of the Ethiopian Region. 41 5 



crown and occipvit silver-grey, like the rest of the head. 

 Total length 7*5 inches, culmen I'O, wing 4*2, tail 2*45, 

 tarsus 0-73. 



Extremely old birds have the upper surface of the body, 

 the wing-coverts, and the secondary quills yellower; the 

 underparts and under tail-coverts more of a buffy grey, with 

 a stronger yellowish wash ; the under surface of the tail- 

 feathers with a yellowish gloss, the spotting on the outer 

 ones becoming confluent and forming a yellowish margin. 



Young birds have the upper parts, wing-coverts, and secon- 

 dary quills dusky brownish olive ; the red on the head, rump, 

 and upper tail-coverts less brilliant ; the face, neck, and the 

 whole of the under surface of the body, also the under tail- 

 coverts, duller, and more of an ashy brown on the chest and 

 breast ; the abdomen, flanks, and thighs having almost ob- 

 solete dusky barring, the under tail-coverts being more dis- 

 tinctly barred; under wing- coverts and axillaries duller. 



Sundevall, in his ' Conspectus,^ states his opinion that 

 Swainson's D. immaculatus is, without doubt, = M. griseoce- 

 phalus, and that Swainson^s type never came from West 

 Africa at all. Although I admit that there are certain 

 characters in Swainson's description which, at first sight, 

 appear to refer his species to M. griseocej)haIus, the spots on 

 the outer webs of the quills seem to me to settle the question 

 and show it to be M. goertan. I regret that the type spe- 

 cimen does not appear to have been in the Swainson collection 

 when it was presented to Cambridge, and I am therefore 

 obliged to judge from the description only ; but I have no 

 doubt on the subject in my own mind. 



This Woodpecker appears to inhabit the whole of West 

 Africa from Senegambia to Angola. 



4. Mesopicus spodocephalus. 



Dendrobates poiocephalus, Riipp. [nee Sw.), Beschr. neuer 

 abyss. Klettervogel, in Mus. Senckenb., Extra-Band iii. 

 p. 119 (1842); id. Syst. Uebers. p. 86, pi. xxxiv. (1845); 

 Heugl. Syst. Uebers. p. 47. no. 485 (1856). 



SER. v. VOL. I. 2 G 



