466 Mr. J. H. Gurney's Notes on 



I may also note that Mr. Sharpens article in the P. Z. S. 

 above referred to contains a modification of the measurements 

 of this species as given in his Catalogue. 



Mr. Sharpe states, in his description of T. rupicoloides, that 

 the adult female has " the flanks more barred " than is the 

 case in the male ; but I do not find this to be a constant dis- 

 tinction between the sexes in this species. 



Mr. Sharpe's description of T. alopex is stated to be taken 

 from an adult male, which I believe is preserved at Leyden ; 

 but an adult female from Bogos Land in the British Museum 

 agrees with his description in colour and markings; and, 

 according to Von Heuglin (^ Ibis/ 1861, p. 71), the male only 

 differs from the female '' by a rather more intense coloration " 

 and by its somewhat smaller size. Specimens of T. alopex 

 are extremely scarce in collections, and that at the British 

 Museum is the only one which I have had an opportunity of 

 examining. The two last-named species, T. rupicoloides and 

 T. alopex, are the largest of the genus, offering, in this respect, 

 a remarkable contrast to the three small species Avhich inhabit 

 insular localities lying immediately to the east of the African 

 continent, viz. T. newtoni of Madagascar, T. punctatus of Mau- 

 ritius, and T. gracilis of the Seychelles. 



Since the publication of Mr. Sharpens volume, two plates 

 of T. newtoni, in its different stages of plumage, and two of its 

 osteological details, have appeared in MM. Milne-EdAvards 

 and Grandidier's work on the ' Birds of Madagascar,' pis. 13 

 to 14a, and also an article on this species at p. 45 of vol. i. of 

 that work. Comparing the account given by these authors 

 of the variations of plumage in this species with Mr. Sharpe's 

 remarks on that subject at p. 434 of his Catalogue, and with 

 the specimens preserved in the British and Norwich Museums, 

 and also with an interesting series kindly lent to me hy Pro- 

 fessor Newton, it appears to me that the sexes do not differ 

 in coloration, but that both pass through three distinct phases 

 of plumage, to which I will now briefly allude. 



A nestling lent to me by Professor Newton, though still 

 partly in the down, is sufficiently advanced to show that the 

 feathers of the head are greyish black, slightly mingled with 



