158 Mr. R. B. Sharpe on the 



1861, p. 169 ; Finsch, J. f. O. 1869, p. 335 ; Sharpe, Ibis, 

 1869, p. 189; id. P. Z. S. 1870, p. 567; Shelley & Buckley, 

 Ibis, 1872, p. 287. 



Platysteira cijanea, Gray, Hand-1. of. B. i. p. 329 ; Sharpe, 

 Cat. Afr. B. p. 44 (1871) ; id. P. Z. S. 1871, p. 610. 



Adult male. Upper surface deep glossy blue-black, with a 

 very slight greenish shade, inclining to grey on the rump, 

 where the feathers are long and fluffy ; the nape indistinctly 

 mottled with whitish, only seen on disarranging the feathers ; 

 wing- coverts glossy black like the back, the median ones white, 

 forming a distinct bar across the wing ; quills greyish black, 

 the primaries outwardly margined with a narrow whitish line, 

 broader and more conspicuous on the outer secondaries, 

 whence it is continuous with the alar bar described above, 

 the inner secondaries glossed with dark green, one or two of 

 the longer ones just tipped with whitish ; upper tail- coverts 

 and tail-feathers glossed with dark rifle-green above, blackish 

 below, all the feathers tipped with white, becoming broader 

 on the outer rectrices, and forming a conspicuous lateral bor- 

 der on the outermost ones ; sides of the face like the upper 

 surface of the body ; cheeks and entire under surface of the 

 body pure white, with a conspicuous band of blue-black across 

 the breast, the flank-feathers long and silky ; tibial plumes 

 black, tipped with white ; under wing-coverts as well as the 

 bases of the primaries white, the small outer coverts glossy 

 blue-black, with a little spot of white below the carpal bend 

 of the wing ; bill black ; feet (in skin) blackish ; wattle over 

 the eye semicircular in form and bright scarlet in life. Total 

 length 4"8 inches, culmen 0*7, wing 2*5, tail 2 - 0, tarsus 0*75. 



Adult female. Above dusky cinereous, with a slight gloss of 

 greenish, the rump lighter ; quills and tail as in the male, the 

 white edgings very broad and conspicuous ; chin white ; throat 

 and breast deep maroon, bordered below with a narrow band 

 of glossy black ; rest of the under surface white ; under wing- 

 coverts white, and the wing-lining a little lighter than in the 

 male ; eye-wattle a little paler than in the male. 



Young male, llesembles the old female in the colour of the 

 upper parts and in having more or less maroon on the throat. 



