1880.] MR. R. TRTMEN ON A NEW lANIARIUS. (523 



5. Oil an nndescribed Laniariva from the Interior of 

 Southern Africa. — Bj' Roland Trimex^ F.L.S., F.Z.S. 

 etc. Curator of the Soutli-African Museum, Cape Town. 



[Received November ](>, 1880]. 



(Plate LIX.) 



The skin which I now exhibit to tlie Society formed part of the 

 collection of Dr. B. F. Bradshaw, from which the Trustees of the 

 South-African Museum obtained the fine Roller (C'oraczo's spatulatiis, 

 mihi), described in the Society's ' Proceedings' for 1880, pp. 31-33. 

 As was the case with the bird just mentioned, only one example of 

 this peculiar form of Laniariiis was contained in the collection brought 

 by Dr. Bradshaw to Cape Town ; and it is so thoroughly like 

 L. atrococcineiis (Burchell) in every respect but the very striking 

 difference in the colour of the underparts, that I was much disposed 

 to regard it as a singular "sport" of Burchell's well-known species, 

 and thought it well to refrain from describing it as new until I could 

 obtain the opinion of practised ornithologists on the subject. I find 

 that opinion to be rather against my suggestion that the rich orange- 

 yellow in this skin might be only a solitary individual aberration 

 from the crimson of L. atrococcineiis ; and I therefore submit to the 

 Societj' the following description of the specimen in question, which 

 has been added to the collection of the South- African Museum. 



LanIARIUS ATROCROCEUS, Sp. UOV. (PI. LIX.) 



Entire upper surface (including that of wings and tail), together 

 with sides of Jiead and neck, glossy black shot with a steel-blue 

 lustre : under surface throughout, from base of bill to under tail- 

 coverts, rich yellow, with a surface-tint of warm orange ; rump 

 irregularly varied with numerous whitish-tipped feathers ; middle 

 upper wing-coverts and external bordeis of outer webs of tliree last 

 secondaries pure white, forming a continuous longitudinal wing- 

 stripe; all quill-feathers dull fuscous beneath, paler towards their 

 bases ; under wing-coverts dull blackish, irregularly flecked with 

 whitish ; tail beneath not so black as above, and without steel-blue 

 lustre. 



" Bill and legs black ; iris lavender" (B. F, Bradshaw). 



Total length 8 in. 3 lin. ; length of culmen 8 lin. ; of folded wing 

 3 in. G lin., of tail 3 in. 10 lin., of tarsus 1 in. 3 lin. 



Beyond the very conspicuous difference in the colour of the under- 

 parts, I have not found in this skin any characters to separate it 

 from L. atrococcineiis except its rather smaller dimensions. Bur- 

 chell's bird is very frequently met with from the northern border 

 of the Cape Colony far into the interior ; and Dr. Bradshaw told me 

 that it occurred in the same district as the curious bird now under 

 notice. The latter was the only example seen by Dr. Bradshaw, 



