CYANOMITRA KEICHENBACHI. 137 



for I have seen the old birds feeding their offspring after it 

 has been perfectly able to fly, and when it was already begin- 

 ning to assume its adult male plumage. 



"The song of the male resembles that of our Hedge- 

 sparrow, added to which are some notes similar to those of the 

 Wren ; it is, in fact, somewhat between the two songs, a little 

 fuller and in a lower key, while the call-note is like that of the 

 Bed-start. By imitating this note they can be brought very 

 close, and can be easily captured, as they ai'e naturally very 

 tame. 



" They feed chiefly upon insects, but will also eat small 

 berries and fruit, and are very partial to sipping the juice 

 emitted by the banana-flower before the fruit has set. 



" I kept many alive, and fed them upon Papaya, Banana, and 

 bread soaked in sugar and water, with occasionally ants' eggs. 

 Two males which I tried to bring to Europe died from cold 

 after having lived in confinement more than three months. 

 The natives call them c Siwie-bai'beiro ' or ' Siwie baca-longe,' 

 and the Portuguese ' Besha-flore ' (flower-kissers)." 



The type of the species was in Verreaux's collection and 

 supposed by him to have come from Angola, but I believe 

 Dohrn to be more correct when he observes : " I doubt if this 

 species has been found in Angola, mistakes in localities in these 

 parts being very common ; for cruisers and merchant vessels 

 usually touch at several places of the coast and adjacent 

 islands, and if special care be not taken, collections from 

 different places are easily mixed up together." 



For the above reason I have discarded from the range of 

 the present species Angola for Verreaux's type, and Gaboon 

 for one of Gujon's specimens. 



Cyanomitra reichenbachi. 



Cyanomitra reichenbachi (Hartl.) Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 71 (1896). 

 Cinnyris reichenbachi, Sharpe and Bouvier, Bull S. Z. France, 1876, 



