FAM. COLIID 3 
KEY TO THE GENUS COLIUS 
A. Colt simplictplumes. 
a. Rump differently coloured from back . 
bd 
| vump white, blackand ved. 1. CAPENSIS. 
yump wholly ved . . HAMATONOTUS. 
, ; nape uniform with back . 3. ERYTHROMELON. 
Dw ARZU PICU] OYA 02 Ce OCG p ys 
nape blue 4. MACRURUS. 
B. Colat striatiplumes. 
c. Cap brown. 
{ throat brown : 5. STRIATUS. 
ce’. ear-coverts brown . 
( throat black . . . 6. NIGRICOLLIS. 
! r 7 1; 
d'. ear-coverts white oy hoary 7. LEUCOTIS. 
GN Capruhtteeranym my 2 at Gu chs Une 20S) oo eee ee Se ES DU PUCOGERHATUS! 
GENUS COLIUS Brisson 
Colius Brisson, Orn. Vol. 3, p. 304 (1760) (type of the genus Colius capensis); Sharpe, Cat. Birds 
Brit. Mus. Vol. 17, p. 338 (1892). 
Synonyms : Rhabdocolius and Uroeolius, Bonaparte, Consp. gen. Avium, p. 3 (1854). 
Geographical Distribution. I will now offer a few remarks upon each of these eight 
species and its distribution, so far as it is at present known. I may state that these remarks 
are based mainly upon the large series of these birds in the British Museum, which contains 
183 specimens and on the series in the Zoological Museum at Tring which has been most kindly 
lent to me for comparison by Mr. Walter Rothschild. 
As the synonymy of the Colies has been in fully given by Dr. Sharpe in the Catalogue of 
Birds, Vol. 17, p. 338 (1892) and by Dr. Reichenow (Végel Afrikas, Vol. 2, p. 201 [1902]) I 
shall only quote some of the most necessary references. 
1. Colius capensis. : Western Half of the Cape Colony 
Loxia colius Linneus, Syst. Nat. Vol. 1, p. 30r (1766). and through the western parts 
Colius capensis Gmelin, Syst. Nat. Vol. 1, p. 842 (1788); W. L. Sclater, Birds of the Orange-River Colony 
of S. Afr. Vol. 3, p.97. and Transvaal into Damara- 
Colius colius Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. Vol. 17, p. 343 (1892). land and German West Africa. 
Colius colius damarensis Reichenow, V6g. Afr. Vol. 2, p. 207 (1902). 
This Coly is at once recognizable by the peculiar colour of the lower back, which is 
black with a broad line of white in the middle, and a large rump-spot of deep chestnut. 
I can see little reason for distinguishing the Damara-land birds (of which there are 
examples in the British and Tring Museums) as has been proposed by Dr. Reichenow (Vég. 
Afr. Vol. 2, p. 208). They are perhaps a little paler in the head and back, but in my opinion 
hardly recognizable even as a subspecies. 
The Cape Coly is abundant in the neighbourhood of Cape Town, and I have myself seen 
flocks of it in the gardens in the suburbs of that city. 
