250 
Annals of the Transvaal Museum 
Nicator gularis Finsch and Hartl. Tropical coastal forests from Natal. 
Uvolestes melanoleucus (Jard. and Selb.). Bushveld. 
Eurocephalus anguitimens (A. Smith). Bushveld. 
Nilaus hvuhfu (Shaw). Bushveld and temperate thornveld. 
AT. nigritempovalis Rchw. Lower Zambesi region. 
Efessovnis retzii retzii (Wahlb.). Bushveld. 
E. vetzii tricolor (G. R. Gray). Lower Zambesi region. 
Phaidrometopon scopifrons (Ptrs.). Lower Zambesi region. 
Prionops talacoma (A. Smith). Bushveld northwards. 
Paridae 
Sharpe places all our species of true Tits in the genus Pentheres) but 
it seems to me to be better to retain our two species Parus afer and P. cine- 
rascens in the original genus, separating P. niger in a subgenus, for which 
the name of Melaniparus Bonaparte is available, and P. rufiventris Bocage 
into yet another subgenus. The following emendations have been effected 
in the nomenclature of our species : 
Parus xanthostomus = P. niger juv. (cf. Hellmayr, in Wytsmann’s Genn. Av. 
xviii. 23, 1911). 
P. rufiventris rufiventris is recorded from Ovamboland by W. L. Sclater (Ann. 
S. Afr. Mus. III. 379). 
P. rufiventris pallidiventris records from Rhodesia refer to P. rufiventris rovu- 
mae (cf. Hellmayr, l.c. p. 23). 
P. afer damarensis Rchw. = P. cinerascens Vieil. (cf. Hellmayr, l.c. p. 23). 
P. afer and P. cinerascens are distinct species. 
Remizidae 
I fail to see why the Penduline Tits are placed in the Paridae, and there- 
fore raise them to family rank, on account of the finely pointed bill, besides 
other characters. Hellmayr (in Wytsmann’s Genn. Av. xviii. 61, 1911) 
recognises the Cape Penduline Tit in three subspecies, namely, Anthoscopus 
minutus minutus (Shaw and Nodd.) from the southern region, A. minutus 
smithi (Sharpe) from Transvaal and A. minutus damarensis Rchw. from 
Damaraland. A. caroli robertsi Haagner (Ann. Transvaal Mus. i. 233, 
1909) from the Eastern Transvaal by Hellmayr; but I have more recently 
shown these to differ from the typical A . robertsi of Boror, and have named 
them A. caroli hellmayri (cf. Ann. Transvaal Mus. iv. 174, 1914). 
Nectariniidae 
The collection of Sunbirds at my disposal is a small one, comparatively, 
but is sufficient to show that the classification of the family is in great need 
of reorganisation. The arrangement of the genera and species as adopted 
by various authors is never the same, except when one copies the other, 
and it is obvious that the fear of creating too many genera is at the root 
of this difficulty. Their phylogeny is very complex and there is no short- 
cut method which will lead to a successful issue, examination of small 
details of structure being unavoidable if we are to place their classification 
on a sound basis. The structural characters of the wing are to some extent 
correlated with the colour characters of the males, while colour characters, 
whether characteristic of only one sex or of both, are of great importance. 
The greatest difficulty has been the objection to the use of the colour 
