112 Mr. D. A. Baiiiieriuaii on rare Birds [Ibis, 



Three more examples of this bird have now been sent by 

 ]\lr. Bates to the Mnseuiii. It will interest him to know 

 that we have recently acquired, through the kindness of the 

 Belgian authorities, a further exam])le of the rare rufous- 

 backed Himantornis iK^matojms tvhitesidei Sharpe, obtained 

 by Dr. Christy at Poko on the Uele Kiver, Belgian Congo — 

 the first since the type was discovered. 



Sarothnira elegans reichenovi. 



Sarothrura reichenovi Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxiii. 

 1894, p. 121— Type locality : Cameroon ; Bates, Ibis, 1909, 



With a series of sixteen males and females from south- 

 east Africa and from Cameroon before me, I have been able 

 to form an opinion on the validity of S. reichenovi. 



I consider that it must be kept as a subspecies of S.elegans, 

 the Natal form, and that Sharpe's original description of 

 S. reichenovi is very misleading. 



The three male birds of S. e. reichenovi sent home by 

 Mr. Bates, together witii the four specimens he had sent 

 in former collections, has enabled me to satisfy myself that 

 the above comparison is correct. 



Dr. K.eichenow did not recognise this form himself 

 (Vogel Afrikas, i. p. 287), but I am sure that he will do 

 so on further examination, provided that he has plenty of 

 material, as also Mill Mr. Chapin. 



Sharpe maintained that it was "everywhere mucli darker 

 in colour" than S. elegans, ''the rufous of the head and 

 breast being deep chestnut instead of orange-rufous,, this 

 chestnut colour extending over the whole throat to tlie base 

 of the bill." I have now five adult males from Cameroon 

 to compaie with the seven adult males from Natal, and in 

 only one bird from Cameroon (No. 4620) is the chestnut 

 of the throat and breast darker than in any of the Natal 

 specimens. The females are practically indistinguishable. 

 1 measured the wings, thinking there might be something 

 in the size, but males from Cameroon measure 85-90 mm.; 

 from Natal, 80-88 mm. 



