214 Mr. R. B. Sharpe un the Oriolidse 



they wouldj I feel sure, more often append a short note, instead 

 of being satisfied with the mere preservation of the skin. 



I have adhered in the present essay to the same form of dia- 

 gnostic table as in my former contributions, notwithstanding that 

 I have received from a few ornithologists sundry objections to 

 this way of distinguishing species. But, in my opinion, it 

 is the very best way of submitting them to a crucial test, as 

 it exacts the definition of some tangible character by which the 

 species may be distinguished from all others ; and this style of 

 diagnosis is particularly applicable in the case of African birds, 

 where often so many races of the same bird exist, differing in 

 nothing but size, races which can only be distinguished as major 

 and minor. These species cannot be shown in a diagnostic 

 table, and are at once resolved into their position of larger and 

 smaller races of the same species, which I believe to be their 

 proper status in the ornithological system. 



As far as I can perceive, there are nine species of Oriolidce in- 

 habiting the Ethiopian Region ; and they are all referable to the 

 genus Oriolus^. Of these I have examined all but one, namely 

 O. crassirostris, Hartl., which is only known by the type in 

 the Bremen Museum. Dr. Finsch, however, has most kindly sent 

 me a description of the bird, and added at the same time some 

 valuable notes, to which I shall refer in the body of the paper. 

 I am greatly indebted to Lord Walden and Mr. Blanford for 

 the loan of specimens, and to Mr. Gray for allowing me free 

 opportunities of examining the species in the British Museum. 



The African Oriolidce may be divided into two sections: — (1) 

 with the head black — Barnffius, Bp. ; and (2) with the head 

 orange — Oriolus, L. No difference in structure can be found 

 between the types of tliese two groups ; and the so-called genus 

 Barnffius is evidently one of those which were so often established 

 by its author on a difference of plumage alone. The following 

 diagnostic table may be of use in determining the various species 

 of African Orioles : — 



* The geuiis Oriolia, Isid. Geoffr. (c/l Hartl. Orn. Madag. p. 43) is 

 foimded on Oriolia berniei-i, which is said by Prof. Schlegel to be an 

 Artamia, and is figured as A. hernieri (Faun. Madag. Ois. p. 8G, pi. 25) 

 from the original specimen in the Paris Musemn. 



