658 Col. It. Meinertzhagen on Birds from [Ibis, 
A paler and greyer bird than raalieni. Wing 85-95. 
culmen 16-17, hind claw 9-14 rnm. 
Southern Angola. 
The leucophry s-gv oup o£ Pipits are in no sense Palsearctic, 
but as I was compelled to work them out when dealing 
with the sordidus-gvowp, I give the results o£‘ my labours. 
I found that the leucophry s-group of plain-backed Pipits 
showed great variation in the same area : in Angola and 
tropical eastern Africa it was obvious that a dark and pale 
race co-existed. The differences did not appear to be 
dimorphic. I tried to separate birds on structural differ¬ 
ences, but failed. Culmen, tail-feathers, size of wing, etc., 
all failed. 1 was therefore compelled to separate birds on 
colour alone, and find that they fall very well into two 
groups or species, a dark bird whose oldest name is gouldi , 
and a pale bird whose oldest name is leucophrys. 
Owing to the difficulty in describing these various colours, 
I have had to resort to Ridg way’s ‘Nomenclature of Colours,’ 
1886, reference being given in brackets, thus (R. iii. 19), 
meaning Ridgway, pi. iii. fig. 16. 
ANTHUS LEUCOPHRYS. 
Upper parts entirely uniform, except in immature birds 
when slight traces of blotching occur. General colour 
above yellowish dark earth-brown, sometimes with a slight 
olive tinge, but the shade is very variable. Under parts 
always tinged with fulvous, darkest in saphiroi , palest in 
neumanni. Breast-spotting usually indistinct and blurred, 
though in goodsoni it is frequently well-marked. 
Throat whitish in contrast to the rest of the under parts. 
First four primaries more or less equal. 
Tail-feathers very variable, but never with white on them 
as in the richardi-g roup. 
Inner secondaries usually fall short of the tips of the 
longest primaries, but sometimes equal them. 
Culmen stumpier than in the sordidus-g roup and more 
arched. 
