156 Mr. R. B. Sharpe on the 



XX. — On the Genus Platystira and Us Allies. By R. Bowdler 

 Sharpe, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c, Senior Assistant, Zoological 

 Department, British Museum. 



(Plate IV.) 



By all students of African ornithology the genus Platystira is 

 admitted to be full of perplexities ; and any attempt at a mono- 

 graphic revision of it must be a step in the right direction. I 

 have taken some pains to examine large series of these birds, 

 contained principally in the national and my own collections ; 

 and by rejecting all statements which seem to be at all open to 

 doubt, I trust that I shall be able to place the genus on a satis- 

 factory footing, and so assist future research. Any record re- 

 jected by me as untrustworthy at the present time will easily 

 be reinstated afterwards, if found to be correct; or, on the other 

 hand, my verdict will be confirmed by subsequent observation. 

 The late Mr. G. R. Gray, in his < Hand-list ' (vol. i. p. 329), 

 admitted thirteen species which he considered to belong to 

 Platystira, placing them under the subgenera Platystira, 

 Batis, Diaphorophya, Myiophila, Lanioturdus, and Stenoslira. 

 I have never seen the type of Myiophila ; but it can scarcely 

 be separable from Diaphorophya, and is, I suspect, the same as 

 D. blissetti. The last two species placed by Mr. Gray in Pla- 

 tystira, viz. no. 4951, P. plumbea, and no. 4952, P. semipar- 

 tita, I can hardly allow within the limits of the genera now 

 to be considered. No. 4951 is a Parisoma; and no. 4952 is 

 not a Stenostira, but may be referable to Cassinia, where Dr. 

 von Heuglin places it. The consideration of these two genera 

 I must leave for a general paper on the African Muscicapidee. 



Key to the Genera. 



a. Wing less than double the length of tail. 



a'. Eye surrounded by an erect wattle 1. Platystira. 



b'. No eye-wattle. 



a". Wing short, falling short of the tail by 

 more than the length of the cidnien ; beak 



flattened 2. Batis. 



b". Wing very long, reaching to the tip of 

 the tail, or not falling short of it by the 



