CINNYEIS AFFINIS. 



(ABYSSINIAN YELLOW- BREASTED SUN-BIRD.) 



Violet-tailed Creeper, Lath. Gen. Hist. B. iv, p. 232, no. 20 (1822). 



Cinnyris affinis, Riipp. Neue Wirb. p. 87, pi. 31, fig. 1 (1835); Lefebvre, Voy. Abyss. Ois. 



p. 87 (1845-50) ; Ferr. et Gal. Voy. Abyss, iii, p. 248 (1847) ; Bp. Comptes Rendus, 1854, 



p. 265. 

 Nectarinia affinis, Jard. Monogr. Sun-birds, p. 275 (1842) ; Riipp. Syst. Uebers. p. 28 (1845); 



Bp. Consp. Av. i, p. 406, no. 12 (1850) ; Mull. J. f. 0. 1855, p. 14 ; Heugl. Syst. Uebers. Vog. 



N.O.-Afr. p. 21 (1856); Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. E.I. Co. Mus. ii, p. 737, no. 1076(1856); 



Heugl. Faun. Roth. Meer, p. 21 (1861); Brehm, Habesch. pp. 211, 284 (1863); Heugl. 



J. f. O. 1864, p. 262, 1867, p. 300; Gray, Hand-1. B. i, p. 108, no. 1326 (1869); Finsch, 



Trans. Z. S. vii, p. 229 (1869); Blanford, Geol. & Zool. Abyss, p. 351, no. 108 (1870); 



Sharpe, Cat. Afr. B. p. 40, no. 377 (1871); Heugl. Orn. N.O.-x\fr. p. 232 (1871). 

 Cyanomitra affinis, Reichb. Handb. Scansorise, p. 292, no. 630, pi. 573, fig. 3907 (1S54); 



Antin. & Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civ. Genova, iv, p. 452 (1873). 



Ad. similis C. venusto, sed paullo major : supra vix cuprescenti-bronzino nitens : pectore et subcaudalibus 

 lsete flavis : tibiis saturate brunneis : fasciis pectoralibus flavis, interdum aurantiaco raixtis : subalari- 

 bus cinerascentibus. 



Hab. in Africa septentrionali-orientali. 



Adult Male. Very similar to C. venustus, but slightly larger; upper parts with scarcely any coppery bronze 

 reflections ; breast and under tail-coverts bright yellow ; thighs dark brown ; pectoral tufts chrome- 

 yellow, occasionally slightly mottled with orange-red; uader wing-coverts ashy grey. Total length 

 42 inches, culinen 0'65, wing 215, tail T6, tarsus - 6. 



Hab. North-east Africa. 



The present species is so closely allied to the West-African C. venustus that the same characters 

 distinguish them both from the other members of this family, while the specific characters are 

 shortly given in my description of this latter species. 



It is confined to North-eastern Africa: here Riippell found it plentiful in small family 

 parties on the bushes and trees along the valleys of the Abyssinian coast-country of the Massowah 

 district and on the road to the Taranta pass. According to Mr. Blanford it " replaces V. habes- 

 sinica, above 3500 to 4000 feet, and extends upwards into the temperate regions," breeds about 

 May ; and he saw young birds with their parents in July. 



From Von Heuglin's observations it does not appear to be very generally distributed ; for he 

 only found it on the eastern side of the Abyssinian highlands, and at no greater elevation than 

 6000 to 7000 feet above the sea. They do not appear to come actually down to the coast, but 



2z 



