PLOCEID2E UROBRACHYA 133 



71. Pyromelana capensis xanthomelsena. 



Black-thighed Bishop Bird. 



Euplectes xanthomelas, Eilpp. Neue Werb., Vog. p. 94 (1835) ; Kirk, 



Ibis, 1864, p. 322. 



Coliuspasser xanthomelas, Shelley, Ibis, 1886, p. 350 ; 1888, p. 293. 

 Pyromelana xanthomelsena, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii, p. 239 (1890) ; 



Marshall, Ibis, 1896, p. 246 ; Shelley, B. Afr. i. p. 24 (1896). 



Description. Similar to Pyromelana capensis, but distinguished 

 by its entirely black thighs (Sharpe). 



Iris dusky ; upper mandible black, lower yellowish ; feet reddish. 



Length 6'00 ; wing 3-15 ; tail 2-30 ; tarsus 0-85 ; culmen 0-65. 



The birds from the Shire Valley, though referable to P. xantho- 

 melcena, are much smaller (wing, 2-65 2'7) than individuals from 

 more northern localities (Sharpe). 



Distribution. From Salisbury in Mashonaland to Abyssinia, 

 westward to Angola. Salisbury, Mashonaland, Dec. (Marshall). 



Genus III. UROBRACHYA. 



Type. 

 Urobrachya, Bonaparte, Conspectus, i, p. 447 (1850) ...U. axillaris. 



Bill moderate, robust, conical, the culmen slightly arched, pro- 

 longed backwards to a point among the frontal feathers ; nostrils 

 basal, lateral, hidden by plumes and rounded. Wings moderately 

 long, the first quill very short. Tail shorter than the wing, much 

 rounded and graduated, the feathers with rounded ends. Tarsi and 

 toes moderately strong. Plumage : the males with a very distinct 

 breeding plumage, the body of some shade of black, the lesser wing- 

 coverts of orange or scarlet, the feathers of a soft and velvety 

 texture ; in the non-breeding season the males resemble the females 

 in colour some shades of unobtrusive brown. The Urobrachyce, 

 like the Viduce, and Coliopasseres, are polygamous, each male mating 

 with from ten to fifteen females. 



Five species of this genus are found in Africa ; one ranges on the 

 east coast from Zanzibar to East London, another inhabits Benguela 

 and extends southward into Ovampo Land. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Lesser wing-coverts orange-scarlet U. axillaris, p. 134. 



b. Lesser wing-coverts orange-yellow U. bocagii, p. 136. 



