82 LAMPROTORNIS MELANOGASTER 



was discovered by Aubrv Lecointe, and the species has l^een 

 procured as far south as Landana by Petit. In its most 

 eastern known ranp,e Eniin met with it at Atauga in the 

 Awamba country. 



■"c"^ 



Lamprotornis melanogaster (Plate 47, fv^. i). 



Lumprotornis melano^'aster, Swains. An. in IMena','. p. 297 (1S.38") 



" Senegal " ! 

 Lanipi'ocolins melanogaster, Sharps, Cat. B. ]\I. xiii. p. IS-J (1890) ; 



Siielley, B. Afr. I. No. 606 (1896); Eeiclien. Too-. Afr. ii. p. 6S3 



(1903) ; Shortridge, Ibis, 1904, p. 175 Pondoland ; Sparrow, .Journ. 



S. Afr. O. U. i. p. 9 (1905). 

 Lamprotornis porphyroplevron, Sundev. CEfv. Vet. .\k. Forh. Stockli. 



1850, p. 100 E. Caffraria. 

 " Lamprocolius corusca, Licht." Bp. Consp. i. p. 415 (1850) S. Africa. 



Adult male. Head, neck, crop and broad central band down the wing 

 glossy green ; forehead and side of head in front of the eye black ; crown 

 slightly bluer than the neck ; ear-coverts shading into violet behind the 

 eye; npper back green shading into violet on the scapular and into more 

 reddish violet on the middle and lower back and upper tail-coverts ; tail 

 black, slightly washed with violet on the outer edges of the feathers ; wing, 

 with the greater portion of the median and greater coverts and the 

 secondaries glossy green, remainder of the coverts shaded with steel blue ; 

 a fairly broad outer margin to the closed wing glossy purple; under surface 

 of wings and tail brownish black, with a steel blue gloss on the under wing- 

 coverts ; lower half of the breast black, slightly washed with bronze and 

 witli a violet gloss across the middle chest and on the under tail-coverts. 

 Iris deep yellow; bill and feet black. Total length 8 inches, culmen 0-65, 

 wing 4-35, tail 3-2, tarsus 1-0. J , 28. 7. 75, Durban (T. L. Ayres). 



Female. Similar in colouring to tiie male ; wing 4-1. 



Immature. Similar in colouring to the adults. 



The Black-breasted Glossy Starling ranges from Cape 

 Colony over the Eastern African coast to the Equator. 



The species has been met with as far west as the Knysua 

 in Cape Colony, by Victorin, and very possibly the type of 

 the species came from that district, as it was certainly not 



