— 327 — 



bird atlju inDecember andjanuarv. AU the raale birds are in moult. 



Mr Robin Kemp obtained a séries at Agoulerie in June, July 

 and August. The spécimens are ail in beautiful plumage. 



Other examples from Southern Nigeria in the National collec- 

 tion are from the Rio del Rey (Sir H. Johnston) which used to be 

 in Cameroon but is now included in S. Nigérian Territorv. 



From Northern Nigeria the bird is represented from Illorin in 

 April (Brvant); Lokoja (Bryant and Forjîks) ; Shonga (Forbes); 

 Takum in june (B. Alexander); and Hartert shot it at Loko. 



Range. — l'he Splendid Sunbird has a wide range ; in the 

 British Muséum \ve hâve examples from Sénégal, Gambia, Portu- 

 guese Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Northern and Southern 

 Nigeria, Cameroon, Gaboon and the Sudan (Niam-Niam country). 



Reichenow records it in addition from Togoland and Dahomey. 



(Scarce, they were moultmg, and showed no signs ot breeding. 

 The call note is like our sparrow « Jim •>> repeated three times, 

 but not quite so loud. — W. P. L.) 



Cinnyris cupreus cupreus ('). 



Certhia cuprea Shaw., Gen. Zool., VIII, 1811, p. 201. — Type 

 locality : Malimba. 



In Southern Nigeria Mr Lowe only shot one immature maie 

 spécimen of the Copper Sunbird at Iju, near Lagos, onjanuary 24th 

 1920. Kemp obtained the bird at Agoulerie in June and July, 1905. 



(') Professer JN'euiiaxn in his Avifauna des unteren Senegal-Gebiets (J. f. O., 1017, 

 p. 206) uses the name Cinyris cupreus rubrofuscus Shaw (Gen. Zool., VIII, 181 1, vol. VIII, 

 p. 222; tj'pe locality: unknown) for the Sénégal Copper Sunbird. He does not give any 

 explanation for this and as the type locality of Shaw's rubrofuscus is unknown the name 

 cannot be applied to the Sénégal bird without good reason. I cannot see any reason why the 

 name cupreus of Shaw described in the same volume on p. 201 cannot hold good for the 

 Copper Sunbird. Shaw was apparently describing the same bird again op p. 222 under a 

 différent name. It does not appear from an examination of the large material in ihe Natural 

 History Muséum that the Copper Sunbird from Upper and Lower Guinea can be separated 

 subspecifically. The bird will therefore be known as C, cupreus cupreus (Shaw). 



