NECTARINIID^E CINNYBIS 281 



Flowers being at this season exceedingly scarce, they frequently 

 hunted for small insects amongst the dry seed-tops of the high 

 grass, hovering round the stem as a Humming-bird would do, and 

 thus remaining stationary, but darting away immediately on my 

 approach, so that I found it difficult to get within forty or fifty 

 yards of them." 



Andersson writes: "It is usually seen in pairs, and frequents 

 the banks of periodic streams ; I never saw it far away from such 

 localities." 



159. Cinnyris leucogaster. South Afriectn White-breasted Sunbird. 



Cinnyris leucogaster, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xxxi, p. 515 

 (1819) ; Gadow, Cat. B. M. ix, p. 40 (1884) ; Sliarpc, eel. Layard's 

 B. 8. Afr. Index (1884) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 3 (1896). 



Nectarinia talatala, Smith, App. Rep. Exp. S. Afr. p. 58 (1836) ; 

 Sharpc, ed. La-yard's B. S. Afr. pi. vii (1884) ; Hohib and Pelzeln, 

 Orn. Sildafr. p. 72 (1882). 



Cinnyris talatala, Gurney in Aurtersson's B. Damara Land, p. 72 

 (1872) ; Shdley, Monogr. Cinnyridce, p. 229, pi. 71 (1877) ; Sharpe, 

 cd. Layard's B. S. Afr. pp. 318, 813 (1884). 



Description. Adult male. Entire head, neck and upper surface 

 of body, also the lesser and middle wing-coverts, metallic-green, 

 shot with steel-blue on the forehead, lesser wing and upper tail- 

 coverts ; greater wing-coverts and quills dark brown with paler 

 edges ; tail - feathers blue - black edged with metallic - green and 

 violet ; chin steel-blue, merging into metallic-green on the throat 

 and this into metallic-violet on the upper chest, bordered below 

 by a band of black ; pectoral tufts pale yellow ; rest of under 

 surface white ; under wing-coverts and inner margins of quills pale 

 ash-brown. 



Iris dark brown ; bill, legs and feet black. 



Length 4-45 ; wing 2-30 ; tail 1-75 ; tarsus 0-65 ; culmen 0-80. 



Adult female. Above, crown, sides of head and back pale 

 earth-brown ; eyebrow paler brown ; wing-coverts and quills dark 

 brown with paler edges ; tail-feathers brown-black tipped with 

 whitish and edged with pale brown ; below, white tinged with 

 brown on the throat. 



Iris dark brown ; bill, legs and feet black. 



Length 4-15 ; wing 2-05; tail 1-50; tarsus 0-65 ; culmen 0-75. 



Distribution. Not rare in Natal and Zululand, more common 

 in Swaziland, Portuguese East Africa and the Transvaal, ranging 



