456 Mr. C. II. B. Grant o» a Collection of 



The genus Dendromns Swains. Classif. Birds, vol. ii. 

 1837, p. 307, which has been used both by Neumann and 

 Reichenow for this group of woodpeckers, is inadmissible, as 

 it is preoccupied in mammals by Dendromus Smith, Zooh 

 Journ. vol. iv. 1829, p. 438. Oberholser, Proc. U. S. Nat. 

 Mus. vol. xxviii. 1905, p. 874, has already drawn attention to 

 this. 



205. Dendropicos fuscescens massaicus. Masailand Little 

 Woodpecker. 



Dendropicos guineensis massaicus Neum. Journ. fiir Orn. 

 1900, p. 206 : Ndulalani, Lake Nguruman, north of Lake 

 Victoria. 



a,b. S ad. Turkwel River, 1900 ft. Jan. 14. 



c. ? ad. Kozibiri River, 2200 ft. Jan. 19. 



d. ? ad. Bakora Country, 3600 ft. Feb. 3. 



Total length in flesh : (J 5^ & 5^ inches; ? 6 & 5f inches. 

 Wing : c? 81 & 80 mm. ; ? 85 & 84 mm. 



Three are in rather worn dress and one female was 

 nesting. 



[Irides red or reddish brown ; bill bluish or blackish 

 horn ; legs and toes in male greenish blue; in female dirty 

 green. Plentiful.] 



In naming these birds I have had to examine all the 

 Woodpeckers belonging to this group. 



To begin with, the names Picus guineensis Scop. (Del. Fl. 

 F. Insubr. ii. 1786, p. 89) a.n([ Picus cardinalis Gmelin (Syst. 

 Nat. vol. i. pt. i. 1788, p. 438), both founded on plate 35 in 

 Sonnerat's Voy. Nouv. Guinee, 1776, p. 72, locality given 

 as Island of Luzon, must be cast out of the nomenclature of 

 the African Woodpeckers. The reasons for this are, that 

 the plate agrees only superficially with the small Cape 

 Woodpecker, to which these names have always been attached, 

 and the descriptions given by all three authors does not 

 tally in any single detail, i. e., the size is given as equal to 

 that of the European Green Woodpecker, the feathers of the 

 mantle are stated to be black, bordered with white, and the 



