( 620 ) 



OX THE BIRDS COLLECTED BY WILLL\.M DOHERTY 



IN THE KIKUYU MOUNTAINS, NEAR ESCARPMENT 



STATION, IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA. 



By ERNST HARTERT. 



(Plate IX.) 



THE collections wliich I am here ljei;iiiiiiiiLj to discuss were made li_v my late 

 friend William llolicrty in the Kiknyu njonntains above the " Eacarpiiient " 

 station of the Uganda railway. " Escarj)ment," about halfway between Ft. Smith 

 (Nairobi) and Naivasha station, was in October 190U the terminus of the railway. 

 About half a mile from the station Doherty had bnilt a hnt for his men and ]iitched 

 his tent. The place was in old forest and, according to Doherty, SWH) ft. above 

 the sea. The cold was intense at night (of. Nov. Zool. lOUl. p. 5U3). "The 

 forest trees are there enormous — ^junipers 10 ft. thick and 120 ft. high." 

 Doherty described the place as being situated on the southern slopes of the Settima 

 range ; at bis feet he saw the broad yellow desert of the Rift Valley. The forests 

 from " Escarpment " station continue unbroken to the Aberdare range, which reach 

 14,000 ft. in height, and of which Mt. Kenya is, in Doherty's opinion, an eastern 

 offshoot. Doherty wrote : " We are cnt off from Kilimanjaro by nearly 200 miles 

 of desert or grassy plain. A strong wind blows down from us to the Rift Valley 

 night and day. My birds are almost entirely from above 7000 up to at least '.mm in 

 ft., but some from 650o. The lowest point we can reach is 6300 ft. in the Rift." 



The collections made by Doherty and his men* are, therefore, from the eastern 

 side of the Great Rift Valley ("von der Ostseite des grossen tslafrikanischen 

 Grabens"). This is imjiortant, because the Rift Valley seems, to a certain extent, 

 to be a zoogeographical boundary, in several groups western forms having been 

 recorded from Nandi and Man (on the western side of the Rift Valley), while 

 more eastern ones are found about Kiknyu. More about this will be said when 

 the collection is fully worked out, whether it may contirm or contradict the jiresent 

 statement. 



The collection is made from September 1900 to April 1901, some specimens 

 being even shot early in May. It consists of nearly 30Oii birdskins, mostly very well 

 labelled, with details as regards colours of soft parts, and mo.^tly in fair condition, 

 although some boxes had been attacked by Dermestes, and apparently all spccn- 

 meus shot were preserved, whether moulting or not, damaged by shot or not. The 

 collection consists chiefly of smaller birds, large ones being not represented, or in few 

 specimens only. Most species are preserved in very large series, in various stages 

 of plumage. 



I begin my enumerations of these birds with the Laniidae, and hoj)e that other 

 families will follow soon. 



• He had taken several Indians— Lepchas and others— with him from India to catch lepidoptera 

 and skii birds for him. t)nl_v with the help of these faithful servants could he make such extensive 

 coUectiuns in so short a time, 



