120 CYANOMITRA. 



partial narrow olive yellow edges. Abdomen strongly tinted with olive 

 yellow ; under tail-coverts olive shaded bui'f. Bill and legs black, iris 

 brown. Total length 7'6 inches, culmen 1-55, wing 3-3, tail 3, tarsus 1"15. 

 St. Thomas Is. (P. Newton.) 



Adult Female. Like the male. Total length 7 inches, culmen 1-3, wing 

 3-25, tail 3-2, tarsus 1-05. St. Thomas Is. (F. Newton.) 



The St. Thomas Island Sunbird is confined to the island 

 of that name, which is situated almost on the Equator at a 

 distance of some two hundred miles from the Gaboon coast. 



The species was discovered at St. Miguel, a forest district 

 on the western slope of the island, by Mr. F. Newton, and 

 described by Prof. Barboza du Bocage, to whose generosity 

 the British Museum is indebted for a fine male and female, the 

 only ones I have seen. 



I place the species in the genus Elseocerthia, of which E. 

 ■verreauxi is the type, on account of the metallic colours being 

 confined to the extreme ends of the feathers only. It further 

 resembles E. verreauxi in the plumage of the sexes being alike, 

 but differs in the graduated tail, the feathers of which have 

 pale ends, and in this character it nearly approaches many of 

 the members of the genus Cyanomitra. 



Genus VI. CYANOMITEA. 



Form very similar to that of Cinnyris. Mantle sometimes dull brown, 

 else olive of a green or yellow shade. Metallic colours, when present, 

 confined to the head and neck. Young birds are not always similar in 

 colouring to the adult females, and apparently never have metallic colours 

 nor bright pectoral-tufts. 



This purely Ethiopian genus consists of about ten known species. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



a. No metallic colours. 



a 1 . Above earthy brown ; beneath white 

 mottled with black ; pectoral-tufts yellow 

 in adult males only (Socotra Is.) .... balfouri, $ 5 . 



