ON THE CRESTED KINGFISHERS OF AFRICA, 181 
rufous from the base, the outer web edged with light ultra- 
marine; lores light rufous; cheeks rufous with little black 
markings ; throat and a patch of feathers along the sides of the 
neck yellowish white; under surface of the body pale rufous, 
lighter down the centre of the body; bill and feet blackish, 
tinged slightly with red. Total length 5.0 inches, of bill and 
feet blackish, tinged slightly with red. Total length 5.0 inches, 
of bill from front 1.3, from gape 1.75, wing 2. 4, tail 1.1, tarsus 
0.25, middle toe 0.7, hind toe 0.3. 
Very young. Similar to the last, but the plumage much 
darker brown, the bars of blue being narrower and those on the 
head darker ; the bars of cobalt on the wing-coverts and scapu- 
laries very distinct, upper part of the breast marked with a 
darkish brown line. Total length 4.3 inches, of bill from front 
0.8, from gape 1.05, wing 2.0, tail 1.55, tarsus 0.2, middle toe 0.4, 
hind toe 0.2. 
Hab. Abyssinia (ZHeuglin), Tigré ; Dongola, Agula (Blanford), 
Nubia (Lichtenstein), White Nile (Petherick), River Gambia 
(mus. R. B. Sharpe), Bissao (Verreaux), Casamanze (Verreaux), 
Fantee (Bowditch), Ashantee (mus J. Gould), Bonny River 
(Jardien), Gaboon (Verreiux), St. Thomas (mus. Lisb.), Angola 
(Monteiro), Cape Colony (Zayard), Natal (Ayres), Transvaal 
(Ayres), Caffraria (Wahlberg, Bulger), Zambesi (Kirk). 
In a paper recently published in the ‘Ibis,’ I entered fully 
into the question of the various races of this species to be met 
with in the Aithiopian Region, and came to the conclusion that, 
beyond the larger size of the South African birds, there was 
nothing to justify their separation from the form occurring in 
Western Africa and Abyssinia. At the time I wrote that article 
I laboured under the disadvantage of not being able to examine 
more than one specimen from North Kastern Africa, an imperfect 
skin sent from the White Nile by Consul Petherick, for the 
opportunity of inspecting which I was indebted to my kind 
friend Mr. Gould. I decided, however, that there was no reason 
to separate the Abyssinian bird asa distinct species, and sub- 
sequent experience has proved the correctness of this view, for 
