124 
Mr. I). A. Bannerman on the 
[Ibis, 
In the first place the principal character of the genus 
Amaarocichla — i.e., the first primary being nearly as long as 
the second primary, which is long—is not borne out by 
examination of the type of kempi. In the type from Sierra 
Leone the first primary is actually 14 mm. shorter than 
the second primary, which is short. The bill is longer (not 
as long as) the head, and the general aspect of the bird is 
entirely dissimilar. I unhesitatingly transfer the bird figured 
as Amaurocichla kempi to the genus Macrosphenus , and 
anyone examining the three specimens of M. kempi now 
in the British Museum will, I feel sure, endorse my 
action. 
Compared with Macrosphenus flavicans flameans, the most 
obvious differences are in the length of the tail—very much 
longer in M. f. flavicans ,—and the totally different colour, 
olive-green in M. flavicans and subspecies, grey and rufous 
in M. kempi. 
Mr. Willoughby Lowe, who has recently obtained a speci¬ 
men of M. kempi near Lagos in southern Nigeria, tells me 
that in habits the bird resembles a Nuthatch, and that it has 
in life a strikingly elongated neck, out of all proportion to 
the size of the bird. Once seen alive it is a species which 
can never be forgotten. 
If future workers do not agree with me in temporarily 
placing this bird in the genus Macrosphenus , an entirely 
new genus will have to be created for it—a course which 
I do not favour until we know more about this remarkable 
form and can compare its skeleton with a skeleton of 
M. flavicans. 
The other species which I include in this genus, thereby 
following a suggestion of Mr. Oscar Neumann (Bull. B. O. 0. 
xxiii. p. 47), is Macrosphenus concolor (Hartl.) (Syst. 
Orn. Westafr. p. 62)—a species which has been usually 
included in the genus Camaropterci. It has, however, a 
hooked upper mandible, thereby differing from all the true 
members of the genus Camaroptera, and in general appear¬ 
ance seems to resemble a Macrosphenus. It however possesses 
