GO Short J\\>fices of Ovnitholoyical Publications. 



Female : Coloured much like the male, but is without the 

 metallic pai'ts, the throat and forehead being ipale yellow- 

 grey. The upper surface is slightly paler and the lower 

 duskier than the male. 



Length 100 mm. ; wing 54 ; tail 37 ; tarsus 14*5 ; 

 culmen 15. 



Male. Mzimbiti, near Beira, Portuguese South-East 

 Africa, 17th May, 1908. (P. A. Sheppard.) 



Female. Mzimbiti, near Beira, Portuguese South-East 

 Africa, 0th July, 1908. (P. A. Sheppard.) 



It is somewhat difficult to know where to place this bird, 

 as all its characters are not in accordance with the definition 

 of the genus Anthreptes ; the beak being distinctly curved 

 (even the keel of the lower mandible being slightly curved). 



In general appearance the bird comes nearest to the 

 illustration of Cinnyris reichenbachii in Shelley's ' Monograph 

 of the Nectariuiidfe,' but the blue is deeper and only reaches 

 as far as the middle of the crown and does not include the 

 ear-coverts, which are olive-green. On the under surface 

 the grey is not half so pronounced, and the tail is only 

 slightly rounded, not graduated. It is also considerably 

 smaller. 



Hemipteryx minuta, sp. nov. 



This bird is considerably smaller than textrix, is not streaked 

 on the flanks and breast, and has a comparatively shorter 

 tail. 



Description : Feathers of the upper surface blackish-brown 

 edged with pale brown, rustier on the wings, and on the 

 wing- and upper tail-coverts. C'rown reddish-brown, the 

 bases of the feathers being darker, giving a mottled ap- 

 pearance. A short eyebrow, and the cheeks greyish-cream, 

 shading into pale rusty-brown on the nape, forming an 

 indistinct collar. Lores blackish. Under surface greyish- 

 white, the sides of the chest dusky-brown, the flanks fawny ; 

 under tail-coverts tawny-white. Tail blackish-brown, the 

 feathers (excepting the central pair) narrowly tipped with 

 while. Thighs tawnv-rufous. 



