Annals of the Transvaal Museum 
171 
Jrrisor erythrorhynchus brevirostris, Gunn. Rbts. 
Three specimens of this species have recently been acquired from 
P. A. Sheppard, of Zimbiti, Beira, which, while closely resembling the 
typical form from the Transvaal, are still like brevirostris from Bor or in 
the length of the wing and culmen. Two are sexed as males, but one of 
these and the other (not sexed) are so much smaller that I think, on 
analogy, the one must have been wrongly sexed and both are females. 
The largest measures : wing 137, tail 225, culmen 49 ; and in the two 
smaller ones : wing 132-134, tail 204-214, culmen 36 -5-37. In the 
specimens from Beira the culmen is shaped as in the typical form, and 
they are in fact a link between the typical form and brevirostris ; but for 
the present I do not propose to apply a new trinomial, thinking it advisable 
to wait for more material. 
Rhinopomastus cyanomelas intermedins, subsp. nov. 
Specimens of this species from the Orange Free State, Damaraland, 
and the western half of the Transvaal have the tail feathers uniform or 
with only a very little white on the outer ones, the longest feathers 
measuring in males 131-145 and in the females 120-136. These represent 
the typical form. Then from Beira northwards to East Africa we get the 
longer tailed subspecies ( schalowi ) giving measurements of 170-200 in the 
longest tail feathers and with a great deal of white on all but the middle 
ones, the white extending in most cases across both webs. In the eastern 
half of the Transvaal and the adjacent territories an intermediate form 
is found, which has less white on the tail feathers than schalowi and gives 
measurements in the longest feathers of 155-165 in males and 136-146 in 
females. To this form I am giving the name of “ intermedins .” The type 
is from the Koedoes River, Zoutpansberg District, taken on the 21st 
September, 1910, by F. O. Noome. Wing 115, tail 165, culmen 50. 
Pitta angolensis, (Vieill.). 
This species has only once been recorded south of the Zambezi, 
namely, by Swynnerton, who saw and heard it in the forests of Gazaland. 
There are two specimens in the Transvaal Museum collection which prove 
that it sometimes occurs considerably farther south. The first of these is 
one taken at night by Mr. M. v. d. Ende in a house in Petersburg on 6th 
December, 1909 ; and the second by Mr. F. D. Ayres (son of the late 
Thomas Ayres) in Potchefstroom on the 24th November, 1912. Both these 
records are remarkable, as there are no natural forests within a considerable 
distance of the towns in which they were taken, and it seems to be most 
probable that they strayed from their natural haunts in the north and 
were attracted by the trees of the towns. Mr. Ayres informs me that he 
picked up the specimen (dead) under the trees in his garden and that it 
was much emaciated. 
Batis sheppardi, Haagner = Batis fratrum , Shelley. 
W. L. Sclater (Ibis, 1911, p. 424) has recently recorded a single 
specimen of B. fratrnm from Beira, the type locality of B. sheppardi. This 
led me to compare a series of skins from Beira, including the type of 
