xvi CLASSIFICATION. 



Synopsis of Subfamilies. 



a. First primary longer than the seventh, and cut away on the inner web 



towards the tip. Sides of the head in adult males wattled Neodrepanina. 



b. First primary the shortest. No wattles on the sides of the head. 



b'. Form slight and graceful. Metallic colours generally present on adult 



males Nectariniince. 



c'. Form more robust and heavier. Metallic colours never present . . . Arachnotherince. 



Subfamily I. Neodrepanin^e. 



Sides of the head in adult males with wattles of bare skin. Bill very long and much 

 curved, tapering to a fine and rather flexible point. Wing, first primary not short, but sinuated 

 or cut away on the inner margin towards the tip, which is sharply pointed; this quill is not 

 much shorter than the second, and is longer than the seventh. Tail square and short. 



Mange. Confined to Madagascar. 



1. Neodeepanis. t 



Neodrepanis, Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1875, p. 76 N. coruscans. 



Page 1. Neodrepanis coruscans. Add: — 



Neodrepanis coruscans, Haiti. Vog. Madag. p. 94 (1877); Grand. Hist. Nat. Madagascar, 

 pis. 108, 108a (1879). 



Adult Female. No wattles, nor any bare skin on the sides of the head ; entire upper parts olive-green with a 

 slight metallic gloss ; wings and tail dark brown, all the feathers broadly edged with olive-green ; chin, 

 throat, and front of the chest ashy, with the margins of the feathers partially washed with olive or olive- 

 yellow; under the eye a rather well-defined broad buff band; remainder of the breast and abdomen 

 buff, shading into blight yellow on the flanks and under tail-coverts ; under surface of the wings brown, 

 with pale inner margins to the quills, and the coverts sulphur-yellow ; bill black, shading into pale 

 brown towards the base of the lower mandible ; irides and legs dark brown. Total length 4 inches, 

 cuhncn F05, wing 1"95, tail TO, tarsus 0'5. 



My remark upon the absence of metallic colours in the females of the Sun-birds is not quite 

 accurate. They occur in the females of many of the genus Anthreptes, and also in Cinnyris 

 verticalis. The pale tips to the tail-feathers, so well marked in the type specimens, turns out 

 to be a character of the immature bird only. 



Subfamily II. Nectariniince. 

 Form slight and graceful. Metallic colours generally present on adult males. Head with- 

 out wattles or bare skin. Bill very variable in length and curvature. Membrane over the 

 nostrils either feathered or bare. First primary shortest. Feathers on the sides of the back 

 sometimes of a downy texture and sufficient length to cover the rump. Tail very variable in 



