112 
Mr. D. A. Bannerman on rare Birds [Ibis, 
Three more examples of this bird have now been sent by 
Mr. Bates to the Museum. It will interest him to know 
that we have recently acquired, through the kindness of the 
Belgian authorities, a further example of the rare rufous- 
backed Himantornis hcematopus whitesidei Sharpe, obtained 
by Dr. Christy at Poko on the Uele River, Belgian Congo-— 
the first since the type was discovered. 
Sarothrura elegans reichenovi. 
Sarothrura reichenovi Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxiii. 
1894, p. 121—rType locality : Cameroon ; Bates, Ibis, 1909, 
P-7- 
With a series of sixteen males and females from south¬ 
east Africa and from Cameroon before me, I have been able 
to form an opinion on the validity of S. reichenovi. 
I consider that it must be kept as a subspecies of S. elegans , 
the Natal form, and that Sharpens ^original description of 
S. reichenovi is very misleading. 
The three male birds of S. e. reichenovi sent home by 
Mr. Bates, together with the four specimens he had sent 
in former collections, has enabled me to satisfy myself that 
the above comparison is correct. 
Dr. Reichenow did not recognise this form himself 
(Vogel Afrikas, i. p. 287), but I am sure that he will do 
so on further examination, provided that he has plenty of 
material, as also will Mr. Chapin. 
Sharpe maintained that it was “everywhere much darker 
in colour” than S. elegans , “the rufous of the head and 
breast being deep chestnut instead of orange-rufous, this 
chestnut colour extending over the whole throat to the base 
of the bill.” I have now five adult males from Cameroon 
to compare with the seven adult males from Natal, and in 
only one bird from Cameroon (No. 4620) is the chestnut 
of the throat and breast darker than in any of the Natal 
specimens. The females are practically indistinguishable. 
1 measured the wings, thinking there might be something 
in the size, but males from Cameroon measure 85-90 mm.; 
from Natal, 80-88 mm. 
