W. E. OGILVIE-GEANT— AYES. 319 



of this beautiful green Sun-bird and their more sombrely clad wives. Their short 

 cheerful song is heard on all sides, uttered from the top of a tall lobelia-spike or bunch 

 of giant groundsel. It is a very pretty sight to see them feeding upon the lobelias, as 

 they cling to the side of the tall flower-spike. With their legs held horizontally so as 

 to keep the body away from the flowers, they swiftly probe the long pale blue tubes of 

 the blossom with their curved beaks. The males are incessantly fighting with one another 

 or flirting with the females, and each pair seems to claim a certain district as its own, 

 from which all trespassers are hastily and noisily chased. They show little or no fear 

 of man, and one actually settled upon the barrel of Mr. Carruthers's gun while he was 

 standing still. Where found they are extremely plentiful, but as they are never met 

 with below 12,500 ft. they do not occur among the tree-heaths, and apparently feed 

 entirely upon the lobelia-blossoms. 



In dark misty weather few of these birds were to be seen, but their song was often 

 heard in spite of mist and rain. They were breeding in January, which is the driest 

 month of the year, and some of the young were already fledged. Unfortunately, we 

 failed to find a nest. — S. S. W.~\ 



Nectakinia PUEPUREiVENTiiis (Reichenow). 



Cinnyris jiurpureiventris Shelley, B. Afr. ii. p. 39 (1900). 



Nectarinia barakce Sharpe, Bull. B. 0. C. xiii. p. 8 (1902), p. 50 (1903) [Ruwenzori]. 

 Nectarinia pwpureiventiis Reich. Vclg. Afr. iii. p. 503 (1905) [Migere, Mufumbiro] ; Jacksou, 

 Ibis, 1906j p. 555 [Ruwenzori]. 



a. cS imm. Mubuku Valley, E. Ruwenzori, 7000 ft., lOih March. [No. 2179. G. X."| 



Iris dark brown ; bill and feet black. 



The only example of this remarkably handsome Sun-bird procured by the Expedition 

 is a male assuming the metallic breeding-plumage. 



In the Jackson Collection there are numerous examples from Ruwenzori, procured 

 by Mr. G. Archer, and, among them, males in full breeding-plumage shot in February 

 and October. There is also a male, killed on the 13th of February, assuming the 

 metallic plumage, and very similar to the bird in the present Collection, which was 

 procured on the 10th of March. This would seem to indicate that the metallic 

 plumage is assumed in February and March ; but I have satisfied myself that both these 

 specimens are immatiire birds assuming their metallic dress and not adult birds coming 

 out of an " eclipse " plumage. This species was first procured by Stuhlmann at Migere, 

 on the Mufumbiro Volcanoes. 



[A single specimen of Baraka's Sun-bird was shot by Mr. Gerald Lrgge in the 

 Mubuku Valley, on the east side of Ruwenzori, at an altitude of 7000 ft. This was 

 the only occasion on which the species was met with during the whole expedition 

 around the mountains. It is a remarkable fact that Mr. Geoff"rey Archer should have 



