Letters, Extracts, Notices, fyc. 385 



Heuglin has remarked (Orn. N.O.-Afr. i. p. 173) that 

 there appear to be two forms, but he did not refer to the 

 difference in the coloration of the crown, and tried to separate 

 the southern and western birds from the north-eastern form. 

 Captain Shelley (Ibis, 1885, p. 399) has pointed out the 

 distinctive character in the coloration of the crown, and has 

 separated the two forms correctly, but has only made a sub- 

 species of the southern form, referring the northern species 

 to Coracias navia, and giving to the southern species the 

 name Coracias ncevia levaillantii . 



I have been lately working out the synonymy of the 

 Rollers, and, as it appears to me that the olive-crowned bird 

 should be treated as a good species, the question arises as 

 to what specific name it should bear. The specific names 

 already bestowed on these two Rollers, which have hitherto 

 been generally united, are as follows : — 



ncevia, Daudin, Traite d'Orn. p. 258 (1800). 



pilosa, Latham, Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. 27 (1801). 



crinita, Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii. part 2, p. 401 (1809). 



nuchalis, Swainson, B. of W. Afr. ii. p. 110 (1837). 



levaillantii, Riippell, Syst. Uebers. Vog. N.O.-Afr. p. 23 

 (1845). 



Of these, the first, ncevia of Daudin, undoubtedly refers 

 to the northern or rufous-crowned species, as the author 

 states that the crown is red, and gives the habitat as " Sene- 

 gambia." Latham's pilosa appears to be also referable to 

 the northern species, but his description is very meagre, and 

 he merely gives " Africa " as the habitat. Shaw's name is 

 based, as was Latham's pilosa, on the Hairy Roller of Latham 

 (Gen. Syn. Suppl. ii. p. 27) and no description is given. 

 Swainson's nuchalis is also most certainly the northern 

 species, as he states that the crown is " vinaceous red; " and 

 RiippelPs levaillantii must also refer to the northern species, 

 for though he gives no description, he states that it is " com- 

 mon in the lowlands of Abyssinia." I may here remark 

 that Riippell refers to this bird as " Coracias levaillanti, 

 Temminck," but I cannot find that this name was ever pub- 

 lished by Temminck. 



SER. vi. — vol. ii. 2e 



