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Show 230 MR. R. B. SHARPE ON RARE [^Pr* L 5. Descriptions of three rare Species of Flycatchers. By R. B O W D L E R S H A R P E , F.L.S., F.Z.S., & c , Department of Zoology, British Museum. [Received March 29, 1884.] Count Salvadori has recently forwarded for my inspection some very interesting birds collected by the late Marquis Antinori during the Italian Expedition to Shoa. One of the Flycatchers in the collection is an Alseonax, which Count Salvadori considers to be A. minima of Heuglin. It is, however, brown instead of grey on the upper surface, and in several points does not agree with Heuglin's description, nor yet with his plate, which, again, differs from his description. The fulvous eyebrow, thighs, and under tail-coverts are all depicted in the plate, although the description does not tally with the figure in this respect; but as these points are strongly marked in the specimen lent me by Count Salvadori, I suppose it must be referred to A. minima. I consider the latter to have been so badly described as quite to justify the opinion of Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub that it was probably referable to Alseonax adusta. I therefore append an amended description. 1. ALSEONAX MINIMA. Muscicapa minuta, Heugl. Syst. Uebers. p. 31 (1856). Muscicapa minima, Heugl. J. f. O. 1862, p. 301 ; Finsch & Hartl. Vog. Ostafr. p. 303, note (1870) ; Heugl. Orn. N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 435, Taf. xviii. fig. 1 (1871). Muscicapafuscula, Finsch, Trans. Z. S. vii. p. 245 (1870). Alseonax minima, Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. iv. p. 129, note (1879). Adult male (Sciolalit, Shoa, March 19, 1878 ; Antinori). General colour above dark brown, slightly washed with ashy on the mantle and back, the rump and upper tail-coverts more rufescent in tinge; lesser wing-coverts like the back ; median and greater series dark brown, with rufescent brown margins; bastard-wing and primary-coverts nearly uniform blackish, the paler margins obsolete; quills blackish brown, with scarcely perceptible paler edges, much more distinct on the secondaries ; tail-feathers ashy brown, narrowly edged with a fringe of lighter ashy, the outer tail-feathers with a fringe of whitish at the tips ; crown of head darker ashy than the back and indistinctly mottled with dusky brown centres to the feathers; base of forehead washed with tawny rufous; ear-coverts brown with a slight rufescent tinge, the shaft-lines paler : eyelid, feathers below the eye, lores, and a distinct superciliary line pale tawny rufous, as also the anterior portion of the cheeks; chin and upper throat dull whitish, slightly washed with rufous ; lower throat brown, with a faint rufescent tinge, followed by a patch of dull white on the fore |