13 



ities. In the south of Afi'iea it inhabits the colonies of the 

 Cape of Good Hope and Natal ; whilst in the east it occurs in 

 Abyssinia, Kordofau, and Nubia. The alternate black and white 

 transverse bars on the abdomen, the tibia?, and the sides, which 

 are usu ally so conspicuous in the adult of this species,* are 

 sometimes found on the tibiae only, and are there much 

 narrower and less distinct than in the ordinary plumage of 

 the bird. A female specimen in this state of plumage, which 

 was described by Messrs. J. and E. Yen-eaux as a distinct 

 species in the " Eevue de Zoologie" for 1855, under the 

 name of Gymnogenys Malzacii^ is now in the Norwich Museum, 

 and I believe those gentlemen continue to regard it as belong- 

 ing to a distinct species. Its title to be so considered is a 

 point which can only be satisfactorily settled by the examina- 

 tion of additional specimens ; and in the mean while I have 

 not thought myself justified in treating it as distinct fe-om 

 Pohjhoroides Radiatus ; the example in question was obtained 

 in Nixbia, and stands No. 12 in the series of these birds in 

 the Norwich Museum ; another female specimen (No. 2 in our 

 series), which was procured at Natal, also exhibits a similar 

 state of plumage. Another, and, as it seems to me, a more 

 distinct race of Gymnogenes inhabits the island of Madagascar, 

 and has received the specific appellation of Madagascariensis, 

 (Gymnogenys 3Iadagascariensis of Lesson.) In the Madagascar 

 specimens which I have seen, the ti-ansverse black and white 

 bars on the under parts of the adult bird appear to be some- 

 what broader and more distinctly marked than in specimens 

 from the continent of Africa; and the colouring of the plumage 

 of the upper parts, and especially of the head and neck, is 

 also of a paler and more delicate grey than in African 

 examples. At the same time, in the case of the Madagascar 

 race as well as in that to which Messrs. Verreaus have given 

 the name of Mahacii^ a comparison of more specunens than 

 have hitherto been procvu-ed is highly desirable. 



Mr. Apes, of Natal, to whom I am indebted for several 



