128 ZooJoyical Society. 



the upper mandible has only two dentations, with a faint trace of a 

 third, and the lower mandible exhibits only a slight subterminal 

 emargination. The wings also differ, being more })ointed ; the first 

 quill is subspurious, and the second, third and fourth nearly equal, 

 the third longest. These two species, however, agree in the struc- 

 ture of the tail and feet, and in the texture and almost the colour of 

 the phimage, the rump-feathers being dense, long and downy, as in 

 the true Pycnonoti. The specimen before me is a male ; it exhibits 

 two or three slender nuchal bristles, like those of Pycnonotus and 

 Criniger, which are not traceable in A. latlrostris. 



Total length 7 inches ; beak to gape 10 lines, to front 7 lines, 

 breadth 3 lines, height '2^ lines ; wing 3^ inches ; medial rectrices 

 3 inches 1 line, external 2 inches 1 1 lines ; tarsus 9-^ lines, middle 

 toe and claw 9 lines, hind ditto 6 lines. 



Hab. Fernando Po ; June. " Irides white ; a pretty songster." 



MUSCICAPICE, MuSCICAPINJi:. 



MusciCAPA Fraseri, Strickl. M. cupite, dorso alls que fuscis,fer- 

 rugineo tinctis, remiglbus fitscis, primariis extus basin versus ob- 

 scure fer)'ngmeis, omnibus, \a et 2a exceptis, pogoniis inter nis ad 

 basin pallide rufs, uropi/gio, caudce tectricibus, corporeque toto 

 inferno ntfo-feri'ugineis, guld pallidiore, rectricibus fuscis, 6 in- 

 termediis strictissime, lateralibiis large, rufo terminatis, externa 

 fere omainu rufo. Rostrum latum, nigrum, pedes pallide brunnei. 

 The rufous colouring of the plumage reminds us of Tchitrea, Less. 

 {Muscipeta, Auct.), but the beak is much shorter and more trian- 

 gular than in that genus. In its general structure and proportions 

 this bird appears to approach the restricted genus Muscicapa more 

 closely than any other group. The form of the beak is almost ex- 

 actly that of the Muscicapa latirostris, Sw., of India, and the legs 

 are much shorter than is usual in terrestrial birds. Notwithstanding 

 these characters, Mr. Fraser's notes state that this bird " feeds on the 

 ground ; has the motions and plump appearance of a robin." He 

 adds that the irides are hazel, and that it is a beautiful songster. 



The beak is strong, depressed, very broad, the sides straight when 

 viewed from above, and the base furnished with bristles of moderate 

 length. The first quill is subspurious, 1 inch long ; the second is half 

 an inch shorter than the third ; the fourth is the longest. Tarsi 

 short, acrotarsia and paratarsia entire ; outer toe slightly longer than 

 the inner one, its first phalanx attached to the middle toe ; claws 

 curved, compressed, sharp ; tail rounded. The male and female are 

 alike, except that in the specimen before me of the female the narrow 

 rufous tip of the medial rectrices is wanting, and the dimensions are 

 rather less than in the male. 



Total length 7^ inches ; beak to gape 9 lines, to front 6 lines, 



height 2\ lines, breadth at gape 6 hues; wing 3 inches 10 lines; 



medial rectrices 3:^: inches, external 3 inches 1 line; tarsus 10 lines, 



middle toe and claw 9 lines, hind ditto 7 lines. 



Hab. Fernando Po. 



I dedicate this species to Mr. Louis Fraser, naturalist to the Niger 



