Volume 36, Plate IX / Ornithology (Birds)

Verreaux’s Sun-Birds

Nectarinia Verroxii

A species with head, neck, shoulders and back dark bluish green with metallic lustre interrupted by the dark feather-bases, the lower back, rump, wings and tail purplish brown, the under parts pale hair-brown tinted with yellow, and brilliant scarlet axillary tufts showing conspicuously. The female is uniformly brocoli-brown, paler beneath with greenish-yellow tinges; few specimens occur in South Africa, chiefly from Kafirland towards Port Natal, where it feeds on small insects gathered from brushwood and flowers.