

IVd 



CINNYEIS MICEORHYNCHA. 



(EASTERN BIFASCIATED SUN-BIRD.) 



Nectarinia jardinei (nee Verr.), Hartl. P. Z. S. 1867, p. 824; Finsch & Hartl. Vog. Ost-Afr. 



p. 218, pi. 2. fig. 1 (1870) ; Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 713. 

 Cinnyris jardinei, Cab. in Von der Decken, Reis. Ost-Afr. iii. p. 29. no. 23 (1869). 



C. similis C. bifasciatce, sed statura multo minore et rostro parvissimo distinguenda . 



Hab. in Africa orientali. 



Adult. Distinguished from C. bifasciata by its very small bill and smaller general size. 



Young Male. Upper parts brown very slightly tinted with olive ; sides of the head of the same colour, with 

 an eyebrow and a streak from the lores buff; wings dark brown, the feathers with broad pale edges 

 slightly tinted with olive; lesser wing-coverts and upper tail-coverts mottled with metallic goHen 

 green ; remainder of the upper tail-coverts dark brown ; underparts buff, shaded with yellow down the 

 centre of the breast, a broad band from the chin down the centre of the throat dusky black interspersed 

 with metallic golden green plumes ; front and sides of the chest and under tail-coverts mottled with 

 dusky black centres to the feathers ; under surface of the wing brown, with the inner margins of the 

 quills and the coverts white; beak and legs black; irides dark brown. Total length 4 - 2 inches, 

 culnien - 6, wing 2 - l, tail 1*6, tarsus 055. 



Hab. Zanzibar district. 



This pretty little Sun-bird is very closely allied to C. bifasciata, of which it is the East-African 

 representative, and is confined, as far as we at present know, to the Zanzibar coast. 



A few years ago the late Sir William Jardine brought a specimen of this bird to the British 

 Museum for identification, considering it to be distinct from C. bifasciata; and Mr. Sharpe at 

 once recognized it by its short bill as the same species which had then recently been sent from 

 Mombas by Mr, Wakefield. This character presented by its little short bill is one readily to be 

 recognized ; and with the least care there is no fear of confounding it with C. bifasciata. I have 

 described the immature male from one of three specimens in Mr. Sharpe's collection, sent by 

 Mr. Wakefield from Mombas. 



Nothing has been published on the habits of this species ; but they are, in all probability, 

 identical with those of C. mariqiiensis. I am unable also to give a detailed description of the 

 species, as the specimens examined by me have been in incomplete plumage ; but the adult male 

 apparently of this species has been figured by Finsch and Hartlaub (Vog. Ost-Afr. pi. 2. fig. 1), 

 and the latter gentleman, writing in 1867, first mentions its occurrence in Zanzibar under the 

 title of Nectarinia jardinei, and observes : — "There is no difference whatever between the Zanzibar 

 bird and a specimen from Angola in the Bremen Museum." I feel confident, however, that the 



