40 Mr. F. J. Jackson on Birds 



the Shelley Collection, and Mr. Neumann thinks that both 

 will turn out to be females of D. angolensis. This cannot, 

 however, be the case, for they have black legs. The heads 

 are dull slaty grey, contrasting with the brownish colour of 

 the back, from which the lower back and rump scarcely 

 differ. The chief distinction, however, lies in the deep 

 cinnamon-colour of the under surface, the wing-coverts and 

 quills being also edged with cinnamon. The black mantle 

 of the male generally shows some traces of brownish edges 

 to the feathers. D. gambensis is also a large-billed form, 

 the female being light ashy brown above, \vith the head 

 scarcely greyer; the edges to the wing-coverts and the tint 

 of the under surface are both very pale cinnamon, quite 

 different from the rich colour of D. congicus. The male of 

 D. gambensis seems always to have the mantle glossy blue- 

 black like the head. 



D. malzacii is very like D. gambensis, but certainly has a 

 smaller bill, and the female is brown above with a darker 

 brown or blackish head. 



D. erythrecE of Neumann belongs also to the small-billed 

 group, but has a decidedly darker female with a blacker head 

 and the under surface of a deeper ochreous tint. To this 

 race I believe all Lord Lovat's specimens belong [cf. Grant, 

 Ibis, 1900, p. 147), but Esler^s collections from Bogos-land 

 apparently comprise examples of both D. erythrece and D. 

 malzacii. I notice also that Lord Lovat's birds were collected 

 in February, whereas the others (D. malzacii) were obtained 

 in July. They are decidedly paler underneath, and appear 

 to me to be in worn plumage, which may account for the 

 lighter brown of the upper surface, and I doubt very much 

 if these two races can be separated. 



In D. nyanzce, which is the third small-billed form, the 

 female is of a rich colour below, deep ochreous like the hen 

 of D. gambensis, but not so cinnamon as D. congicus. The 

 back of the male generally shows a wash of brown on the 

 mantle. Two males from Ntebi and Busoga have rather 

 larger bills than some of the others and show an approach 

 to D. congicus. — R. B, S.] 



