930 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NA TTONAL MUSEUM. yol. xxtiii, 



her, at altitudes of lo,(H)(i iuid 11,000 feet on Mount Kilimanjaro. 

 Doctor Abbott writes that they live in the scattered, stunted trees 

 above the forest zone, and that they were very common at an eleva- 

 tion of 11,000 feet, in November, 1888. 



This is a si)ecies certainly very distinct from Nectar Inia fainoHa^ the 

 male diti'erino- from the same sex of the latter, as indicated b}" its 

 describer, in possessing bright scarlet instead of yellow pectoral 

 tufts, and in having much longer central tail-feathers which in full}- 

 developed condition exceed those of N. famosa by 30 to 50 millimeters. 

 Other distinctions, two of them quite as marked as those alreadj'^ 

 noted, and to which little if any attention seems to have been called, 

 are the somewhat shorter bill of johnstoni; the very decidedly more 

 glittering or shining appearance of the entire body plumage, and the 

 total lack of metallic green on the lower abdomen and under tail- 

 coverts, which parts are dull bluish black, with scarce a hint of 

 metallic reflections, often some of the feathers even tipped with pale 

 brownish. Among all the males there' is very little individual color 

 variation, such as there is consisting in a more golden cast to the 

 metallic green of the upper and lower parts, most noticeable ante- 

 riorly. 



The female, which seems never to have been described, is much 

 smaller than the male, and differs from the female of Nectarbda 

 famosa in being decidedly darker both above and below, with the 

 pileum appreciably more deeply colored than the back, instead of 

 concolor; the exterior tail-feathers lack the white outer webs and the 

 conspicuous white tips of the inner vanes; reddish orange pectoral 

 tufts are present; there is no decided yellow on the cheeks or chin 

 and very little on the abdomen; the bill is slightly shorter. The fol- 

 lowing description of one of these specimens may prove of interest: 



Adult female, Cat. No. 119193, U. S. Nat. Mus.; Mount Kiliman- 

 jaro (10,000 feet), December 15, 1889. Upper parts sepia brown, the 

 pileum, wings, and tail darker than the rest, and with slight bluish 

 and greenish metallic reflections, most noticeable on the tail; super- 

 ciliary stripe, cheeks, and chin dull ])rownish bufl'; remainder of lower 

 surface sepia brown, rather lighter than that of the upper parts, the 

 center of the abdomen pale yellowish, the under tail-coverts broadly 

 margined with yellowish white, a small reddish orange tuft on each 

 side of the breast; lining of wing yellowish white mixed with brownish. 

 Length of wing, 72; tail, 49; exposed culmen, 29; tarsus, 18; middle 

 toe, 12 mm. 



