THE IBIS. 



TENTH SERIES. 



Vol. IV. No. 1. JANUARY 1916. 



I. — A Revision of the Genus Haplopelia. By David 

 A. Bannerman, B.A., M.B.O.U., F.B.G.S. 



While engaged in Avorking out the collections o£ the late 

 Mr. Boyd Alexander', which he made in West Africa and 

 the islands in the Gulf of Guinea, I experienced considerable 

 diflSculty in naming the specimens of the genus Haplopelia 

 that he had ol)tained. 



I found that the entire genus was in a great state of 

 confusion, and that in several cases a single species had 

 received two or three names, owing to the many phases of 

 plumage through which these Pigeons pass before attaining 

 that of the adult bird. In the following pages I have 

 att <mpted to clear up some of the disputed points, but this 

 paper must on no account be taken as a final revision of this 

 difficult genus. 



Thanks mainly to Mr. Boyd Alexander, the British 

 Museum now possesses a very fair series of the majority 

 of forms which have been described, and only one species 

 (H. hypoleuca Salvad.) is unrepresented in the collection. 

 Unfortunately, in one or two cases, I have been unable to 



SER. X. VOL. IV. B 



