20 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The upper sides of the toes in the male specimen are much lighter 

 (in dried condition) than in the female. In the latter the toes are 

 dorsally exactly like the tarsi in color (in dried condition), much 

 like the condition found in the Australian form, nigripes Temminck, 

 yet Mearns described this specimen as having the tops of the toes 

 spotted with yellow when fresh. The colors of nigripes had best be 

 determined from fresh material. 



Comparison of a fair series of African specimens with an equal 

 number of Chinese birds reveals no differences of systematic 

 importance. 



Both specimens collected have the long dorsal plumes, but the 

 male lacks the occipital plumes which are present in the female and 

 has the breast plumes better developed than in the latter. A pair 

 from Tanganyika Territory present exactly the opposite state of 

 affairs. The male has a longer bill than any other individual ex- 

 amined, the culmen measuring 91 millimeters. The female has a 

 culmen of 78 millimeters, and is much smaller in all its dimensions 

 than the male. 



Aside from the birds collected at Lake Kudolf, Mearns noted 20 

 individuals at Black Lake Abaya, Ethiopia, March 18-19. The 

 little egret appears to be rare in Ethiopia as neither Neumann nor 

 Erlanger observed or collected any in that country. 



BUBULCUS IBIS (Linnaeus) 

 Ardea ibis Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, p. 144, 1758 : Egypt. 



/Specimens collected: 



Male adult, Lake Abaya, Ethiopia, March 18, 1912. 

 Adult unsexed. Lake Abaya, Ethiopia, March 18, 1912. 

 Female adult, Lake Abaya, Ethiopia, March 17, 1912. 

 Male adult, east Lake Stefanie, Kenya Colony, April 20, 1912. 

 Female young, Dussua (latitude 3° N.), Kenya Colony, July 2, 

 1912. 



The adult male from Lake Abaya is acquiring the breeding plumes 

 on the head and back, as is also the female, while the unsexed bird 

 from the same place is in full breeding plumage. The colors of the 

 soft parts of these birds are recorded as follows : Iris and bill yellow ; 

 tibia yellowish; tarsi and toes olive; claws olive brown. Females 

 have the buffy dorsal i)lumes, breast patch, and top of the head 

 somewhat darker than do males. Judging by the intensity of the 

 coloration of these feathers, the unsexed bird from Lake Abaya seems 

 to be a female. 



A long series (51 specimens) from various parts of continental 

 Africa and Madagascar shows no variations other than individual or 



