368 Capt. G. E. Shelley on Birds 



Part III. — Notes on some of the Species. 

 By G. E. Shelley. 



1. Pakus NIGER VieilL 



Parus niger Shelley, B. Afr. ii. p. 232 (1900). 



The collection contains an adult pair of this species from 

 Liwonde, which is the most northern range known to me for 

 it. It is apparently replaced in German East Africa, north of 

 Nyasaland, by P. fuelleborni Reichen. (Orn. Monatsb. 1900, 

 p. 5). The Tits are well represented in Nyasaland, and the 

 following key may serve to identify the seven forms found 

 within the British Central- African Protectorate : — 



a. Bill stout and rather blunt ; crown and most of 



the head black Pums. 



a\ Entire head black ; a large amount of white 

 on the wings, 

 «^. Breast black or deep grey. 



a^. Dark parts glossy blue-black ; no white 



on under tail-coverts itisiynis. 



¥. Body never blue-black, unless there are 

 white margins to under tail-coverts. 

 a^. Crown glossed with blue; inside of 



mouth black niger. 



b"^. Crown glossed with green ; inside of 



mouth bright yellow xanthostvmus. 



P. Breast cinnamon masukuensis. 



<?. Breast buff pallidirentris. 



6' . Head with a patch of white parvirostris. 



b. Bill wedge-shaped and very sharply pointed. 



Very tiny bird : above mouse-colour ; throat 



white ; abdomen tawny buff jEyithalus caroli. 



I have nothing to add to what I have written regarding 

 these Tits (B. Afr. ii.) except that the P. afer of Sclater, 

 P. Z. S. 1900, p. 2, may be referred to the small-billed 

 subspecies P. parvirostris. 



3. MoTACiLLA FLAVA Linn. 



Motacilla chici'eicopUla SheWey, Ibis, 1899, p. 282, Zomba. 



I here include the name M. flava for the first time in the 



Avifauna of Nyasaland. The specimen in this collection 



* The numbers refer to those of the species in Part II. 



