TURDUS TROPICALIS, Peters. 
PETERS'S THRUSH. 
Turdus libonyanus (nec Smith), Finsch & Hartl. Vóg. Ost-Afr. р. 280(1870) ; Fischer & Reichen. 
J. f. О. 1880, р. 144. 
Turdus libonyanus, pt. (nec Smith), Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. v. p. 229 (1881). 
Turdus tropicalis, Peters, J. f. O. 1881, p. 49. 
Peliocichla tropicalis, Cab. J. f. O. 1882, p. 320. 
Turdus libonyanus, var. tropicalis, Seebohm, Ibis, 1883, p. 165. 
T. similis Т. libonyano, sed pectore cinerascente, aurantiaco сІагё lavato distinguendus. 
I mavE found it impossible to decide, from the material at my disposal, whether this species is 
distinct or not from 7. libonyanus. It is said to be a smaller bird, but there is nothing in the 
measurements which would justify this supposition. 
T. libonyanus varies in length of wing from 4:05 to 4:9 inches, a difference of three quarters of 
an inch, the wing of the females being only a trifle shorter than that of the males. In the birds 
which I consider to be T. tropicalis the wing varies in length from 4:0 to 4:8 inches; so that there 
is no valid difference to be found in the length of the wing of the two races. 
That the two forms are closely allied and are probably identical will be admitted by any 
ornithologist who examines our series in the British Museum, and the wash of orange-colour on the 
breast of T. tropicalis is probably only a sign of autumn or winter plumage. The series from 
Nyasa Land in the British Museum, obtained by Sir Harry Johnston and Consul Alfred Sharpe, 
belong mostly to the form known as T. tropicalis, and have the chest distinctly washed with orange. 
There are, however, many specimens which it is almost impossible to distinguish from Transvaal 
examples of 7. libonyanus. Those which show the greatest amount of orange tint were obtained in 
June and July, and the greyer-chested birds from August to December. In the latter month birds 
in immature plumage and in moult were procured; but there is not a single specimen killed between 
January and June, and whether the species is absent from Nyasa Land during those months will have 
to be discovered. The examples of Т, libonyanus in the British Museum were met with in May, 
June, and August, and no young birds from the south of the Zambesi have as yet been examined 
by me. 
In Nyasa Land Mr. Alexander Whyte has procured specimens at Zomba between June and 
December (Shelley, Ibis, 1896, p. 230), at Fort Lister (3300 feet) in July (Shelley, Ibis, 1894, 
p. 468), and at Fort Hill in the same month. Consul Alfred Sharpe has obtained the species at 
Chiradzulu. 
The late Dr. Bradshaw obtained а specimen of this Thrush on the Zambesi, and there is a skin 
from Теге, procured by Sir John Kirk during the Livingstone Expedition, in the British Museum. 
The original example in the Berlin Museum came from Inhambane, and Dr. Reichenow has 
identified one of our specimens from Zomba in Nyasa Land as agreeing with the type of T. tropicalis. 
1 am also of opinion that if T. tropicalis is capable of separation from T. libonyanus, it is this 
smaller form which extends to East Africa. Dr. Fischer has recorded it from Mozambique іп May 
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