218 MUSOPHAGIDJE GALLIREX 



Iris dark brown ; eyelids scarlet ; bill and legs black. 



Length about 16-5 ; wing 7*1 ; tail 8-0 ; tarsus 1-8 ; culmen 1-0. 



The sexes are alike. 



Distribution. Confined to south-east Africa, ranging southwards 

 from the Zambesi to Natal, and extending on to Knysna according 

 to Layard. I do not know on what authority Layard makes this 

 statement, for no other collector, such as Levaillant, Victorin, or 

 Andersson obtained the bird there, nor have I any notice of its 

 occurrence further east in the Colony. North of the Zambesi 

 the present species is replaced by a very closely-allied form (G. 

 MoroMamys) which extends to Abyssinia, 



FIG. 72. Gallirex porpliyreoloplnis. x \. 



The following are South African localities : Cape Colony 

 Knysna (Layard) ; Natal Durban (Smith and Shelley) ; Transvaal 

 Oliphants' river (S. A. Mus.) ; Ehodesia Fort Chiquaqua 

 (Sowerby), Umfuli river (Selous), and Mazoe (Marshall) all in 

 the low veld. 



Habits. The Purple Lourie is common in the dense bush along 

 the sea coast of Natal, but retreats inland for about fifteen miles, 

 according to Ayres, in the spring, returning during the summer, 

 autumn, and winter, to the coast- Several birds are often to be 



