914 PnOf'EFJnxas of the national MUSEVM. v..... xxvm. 



the primaries and secondaries edged externally with gra3nsh; sides of 

 head and neck, with a l)road pectoral band, metallic oi-pcnish like the 

 pileuni; rest of lower surface white; thighs blackisli mixed with white; 

 lining of wing white interiorly, then brown, and finally metallic green 

 along the edge of the wing. Length of wing, 65; tail, 52; exposed 

 culmen, 13; tarsus, 18.5; middle toe, 10 mm. 



Two other specimens were obtained by Doctor Ab))ott: an immature 

 male at Taveta, August 14, 1S88; and an inmiature female at Kahe. 

 south of Mount Kilimanjaro, 8eptem})er 6, 1888. These birds both 

 have a large concealed white nuchal spot, though it is less pronounced 

 than in the adult. 



The immature male is mostly brownish slate color, slightly glossy 

 on the upper surface, mixed with metallic greenish or bluish l)lack 

 feathers on head and sides of neck; tail sepia brown, except one 

 metallic greenish middle feather which belongs to the adult stage, the 

 outer webs of rectrices with grayish buff edges; outermost pair of 

 feathers bordered on both webs with buffy white at tip, forming a 

 V-shaped terminal mark; second pair with only imier web white at 

 end; wing-quills fuscous, the feathers edged with dull ochraceous; 

 greater wing-coverts broadly, and primary coverts somewhat, mar- 

 gined and tipped with tawny ochraceous; lesser and middle coverts 

 tawny olive; under wing-coverts partly brown, partly white; axillars 

 white; inner webs of wing-quills broadly edged with butfy white; the 

 metallic greenish l>lack pectoral band is making its appearance and 

 displacing some wood brown feathers which preceded it; throat and 

 chest butfy white, mixed with dusky; rest of lower surface yellowish 

 white. 



The immature female is very much like the innnature male just 

 described, but lacks the greenish black feathers of pectoral l)and and 

 head; the lores are mixed with whitish; there is a patch of cinnamon 

 on each side of the breast, which extends to the side of the neck; the 

 wing-cjuills and greater wing-coverts have paler ochraceous edges, the 

 lesser and middle coverts are wood brown; the tail-feathers are edged 

 with grayish white instead of grayish butf, the outer web of the outer- 

 most feather margined with pure white for most of its exposed por- 

 tion; and the under parts are more purely white. In both of these 

 immature birds the eye wattle is, in the dried skin, ochraceous butf; 

 in the adult male in life it is red, but in the skin yellow, though of 

 nuich deeper shade than that of the innnature. 



None of the descriptions of PlatyHteira peltata make any mention 

 of a concealed white spot on the hind neck, and it seems incredible that 

 a character so conspicuous on the slightest disturbance of the over- 

 lying feathers should, if present, have so uniformly been overlooked, 

 pai'ticularly since the same is carefully noticed in other species. In 

 size Pldtydc'ii'd cryptoleaca seems not to ditf'er from P. ^^altaUt- 



