504 Mr. D, A. Bannerman u7i the 



42. Poliolais alexanderi. 



Poliolais alexanderi Baunerman, Bull. B. O. C.xxxv. 1915, 

 p. 53 : Cameroon Mt. 



a. S ad. (No. 1). Cameroon Mt. 6. v. 09. Type of 

 the species. 



This is the first member of the genus to be discovered on 

 the mainland. The genus Poliolais was created by Alexander 

 in the Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club^ xiii. 1903, 

 p. 36, and was represented by a single species, P. helenorce 

 Alexander from Fernando Po. 



Alexander characterised the genus as follows : ^' Genus 

 inter genera Sylviella et Camaroptera dicta intermedium, 

 pedibus caudam longe superantibus et rectricibus externis 

 pure albis distinguendum.'^ 



Curiously enough Boyd Alexander discovered, not only 

 the type of the genus, which he described from Fernando 

 Po, but also the only other member of the genus known to 

 science. The latter was shot by him on Cameroon Mountain 

 in 1909 and had been overlooked until I came to work on 

 this important collection. 



I have already described in detail this species in tlie 

 Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Clul). P. alexanderi 

 is distinguished at a glance from the other member of the 

 genus by its uniform olive-green upperparts, grey throat 

 and forehead, and by lacking the pale chestimt sides of the 

 head and rufous-brown crown of P. helenora. The type o^ 

 P. alexanderi is in the British Museum. 



[Rare, found in the forest above Buea. — B. A.] 



43. Poliolais sp. ? 



a. ? (No. 1). Cameroon Mt. 16. v. 09. 



In the fine collection which Alexander obtained on 

 Cameroon Mountain are two birds which unquestionably 

 belong to the genus Poliolais. One, I have named P. alex- 

 anderi. The other, with which we have now to deal, is 

 likewise represented by a single female example only, and 

 for this reason I have refrained from giving it a name. 

 Mr. Ogilvie-Grant and Dr. Hartert, who have kindly 



