152 Mr. W. L. Sclater on [l\m, 



These birds, as well as a series previously obtained by 

 Bury in tlie Amiri district, are all quite similar to those 

 from Palestine in the Bntish Museum. They appear to 

 breed in January^ as a male from Menakha, dated 14. i. 13, 

 is stated to have had the testes much enlarged. 



Ciunyris habessinicus hellmayri. 



C'lunyris habessimca helliuayrl Neumann, Orn. Monatsb. 

 xii. 11304, p. 29: S. Arabia. 



O.-Grant, 1900, p. 250 ; Lorenz & Hellmayr, 1901, 

 p. 238, 1907, p. 111. 



a. S ' Menakha, 6000 ft. 21. xii. 12. 



h-d. 2 c?, ? . Hajeilah, 2080 ft. 15. iii. 13. 



e. (J juv. Sok-al-Khamis, 7000 ft. 19.vii. 13. 



This Sunbird when previously obtained by Percival and 



Bury was considered by O.-Grant and Lorenz & Hellmayr 



to be identical with the Abyssinian bird. It is, however, 



separable from the typical form, as was pointed out by 



Neumann, by the more restricted red chest-band, Avhich is 



slightly more carmine and less scarlet in shade and also 



more spotted with blue metallic feathers. The crown of the 



head appears to me to have a more violet and less coppery 



sheen in the Arabian than in the Abyssinian bird. This is 



the reverse of what is stated by Neumann. I am not able 



to detect any difference in the yellow of the breast-tufts, 



which are said by Neumann to be paler. 



The young male from Sok-al-Khamis is similar to the 

 female above, but the metallic feathers are just commencing 

 to show on the crown and nape ; below, the throat and chest 

 are already clothed with the metallic feathers, the red is just 

 showino- on the chest-band, and the feathers of the abdomen 

 are still edged with hoary white. 



A note on one of the males from Menakha reads : 

 '' plentiful at this altitude {%. e. 6000 ft.), but local, chiefly 

 on flowering bushes in valleys, does not range as high as the 

 lesser Nectarinia.'' 



In size the Arabian and African birds seem hardly to differ, 

 the average length of the wing being 70 mm. in the former, 

 and perhaps a tjiflc shorter (68 mm.) in the latter. 



