182 



PLATYSTERA (JARD. & SELB.), 



composed alone of the African todies. Perfect as is 

 the union of the two last divisions, that between 

 Lepturus and the one we have now come to, if possi- 

 ble, is still more so. The first species of Platystera^ 

 in short, which meets us in our progress, has such 

 a close resemblance to Lepturus, that had we not 

 ascertained it to be an aberrant example, we should, 

 without hesitation, have placed them together as 

 species only. To the bird in question, we venture 

 to impose the name of Platystera longipes^ and it 

 has been described and figured by Le Vaillant under 

 the name of Le Mignard*. He specially remarks, 

 that this is the smallest flycatching bird that has 

 been discovered in Africa, and the very same may 

 be said of the Lepturus ruficeps, with regard to 

 those of America ; both, in fact, have short feeble 

 wings, small triangular bills, and long slender tails 

 and feet. How then, it may be asked, can they be 

 generically separated ? The answer is not difficult. 

 In the first place, the bill of the Platystera longipe* 



* Ois. d'Afrique, iv. pi. 154. The colouring of these figures, 

 no less than that of many others in this otherwise valuable 

 work, is very unnatural. Instead of the ground colour being 

 light blue, it is of the darkest grey above, and cinereous be* 

 neath, the chin and middle of the breast being tinged with 

 rote colour, as seen in our figure. 



