77 [Vol. xli. 



He then went on to say that he did not consider that 

 almost pure white Blackcap eggs were reversions ; he 

 thought they were probable due to loss of pigment in very 

 old birds, hence their rarity, as very few birds lived to the 

 age at which they were produced. 



In the series they would see one clutch of aberrant eggs 

 which were closely allied to Sedge- Warblers' eggs ; two, 

 however, had the characteristic brownish-black specks, which 

 at once gave the clue to Blackcap eggs ; and it was seldom 

 that an aberrant clutch did not contain at least one or more 

 eggs, which gave the clue to the type. These superimposed 

 specks or dots were characteristic of Blackcap eggs, but the 

 same markings, however, sometimes lay beneath the gluti- 

 nous layer, which gave them the appearance of having a 

 penumbra. They were seldom found on the eggs of 

 S. simplex. 



A discussion followed in which some members challenged 

 Mr. Bunyard's theory upon the subject of loss of pigment in 

 old birds. 



Mr. D. A. Bannerman sent the description of two new 

 races of the Weaver-bird, Malimhus rubricolUs, from West 

 Africa, which he characterised as follows : — 



Malimbus rubricoUis nigeriae, subsp. nov. 



Adult male. Most nearly allied to M. r. hartletti from the 

 Gold Coast, but the colour of the head is a lighter and 

 brighter shade of crimson. It is also distinguished from the 

 typical form of M. rubricolUs rubricolUs by the colour of the 

 head having no trace of the orange-scarlet shade exhibited 

 in that bird. M. r. nigerice is absolutely intermediate between 

 the two forms, but in the large series before me inclines 

 more towards M. r. bartletti than to the typical form. The 

 female differs from the male in having a broad black frontal 

 band as in all races of M. rubricolUs. 



Type. S adult, no. 94 in the British Museum. Iju Water 

 Works, near Lagos. 31st Dec, 1919. Willoughby P. Lowe 

 Coll. Bill (exposed culmen) 20 mm., tarsus 2&, wing 105. 



