a deep lustrous blacky with the follow- 

 ing exceptions : — The entire crown of the head is dark grey, 

 with minute blackish shaft-marks throughout, except upon the 

 hinder part ; the nape of the neck is of a similar grey, mingled 

 with a few black feathers ; the lesser wing-coverts are pure 

 white, with the bases of the feathers black and expanding 

 into conspicuous black centres on the exterior feathers round 

 the carpal joint and for about three quarters of an inch below 

 it ; the scapular feathers adjoining the white coverts are 

 edged with white on the exterior web, and in some instances 

 on both webs ; there is a small white spot near the edge of 

 the wing and in a line with the origin of the bastard wing ; 

 the rump is white, but the lowest row of upper tail-coverts is 

 black, with white bases and minute white tips : the tail has 

 one of the outer rectrices imperfect and only showing a 

 white base ; the corresponding feather is entirely white 

 except a black patch on each web near the end of the feather, 

 that on the outer web being about twice as long as the other ; 

 the second pair (reckoning from the outside) are similar, but 

 with the black patch on the inner web the larger of the two ; 

 the third and fourth pairs are also similar, but with the black 

 patch extending along the whole of the inner web ; the fifth 

 pair are black, with only the base of the outer web white ; 

 the central pair are entirely black : the abdomen and crissum 

 are white, slightly mingled with black ; bill, legs, and feet 

 black. 



Female, Wing 4*7 inches, tail 2*7, culmen "7, tarsus 1"2. 

 In coloration this specimen only differs from the male in the 

 following particulars : — The head is entirely a deep lustrous 

 black, with no intermixture of grey ; the small white spot 

 near the root of the bastard wdng is less conspicuous, being so 

 small as to be hardly observable ; the lowest row of upper 

 tail-coverts have no white tips, but their Avhite bases are 

 larger than those in the male bird ; some of the tibial feathers 

 are also slightly tipped with white. 



The distribution of black and white on the wings and tail 

 is almost entirely identical in the two specimens. 



A third specimen has the following memorandum attached 



