( 43 ) 

 '•. Passer motitensis shelleyi Sluiriu'. 



IM'.il, //.<5 p. li.ii; : /'. iiwlHeHsis Heugliii and Brehm (nou ymitli !). 



Smaller and paler than forms a aud 6, wiug 74 mm. ; bill short aud thick, 

 about IM mm. loug ; sides of head white as in /'. motUcHsis motiteiiisis. The 

 black patch behind the ear-coverts is present, more or less, in all the three forms, 

 but it is more conspicuous aud larger in F. m. shelleyi. Kordofau (^lelpesz, 

 Brehm. coU.j aud Lado (Emin coll.). 



1-1. Seriuus ;"/' //ofn(.s ('litlifMjvn) albifrons Sharpe. 



ISyi. Ibis pp. 118, 'IIm. 



i. Nairobe, :'>i». I, lM)'.i. " Iris aud feet light brown : bill brownish grey ; 

 lower bill greyish white." This specimen agrees wiili Dr. Sharpe's description, 

 but it has live white feathers on the crown. 



l^J. Fringillaria tahapisi (A. Smith). 

 i ?. Fort George, on Lake Albert Edward, '.i't. 4. Isii',). •• Iris dark bn 



123. Passer diflFusus g'oug'onensis Onst. 



i^airobe. " Iris sepia ; feet pale brown : bill black." 



This is a distinct subspecies of Passer <l(//'usus, nearest fo the form to be called 

 /'. diffusus swainsoni. It is best diagnosed as follows : 



Formae " Passer rliffusus swainsoiii''' uomiuaudae colore simillimus, sed ditfert 

 magnitndiue iugeute, rostro altiorc, alls longioribus. Altit. rostr. 10 — 11 mm., 

 al. 00— '.to mm. 



Hob. Gongoni, Witu, Lamu, Nairobe, in Africa orieutali. In 1890 Dr. Oustalet 

 described this form as the representative of a new genus in the XaticrUste, calling 

 it Pseuilostrutkus i/o»gonensis. He diagnosed the genus and species as follows : 



'" Pseuilostratlius, nocum (/enus e.r finmlia Ploeeidnrum, rostro crassiore a 

 i/eiieri Plocelpusseniiii d/ceisum." 



" Pseiiilostrutlius yonyoneitsis, noca. speeies Passeri dijl'iisu coloriOi'.s siiiiillhnns, 

 srd rostro inulto crassiore alisquc lonyiorilms talde dicersa." 



A detailed des(tri2)tiiin is then added, which leaves no doulit, that this form 

 is meant. 



While (Justalct created a new genus ol' the family Ploccidae for this sparrow, 

 which, it must be said again, does not agree with Passer dij'tmis, but with 

 sicai/iso?ii, Berlepsch enumerated it as P. swainsoni in the list of Witu aud Lamu 

 birds in Ahhandl. Senckenb. Xat. Lies. vol. XXL pp. 481, 483, calling, however, 

 attention to the euormous size of these specimens, and British ornithologists have 

 not separated it from P. d. swainsoni. Although 1 am decidedly of the opinion 

 that this form must be separated from P. d. swainsoni, I cannot consider it to be 

 more than a subspecies or geographical race of the latter, and I regard it as most 

 unfortunate tliat in ornithology the larger size and higher culmen of a bird is ever 

 thought to be sufficient for a new genus, while the entire similarity in cidours is 

 deliberateh' disregarded. 



