Genus Platystira and its Allies. 165 



specimens from Bogos Land, all referable to B. orientalis, 

 while the British Museum contains a pair from Sennaar, pur- 

 chased of Herr Parreyss. These are the true B. senegalensis ; 

 and it is probable that the bird obtained by Captain Speke in 

 the Somali country (cf. Ibis, I860, p. 247) was also of this 

 species. On the west coast it ranges from Senegambia to the 

 eastern parts of the Gold Coast. 



Specimens examined. 



Mus. Brit. — a. River Gambia (Rendall) . b, c. W. Africa 

 (L. Fraser). d, e. Sennaar. 



Mus. R. B. S. — a, 6 . Casamanze {Verreaux). b. Accra (J. 

 Smith, e don. G. E. Shelley). c, S. River Volta (H. T. 

 Ussher) . 



Mus. G. E. Shelley.— a, 2 imm. Abouri (G. E. S.). 



3. Batis orientalis. 



Platystira pririt, Blanf. Geol. & Zool. Abyss, p. 345 (1870) ; 

 Finsch, Tr. Z. S. vii. p. 247 (1870). 



Platystira affinis, Finsch, Tr. Z. S. vii. p. 315 (1870). 



Platystira orientalis, Heugl. Orn. N. O. Air. i. p. 449 

 (1870). 



Adult male. Crown of the head and back grey, more or less 

 clear, but not blackish ; a broad white eyebrow extending 

 backwards till it joins the nape, forming a nuchal spot; sides 

 of face from base of bill inclosing the eye and the ear-coverts 

 black, extending on each side of the nuchal spot ; back grey, 

 the outer scapulars black, with concealed white bases, the 

 rump also slightly mottled with white, where the bases to the 

 feathers show through ; upper tail-coverts glossy black ; wing- 

 coverts black, the median and inner greater coverts broadly 

 tipped with white ; quills greyish black, the primaries nar- 

 rowly edged with whitish, the outer secondaries very broadly 

 bordered w T ith white ; tail-feathers deep black, slightly tipped 

 with white, the two outer ones also broadly bordered with 

 white for nearly a quarter of their length ; under surface of 

 body white with a broad pectoral band of glossy blue-black, 

 the flanks sparingly streaked with black ; tibial plumes black ; 

 under wing-coverts black, the tips of the lower ones and inner 



