OCR Text |
Show I 8/3.J OF THE ETHIOPIAN REGION. 615 rufous; ear-coverts black; throat and cheeks whitish, the latter washed with ochre ; fore neck and chest dull lilac, shading into deep ochre on the lower breast and flanks; centre of the abdomen white; under tail-coverts dull rufous ; " orbital skin indigo-blue ; tarsi black ; iris brown" (Grandidier). Total length 16 inches, culmen 0*9, wing 6'5, tail 9*5, tarsus 2*1. M . Grandidier says that the female differs from the male by the absence of bright rufous on the head, which is only a little more pronounced than the rest of the plumage (vide next species). Hab. South-western Madagascar. 7. SERICOSOMUS OLIVACEICEPS, sp. n. Similar to S. ruficeps, but distinguished by its olive-brown head, which is uniform with the back. Total length 18 inches, culmen 1*1, wing 6*5, tail 9*7, tarsus 2*2. Hab. S.W. Madagascar. M. Grandidier has kindly sent me a specimen of this bird, which he considers to be the hen of -S1. ruficeps. N o other example of a difference in sex in this genus is known ; and in addition to that circumstance I have sexed specimens of G. ruficeps now before me, collected by Van Dam, showing that the sexes are alike. 8. SERICOSOMUS SERRIANUS. Coua serriana, Pucher. Mag. de Zool. 1845, Ois. p. 3, pl. 55 ; Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 454 (1846); Bp. Consp. i. p. 109(1850); Hartl. Faun. Madag. p. 61 (1861) ; Grand. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1867, p. 390 ; Gray, Handl. B. ii. p. 208 (1870). Coua serresiana, Bp. Consp. Vol. Zyg. p. 5 (1854). Sericosomus serrianus, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. Th. iv. p. 74, note (1862). Cua serriana, Schl. Mus. P. B. Cuculi, p. 46 (1864). Adult. Above olive-brown, the crown and hind neck dark rufous-brown, the lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts inclining to olive-green; lesser wing-coverts brownish, like the upper back, the greater ones and the inner secondaries olive-green, the primaries purplish black, the outer secondaries externally olive-green; tail entirely purplish black ; eyebrow, sides of face, and throat black, with an indistinct circlet of olivaceous brown on the lower throat; entire breast lively chestnut; rest of under surface dull olive-green, becoming blackish on the under tail-coverts; under wing-coverts dull olive-green ; "orbital skin very clear blue above the eye, ultramarine below ; tarsi iron-grey ; iris red" (Grandidier). According to M . Grandidier, the young differs from the adult in having the coverts and quills bordered with rufous maroon, and in the rufous of the abdomen extending to the under tail-coverts. Hab. North-western Madagascar. Described from a specimen in the Leiden Museum. 9. SERICOSOMUS REYNAUDI. Coua reynaudi, Pucher. Mag. de Zool. 1845, p. 5, pl. 56; Bp. |