734 REPORT OF THE HARVARD AFRICAN EXPEDITION 
Melanopteryx fusco-castaneus (Bocage) 
Hyphantornis fusco-castanea Bocage, Jorn. Sci. Math. Phys. e Nat. Lisboa, vol. 8, p. 58, 1880: 
Loango, Rio Loemma. 
Length 6 inches; chin, top and sides of head, the back, wings, and tail black; nape with a 
bright yellow crescent extending between the shoulders; throat, breast, and belly deep chestnut. 
Sexes alike or nearly so. Sierra Leone to Loango. 
This is a rare bird, apparently not at all of a gregarious nature, and doubt- 
less a solitary forest-dweller. Biittikofer mentions but two specimens: one 
shot from a high tree at Bavia, St. Paul’s River, the only one noted on his 
first trip; the other an adult female at Schieffelinsville, ‘in brushwood.” We 
saw the bird but once, an adult male on the Du River, August 5. 
Malimbus scutatus scutatus (Cassin) 
Scobius [sic] scutatus Cassin, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, 1849, p. 157: ? Sierra Leone. 
Length 6.5 inches; male, top of head, sides of neck behind ear region, upper breast, and under 
tail-coverts orange red, elsewhere black. Female similar but with only the upper breast orange red. 
Sierra Leone to Niger. 
A forest-dweller like others of this genus, this species is uncommon, usually 
occurring alone or in pairs in open forest. Buiittikofer secured several at his 
collecting stations, Robertport, Soforé Place, near Buluma, at Mt. Olive and 
Jarjee, while Stampfli obtained four at Schieffelinsville; Oberholser records 
two adults from Mount Coffee, and Lowe collected it at Nana Kru on the south 
coast. We met with but few, one of which was shot by Whitman at Miamu, 
and a second at Banga, hopping along the midrib of a palm frond at the edge 
of the forest. The latter bird was picking at something from time to time, 
doubtless insects with which its stomach was filled. 
Malimbus malimbicus melanobrephus Hartert. Scarlet-hooded Forest Weaver 
Malimbus malimbicus melanobrephus Hartert, Novit. Zool., vol. 14, p. 491, 1907: Fanti, Gold 
Coast. 
Length 6 inches; head, throat, and upper breast except the chin, a ring about the eyes and a 
band at base of bill, searlet; elsewhere shining black. In the male the scarlet feathers are stif- 
fened and longer than in the female. Liberia to Loango. 
This, like others of the genus, is an uncommon forest bird. Biittikofer 
secured several at Schieffelinsville, Bavia, Paynesville (recorded as M. cristatus) 
and Hill Town, while Lowe collected it at Nana Kru. Whitman shot one 
at Kaka Town and Dr. Linder a second at Banga, October 22. This latter 
was one of a breeding pair that Linder watched at work on their nest, swung 
from the end of a long drooping frond of a climbing palm, hanging directly 
over a small brook in the forest. The nest was in typical position, about fifteen 
feet from the ground, a globular structure with a projecting roof over the en- 
trance near the top on one side. Although nearly finished, it contained no 
eggs. The birds were extremely shy and flew away at the least alarm. We 
found a second similar nest in exactly the same sort of situation not very far 
away, perhaps an old nest of the same pair. 
