34 IVIr. W. L. Sclater on Birds collected 



ground. When flushed the flight is at first very erratic, but 

 it is straight and fast vvlien the bird is well on the wing. 

 The soft parts are : — S • Ii'ides hazel; bill crimson-lake, 

 apical half dark yellow ; legs and toes crimson. A male 

 from Tete has the bill entirely dark tomato-red. ? . Bill 

 blackish, otherwise as in male.] 



640. Tympanistria tympanistria. 



CC. Plettenberg Bay, Mch. (1) ; N. Illovo, Nov. (1) ; 

 Z. Ngoye Hills, Sept., Oct. (4) ; P. Tambarara, Mch. (1). 



[A Dove of the forests, never frequenting the ordinary 

 bushveld or sparsely timbered country. I have observed it in 

 the forests of the Knysna district, Zululand, Natal, Masam- 

 beti, near Beira, and Gorongoza, but I did not see it in the 

 forests on the Woodbush Hills. Usually met with in pairs 

 it appears to spend most of its time on the ground, 

 where it finds its food. The call is a " coo,^' but somewhat 

 different from that of the other Doves. 



The soft parts of the adult are : — Irides brow^n ; bill 

 reddish brown ; legs and toes dark crimson. In the 

 young : — Irides paler, and the bill and legs and toes 

 duller.] 



641. Chalcopelia afra. (Plate I. fig. 1.) 

 P. Tambarara, June (1 ^). 



Chalcopelia ciialcospilos. (Plate I. fig. 2.) 



Reichenow, J. Ornith. 1902, p. 134. 



Z. Umfolosi Station, Aug. (1) ; Hluhluwe Stream, 

 Aug. (2) ; Tv. Klein Letaba, Aug., Sept. (4) ; Legogot, 

 May (1) ; P. Coguno, June, Aug. (3) ; JNIasambeti, 

 Nov. (1); Beira, Feb. (1) ; Tambarara, June (1); Tete, 

 Sept. (2). 



Until comparatively recently, all writers supposed that 

 there was only one species of Chalcopelia in Africa ; although 

 the fact that some individuals had blue metallic spots on the 

 wing-coverts and others green was well known, this was not 

 considered a specific difference. 



In 1901 Erlanger (Ornith. Monatsb, ix. p. 183) wrote that 

 he was of opinion that the blue-spotted and green-spotted 



