.210 Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant on Birds from 



individuals, and we find specimens both from Shoa and West 

 Africa with some red at the base of the mandible. On the 

 other hand, a number of fully adult birds, both male and 

 female, from the Anseba Valley, &c, have the bill entirely 

 black. Quite young birds also have the bill black. The 

 birds with partly red bills mentioned above are possibly all 

 females, the only specimen in which the sex is marked being 

 of that sex. Probably the partly red bill is merely a transi- 

 tional stage. Far too much reliance is often placed on the 

 metallic colours of the plumage, which are very easily affected 

 by weather, and especially by wet. It requires but a 

 simple experiment to prove this. Take a skiu of such a bird 

 as Nectarinia metaUica, wet the metallic-green feathers on 

 head and throat, and they become purple in a few moments! 

 In the same way, purple or blue, if wet, become green. 



[rrtsor damarensis Grant. 



The fourth form described by Air. Neumann is /. d.granti, 

 based on an example from British East Africa in Mr. P. J. 

 Jackson's collection. 1 referred this bird and another from 

 the same locality to the present species with some reserve 

 (cf. 'Ibis/ 1902, p. I", Ij. Mr. S. L. Ilinde has recently 

 forwarded another fine; male example from Machakos (April), 

 which, like Mr. Jackson's birds (March and April), is in 

 freshly moulted spring plumage. Our series of Damaraland 

 birds was all procured between June and October ; the 

 June bird, which is naturally the least worn of the series, 

 closely resembles the birds from British East Africa, and I 

 am still disposed to believe that the differences in plumage 

 between typical /. damarensis and the so-called /. d. yranti 

 arc due to season. The question cannot be settled till we 

 receive examples from British East Africa killed in the 

 summer and autumn. 



Prodotiscus regulus Sundev. 



A female example of this species procured at Burumba in 

 July has the three outer pairs of tail-feathers pure white, 

 the third feather on the right side only being edged with 



