BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY . 53 



The adult birds have the entire head, back to the nape bare, the 

 chin and upper half of the throat are likewise bare ; the lower por- 

 tion of the throat retains a small midventral patch of blackish 

 feathers which are isolated from the dark underparts of the bodj^ 

 by a grayish white breast patch surrounded by whitish down. There 

 is no black line down the sides of the neck and the feathers of the 

 hind neck seem to get lighter with successive molts, or, in other words, 

 with age. The whitish down on the breast develops before the 

 grayish-white area adjacent to it; one specimen before me has the 

 breast and lower throat dark brown like the abdomen but has the 

 whitish pectoral downy patches well developed. 



Reichenow ^^ does not consider pileatus distinct from the typical 

 monachus, and several more recent investigators °° have followed his 

 example. However, Swann in his " Synopsis of the Accipitres " ®^ 

 finds the two races to be recognizable, and so do Roberts and Sclater. 

 It seems from all published measurements that the latter group of 

 writers are correct as the western birds (typical monachus) have 

 longer, more slender bills, and shorter wings than do eastern and 

 southern examples {pileatus) . 



The present form occurs from French Somaliland, Eritrea, Ethi- 

 opia, and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan south through eastern Africa 

 to the Cape Province. Mearns observed it at many localities during 

 the course of the Frick expedition. He first noted it from the rail- 

 road coming up from Djibouti. "As soon as the first plateau was 

 reached this species appeared and continued to be the most abundant 

 vulture up to Adis Abeba (8,000 feet or 2,400 meters)." At Adis 

 Abeba, December 26 to January 7, it was common; likewise along 

 the Hawash River, January 26 to February 13. At Aletta, March 

 7-13, 50 were seen; Loco, March 13-15, 20; Gidabo River, March 

 15-17, 20 birds ; the Abaya Lakes, March 18-26, 725 birds recorded ; 

 near Gardula, March 26-29, 50 ; Gato River, March 29 to May 17, 1,000 ; 

 Bodessa and Sagon River, May 18 to June 6, 350; Tertale, June 7-12, 

 600; El Ade, June 12-14, 150; Mar Mora, June 14, 100; Turturo, June 

 15-17, 200; Anole, June 17, 50; Wobok, June 18, 200; near Saru, June 

 19, 200 birds; Yebo, June 20, 200; Karsa Barecha, June 21, 100; 

 Malata, June 22, 50; Chaffa villages, June 23-25, 50; Hor, June 26-30, 

 200 birds; Lake Rudolf and adjacent country to the southeast, July 

 5-11, 350; Indunumara Mountains, July 14r-18, 4 birds; plains at 

 base and south of Endoto Mountains, July 19-24, 110 seen; Er-re-re, 

 July 25, 100; Le-se-dun, July 26, 100; Malele and country to the south 



s^Vogel Afrikas, vol. 1, 1901, p. 522. 



^ Liinnberg, Kungl. Sv. Vet. Akad. Handlgr., 1911, p. 55 ; Zedlitz Journ. f. Ornith.,. 

 1910, p. 365 ; C. II. B. Grant, Ibis, 1915, p. 238 ; Van Somercn, Nov. Zool., vol. 29, 1922, 

 p. 38 ; and Granvik, Journ. f. Ornith., 1923, Sonderheft, p. 65. 



»i 2d ed., 1922, pp. 11-12. 



