Vol. xii.] 36 



Sundcvall himself showed that he had already come to the 

 same conclusion. 



Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant gave the following review of 

 the genus Irrisor, based upon his recent studies of the col- 

 lection in the British Museum, and added a " key " to the 

 species : — 



" In the ' Catalogue of Birds ' Salvin divided the forms of 

 Irrisor with the head metallic green or purple into two 

 species as follows : — 



" 1. /. viridis. With the tail more or less purple. 



" 2. /. erythrorhynchus. With the tail more or less 

 greenish blue. 



il The colour of the tail cannot, however, be relied on as a 

 specific distinction. 



" Salvin considered that the birds with black bills were 

 merely the young of those with red bills. It is perfectly true 

 that in the red-billed forms the young have the bill dusky, but 

 there can be no doubt that the great majority of the speci- 

 mens considered by him to be the young of I. erythro- 

 rhynchus represent distinct species. Young birds may be 

 recognized by the buff feathers on the chin and throat. The 

 whole group appears to be much in need of revision, and I 

 propose the following arrangement of the species in Salvin' s 

 first section : — 



"I. Head and throat metallic green, or black glossed 

 with purplish ; wings and tail with white spots. 



A. Bill scarlet in the adult bird (dusky or partly- 



dusky in the immature). 



a. Back metallic green. 



a'. Tail longer, 9-0-10-0 inches; white baud on 



quills wider, 0-9-1-1 inch in width I. erythrorhynchus. 



b'. Tail shorter, 7-0-8-0 inches ; white band on 



quills narrower, 0*5 inch in width I. viridis. 



b. Back sooty black with a purplish-bronze gloss /. damarensis. 



B. Bill black in the adult bird. 



c. Head, nape, and back glossed with metallic 



green and purplish blue I. melanorhynchus. 



d. Nape and back velvety black, slightly glossed 



with dull purplish blue ; crown of the head 



