122 



Key to tlie Species. 



a. General colour of plumage black or brown, 



unrelieved by any distinctive marks. 



a'. Legs black or brown M. maxima, p. 123. 



b'. Legs yellow or orange. 



a". Wing quite 5 inches and generally 



more. 



a'". Lower plumage uniformly dark 

 brown ; crown of male not much 



darker than back M. simillima^ p. 124. 



b'" '. Lower plumage albescent on abdo- 

 men and under tail-coverts ; crown 

 of male black, forming a cap con- 

 spicuously darker than back M. nigripileus, p. 126. 



b". Wing about 4*5 inches, rarely reach- 

 ing 5. 

 c'". Upper plumage with all feathers 



margined M. kinnisi, p. 124. 



d'". Upper plumage uniform. 



a 4 . Sides of head of much the same 



colour as other parts of head .... M. bourdilloni, p. 125. 

 6 4 . Sides of head rufous * M. erythrotis, p. 126. 



b. Plumage variegated. 



c'. Hind neck of different colour from back. 



c". Crown and back of same colour M. albicincta, p. 127. 



d". Crown and back of different colours . . M. castanea, p. 128. 

 d'. Hind neck of same colour as back. 



e". Feathers of upper plumage variegated 



with dark central marks M.fuscata, p. 129. 



f". Feathers of upper plumage not varie- 

 gated. 

 e'". Tail, throat, and upper breast chiefly 



chestnut M. ruficollis, p. 130. 



f". No chestnut on tail, throat, or upper 



breast, 

 c*. Wings boldly marked with a large 



patch of grey or rufous M. boulboul, p. 1 30. 



d 4 . Wings uniform. 



a 5 . Under wing- coverts and axil- 

 laries wholly or in part chest- 

 nut or orange-brown, 

 a 6 . Sides of breast and abdomen 



grey or brown. 



a 7 . Throat and breast uni- 

 formly of one colour. 



a 8 . Throat and breast black. M.atrigularis <$,"$. 131. 

 b s . Throat and breast slaty 



grey M. unicolor tf , p. 132. 



b 7 . Throat and breast streaked. 

 c 8 . Under wing - coverts 

 orange-brown; axillaries 

 rufous-grey M. atrigularis , p. 131. 



* Of M. Jcinnisi, M. bourdittoni, and M. erythrotis the series to which I 

 have access is so very small and unsatisfactory that the characters for these 

 three species given here may not prove to hold good in all cases. 



