140 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



rump, belly, and thighs, white ; vent brflliant-red ; tail- 

 feathers brown, darkening towards their points, which are all 

 white-tipped. 



Le Vaillant says he found this bird only in Great Namaqualand, and 

 then as a bird of passage This is more than doubtful : probably it is 

 the well-known Indian species ; though Bonaparte, in his " Conspectus 

 Generum Avium," admits it as distinct. 



264. Pycnonotus Nigricapillus ; Turdus 



JSfigricapillus, Vieil., Cuv., Vol. 6, p. 377 ; Lioptilua 

 Nigricapillus, Caban. Mus. Hein. ; Le Merle d. calotte 

 noire, Le Vail, PI. 108. 



Top of the head and back of the neck, black ; the rest of the 

 upper plumage olive-brown ; under parts, ashy blue-grey, 

 paler on the belly and vent ; bill orange ; legs flesh-colour. 

 Length, 7"; wing, 3" 1'"; tail, 3" 2'". 



Le Vaillant found this bird only in the forests of Bruintjes Hoogte, 

 and even there sparingly. They feed on insects and wild berries. 



Capt. Bulger, of Her Majesty's 2nd-10th Regiment, to whom I am 

 indebted for numerous very interesting birds, procured it in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Windvogelberg. I have not seen it Irom any other 

 locality. 



. Cabanis (Mus. Heineanum, p. 88,) forms this into a new genus, 

 Lioptilus, but does not give his characters. From my observations on 

 the Ceylon species, P. Atricapillus, I believe it to be closely allied to 

 the genus Pycnonotus, in which I therefore place it. 



265. Pynconotus Aurigularis ; Sylvia Aura- 



ticollis, Vieil. ; Ixos Aurigularis, Voigt. ; Turdus 

 AuraticoUis, Bp. ; Le Col d'Or., Le Vail., No. 119 ; 

 Cuv., Vol. 1, p. 391. 



Brown ; breast and under yarts white ; throat and eyebrows 

 yellow ; mustachios black ; lateral tail-feathers, and some of 

 those on the wing, bordered with yellow. 



Eare : according to Le Vaillant, inhabiting the forests of Outeniqua, 

 where he procured it during the winter. Sundevall, however, says it 

 is a doubtful species, not known to any one. 



Genus PHYLLASTREPHUS, Swainson. 

 Bill as long as the head, strong, the tip rather hooked ; 

 rictus strongly bristled ; frontal feathers small, compact, 

 directed forwards, and compressed on the base of the bill ; 

 wings and tail moderate, rounded ; feet short, strong, and 

 robust : tarsus and middle toe equal ; lateral toes unequal ; 

 the inner shortest, hind toe shorter than the inner ; ante- 

 rior tarsal scales divided. 



