Birds from Southern Abt/ssifiia. 557 



of tlie Little Glossy Starling differ from West African speci- 

 mens ol: L. chloropterus Swains, in having a well-marked 

 deep purplish-blue patch on the lesser wing- coverts. In 

 L. chloropterus the wing-coverts are greenish steel-blue 

 without any trace of purple. As this character appears to 

 be perfectly constant in a tolerably large series of specimens 

 from West Africa, I propose to distinguish the birds from 

 N.E. Africa under the above name. 



All the specimens procured by Zaphiro at Kullo and Gofa 

 on the Omo River are immature, with the breast reddish- 

 brown and the back dull golden-green. 



Shelley, in his "^ Birds of Africa/ v. p. 34 (1906), unites 

 both the above-named smaller forms with the larger 

 L. sycobius and L. chalybeus, all being placed under the 

 latter name. On re-examining the question I am unable to 

 agree with his conclusions, the differences between the 

 various forms being easily recognised. 



7. Spreo superbus. 



Spreo superbus (Riipp.) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, T901, p. 61.2. 



Specimens of the Spreo Starling in adult plumage were 

 obtained at Sombo, near Addis Abbaba, Bulbula, Lake 

 Zwai, Kambata, and Baroda, and a female in immature 

 plumage at Kerre on the Omo River in August. 



8. Spreo shelleyi. 



Spreo shelleyi Sharpe; Bannermau, Ibis, 1910, p. 293. 

 A single immature example of Shelley ^s Spreo Starling 

 was procured at Lake Stefanie in August. 



9. CiNNAMOPTERUS TENUIROSTRIS. 



Cinnamopterus tenuii'ostris (Riipp.) ; Reich, ii. p. 703 

 (1903) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1904, p. 255 ; id., Trans. Zool. 

 See. xix. p. 265 (1910). 



The series of the Slender-billed Red-winged Starling pro- 

 cured at Dildila near Addis Abbaba, Kullo, and Gofa, include 

 two immature female examples, which resemble the male 

 parent, but are of a duller colour and have a shorter tail. 

 The reader is referred to my remarks recently published iu 



