300 Prof. T. Salvadori on Melaniparus semilarvatus. 



male in female dress. It was shot near Rustenburg on 22nd 

 July ; the bill was noted by Mr. Ayres as " dark dusky ash/' 

 and the tarsi and feet as " ash-colour/' I may add that the 

 refcrenee given under the head of this species in Sharpens 

 edition of Layard's 'Birds of South Africa' (p. 182), to 

 INIalhcrbe's monograph, vol. ii.^:*^. 165, is a misprint for page 

 165 ; Malherbe figures this Woodpecker, pi. 95, figs. 1 & 2, 

 and calls it in his letterpress " Le Chrysopic de Bennett ou 

 d'Abingtou."— J. H. G.] 



Dendropicus NAMAQuus (Licht.) . Bearded Woodpecker. 



Male and female. Irides bright garnet-colour ; bill dusky, 

 with the under mandible lighter ; tarsi and feet pale dingy 

 olive-green. 



A scarce species amongst these mountains, and withal hard 

 to get ; they seem to prefer the mimosa trees whereon to 

 search for food. 



324. Jynx PECT0R.ALTS, Vig. Southern Red-throated 

 Wryneck. 



Male and female, evidently a pair, shot 6th and 8th of 

 July, at Rustenburg, where this species is very scarce. I do 

 not remember to have seen it previously in the Transvaal. 

 [To be continued.] 



XXIV. — On Melaniparus semilarvatus. 

 By T. Salvadori, C.M.Z.S. 



(Plate IX.) 



Mr. Hume, in ' Stray Feathers,' vol. vii. p. 458, writes of my 

 Melaniparus semilarvatus as follows : — " There is a wretched 

 species, No. 649 ter of my list, viz. Melaniparus semilarvatus 

 of Salvadori, of which I have for years tried to obtain a de- 

 scription. At last I wrote to Salvadori himself; but he, 

 though very kindly favouring me with all his more recent 

 publications, will not come to the front about this particular 

 species. I conclude it is a bad species." 



To this public appeal I must answer : — 



1st. That I have no doubt, as Mr. Hume says so, that he 



