198 



coverts black, the latter often more or less broadly tipped with deep red ; under surface of the wings 

 black; bill and legs black • irides dark brown. Total length 5"5 inches, culmen 1*2, wing 2 - 8, tail 2 - 0, 

 tarsus 0-75. 



Adult Female. Upper parts deep olive, shaded with yellow on the tail-coverts ; wings dark brown, the 

 coverts edged with olive, the quills more narrowly so with olive-yellow ; tail dark brown, the feathers 

 with partial olive-yellow edges and with pale ends, broadest on the outer ones • a black patch in front 

 of the eye ; eyebrow, cheeks, and ear-coverts pale yellow ; underparts uniform pale yellow, tinted with 

 olive ; under tail-coverts orange-yellow ; under wing-coverts and inner margins of the quills white, the 

 former tinted with yellow • bill and legs black ; irides dark brown. Total length 5"5 inches, culmen 1*15, 

 wing 2-8, tail 2-0, tarsus 075. 



Hab. West Africa, from Senegal to Angola. 



In West Africa there are two closely allied forms, the present species and C.joliannce, distin- 

 guished from all the other members of the " dark metallic group " by their red breasts. Their 

 true position appears to be between C. notatus, of Madagascar, and C. splendidus, of West Africa. 

 The present bird is distinguished from C. johannce by the colour of the crown, throat, and breast 

 as well as by the absence of yellow pectoral tufts. 



It appears to be fairly plentiful in West Africa, from the Gold Coast to Angola ; and I 

 think it probable that it ranges commonly as far as Sierra Leone, although I only know of one 

 instance of its capture to the north-west beyond the boundaries of Fantee ; that is, its occurrence 

 in Senegal, which rests on M. Bouvier's sole authority, as he states that Marche procured it on 

 the Cape-Verd peninsula. 



In Fantee it was first met with by Governor Ussher, at Abrobonko, about six miles inland 

 from Cape-coast Castle, but the greater number of his specimens were sent to him from the 

 little-known forests of Denkera, further in the interior. In fact, I do not think it ever actually 

 comes down to the coast, as near the shore all the large flowering trees have been cut for timber. 

 At Enimil Mr. Blissett has procured it ; and in the lofty forests of the Aguapim mountains 

 Mr. Buckley and I had frequent opportunities of observing this beautiful bird. In this district 

 in February it was very abundant, assembled in company with many other species in the higher 

 branches of some of the lofty trees, which at that season were one mass of blossoms. At times 

 they twinkled like stars as the sunbeams glanced off their rich metallic plumage while they clung 

 to the sweet-scented flowers and revelled in the profusion of this rich banquet spread for them 

 by nature throughout the magnificent forests. It is essentially a woodland species, to be met 

 with only in the forests of large trees ; and in this respect it differs somewhat from C. splendidus, 

 which also frequents the more scattered trees and bushes, and is not uncommonly seen on the 

 plains of Accra, where the shrubs are dispersed at intervals. 



In Mr. Sharpe's cabinet I have examined specimens from the Cameroon Mountains (Crossley), 

 from Gaboon (Du Chaillu), from Angola (Hamilton), and in Lord Walden's collection from the 

 Moonda river (Du Chaillu). It has also been recorded by Cassin (Pr. Philad. Acad. 1859, p. 37) 

 as collected by Du Chaillu on the Muni river, and by Audebert and Vieillot as forming part of 

 Perrein's Malimba collection. It was also contained in a recent consignment received by M. A. 

 Bouvier from his correspondent M. Petit at Londana, in the Loango district. 



