504 Mr. G. L. Bates on the 



ready to lay were shot iu the neighbourhood of dead trees 

 containing the holes of Barbets [Gymnobucco), and seemed 

 to be led to the spot by the instinct which makes them seek 

 such a i)lace to deposit their eggs. One had in the oviduct 

 a crushed egg with complete shell ; tlie bits of egg-shell 

 were pure white, without gloss^ and were not very thin. 



MeLIGNOMON ZENKER!. 



Ileichenow^ V. A. ii. p. 113; Bates_, Ibis, 1909, p. 17. 



No. 3705. cJ. Bitye, R. Ja, June 1, 1909. 



No. 4073. ? breeding. Esamesa, R. Ja, Jan. 1910. 



Both had the iris brown ; bill dark horny, yellowish at the 

 base beneath and at the gape ; feet dull yellow. Nostrils 

 with a long-elliptical raised rim. 



Pkodotiscus insigxis. 

 Beichenow, V. A. ii. p. 115. 



Hetan'odes insignis Cassin, Proc. Ac. Sc. Philad. 1856, 

 p. 157; 1859, p. 142,, figure. 



Indicator cmini Shelley, P. Z. S. 1888, p. 43. 



No. 4093. ? ad. Bitye, R. Ja, Feb. 11, 1910. Iris 

 dark brown ; bill black; feet slate-coloured. 



No. 4076. ? yg. Esamesa, R. Ja, Jan. 29, 1910. Iris 

 brown ; bill above dark at base, whitish at tij), beneath 

 yellowish ; feet grey. 



My specimens are exactly like the type of Sliclley's 

 Indicator emini, which, as pointed out in a MS. note with 

 that specimen, written by Neumann, diliers in some slight 

 particulars from Cassin's des^cription of specimens from the 

 Gaboon region. If there are two subspecies or geographical 

 r:ices, my specimens belong to that found by Emin on the 

 eastern border of the Congo Basin, and not to that found 

 near Gaboon. 



The young bird (No. 4076) is nearly like the adult, but 

 has a darker and less yellowish plumage. 



The skins of these birds were not especially tough, like 

 the skins of Indicator. The food of tlie young one had 

 been small Orthoptera, probably given it by a foster-parent. 



