228 Mr. R. B. Sharpe on the Oriolidse 



feathers olive, all the others olive at the base, bright yellow at 

 the tip, preceded by a black bar ; under surface of the body rich 

 golden yellow ; bill brownish-red ; feet black. 



Gaboon, Moonda River, and Gamma river {Du Chaillu), 

 Ashantee {Pel), Fantee {Mus. R. B. S.). 



I have kept the synonymy of these two birds separate, but I 

 believe there ought not to be the slightest doubt of their identity. 

 I have a specimen of 0. barvffii, from Fantee, exactly agreeing 

 with the descriptions of Bonaparte and Dr. Hartlaub; and, again, 

 I have another specimen from the same country exactly agreeing 

 with Swainson's 0. hrachyrhynchus. The only difference exists 

 in the tail-feathers. In the latter bird the four middle tail-fea- 

 thers are olive-yellow, while in 0. haruffii the two middle feathers 

 only are olive-yellow, the two next on each side having a black 

 bar before the tip. This character might be sufficient to separate 

 them specifically, but for the fact that this bar seems to disappear 

 gradually. I have seen in Lord Walden's collection a specimen 

 of 0. burnffii obtained from M. Du Chaillu, where the black 

 bar is uneven and interrupted in the middle by a dash of olive- 

 yellow, and is evidently gradually disappearing. I will not, 

 however, positively unite them, although, as will be seen by my 

 refusing 0. haruffii a place in my table of species, I do not for 

 a moment believe it to be really distinct from O. hrachyrhyn- 

 chus; but I should like to be certain what stage of plumage 

 it represents in that species. Any future ornithologist, when the 

 question is decided, can easily add the list of synonyms of O. 

 haruffii given by me above to those of 0. hrachxjrhynchus. Both 

 descriptions are from Fantee specimens^ from which also the 

 figures of the plate are drawn. 



8. Oriolus nigbipennis. (Plate VII. fig. 1.) 



Oriolus nigripennis, Verr. J. f. 0. 1855, p. 105 : Hartl. Orn. 



VVestafr. p. 85 (1857) : Gass. Proc. Ac. N. S. Philad. 1859, p. 



43 : Hartl. J. f. O. 1861, p. 183 : Sharpe, Ibis, 1870, p. 56. 



O. pileo nigro : speculo alari albo nulla. 



Hah. in Africa occidentali. 



Entire head, throat, and upper part of the breast deep glossy- 



