OF NEW OR LITTLE KNOWN BIRDS. 297 



ropsis : tail tinged with blue. Total length 7\ inches ; bill, 

 gape ^ ; wings 4 ; tail, beyond, | ; outer tail feather \ shorter 

 than the middle ; tarsus ^ ; hind toe and claw iS.* 



51. Brachystoma cinerea. 



Body entirely cinereous : wings dark brown^ with 

 pale edges to the quills ; tail black, glossed with green- 

 ish^ and marked by darker transverse linear shades. 



Inhabits the interior of New Holland. Found by 

 Mr. Allan Cunningham. 



Total length 12 inches; bill, gape I ; ditto, from the front 

 ^ ; wings nearly 6 ; tail, beyond, S^ ; ditto, from the base 7 ; 

 tarsus 1^9_ . hind toe and claw ^. The tips of the feathers on 

 the head and neck are paler : bill and feet black. 



52. Lamprotornis melanogaster. 



Shining sea green ; glossed with purple on the ears, 

 scapulars, rump, and upper tail covers : belly and flanks 

 black ; the latter glossed with copper : quills and tail 

 black, with obscure purplish edges. 



Inhabits Senegal. Mus. Nost. 



Total length about 8 inches; bill, gape ^; front ^; 



tinguished by having no spots on the wings ; by the quill fea- 

 thers being deep black, with only an obscure purple gloss on 

 their outer edges ; and by the middle of the belly and breast 

 being black, without any gloss; between this black, and the 

 green of the breast, is a purple tinge, which changes to that of 

 copper on the flanks. 



53. Lamprotornis alhiventris. 



Brown, with slight metallic reflections : belly, thighs, 

 and under tail covers, fulvous white : gape with a pale, 

 naked, membranaceous skin : tail green, with transverse 

 black shades. 



Inhabits Southern Africa. Le Spreo, Le Vaill. 

 L'Ois. d'Af. p. 188. 



Total length 10 inches; bill, gape 1-^; ditto, front -^; 

 wings 5.^ ; tail, beyond, ]i ; ditto, base 4; tarsus almost li ; 

 Bill black ; base of the under mandible pale : tail rounded. 



* I have had my suspicions that this, after all, may be the young bird, or 

 the female, of the C. Rafflesm ; and yet the different form of its tail feathers 

 is so totally opposed to this supposition, tliat until such a similarity is esta- 

 blished beyond all doubt, I must continue to hold the opinion here acted upon. 



