18 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



On the journey from Errer to Sadi Malka, this species was occa- 

 sionally seen; at Loco, March 15-17, 4 birds were noted; Abaya 

 Lakes, March 18-26, 38 were seen ; then no more were met with until 

 August 23 when 2 were found on the Thika River; at the junction of 

 the Thika and Tana Rivers 10 birds w^ere seen August 23-26; west 

 of Ithanga Hills, August 28, 2 ; Athi River, August 31 and Septem- 

 ber 1, 5 birds were noted. 



ARDEA GOLIATH Cretzschmar 



Ardea goUath Cretzschmar, in Riipp. Atlas, p. 39, pi. 36, 1829: Bahhar 

 Abiad, i. e., Wgiite Nile. 



A very large heron seen at Sadi Malka is entered as "4. goUathf'' 

 in Mearns' diary. A few goliath herons were noted on the Hawash 

 River January 26 to February 13; six on the Thika River August 

 23-26; four on the Athi River August 31 and September 1. None 

 were collected. It is all the more unfortunate that northeast African 

 material is not available for study as Neumann ^® says that birds 

 from tropical east Africa have darker necks and crown patches than 

 the more northern ones, and that further material may show them to 

 be subspecifically distinct. 



PYRRHERODIA PURPUREA PURPUREA (Linnaeus) 



Ardea purpurea Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 12, vol. 1, p. 236, 1766 : "In Oriente." 



The purple heron, of which no specimens were collected, was re- 

 corded by Mearns as follows : Hawash River, January 26 to Febru- 

 ary 13, occasional; Abaya Lakes, March 19-26, 18 birds seen. The 

 species is a very widely distributed one and does not break up into 

 local forms on the African continent. The Madagascan birds are sub- 

 specifically distinct, and are known as madagascariensis Van Oort. 



CASMERODIUS ALBUS MELANORHYNCHUS (Wagler) 



Ardea melanorhynchos Wagler, Syst. Av. Additamenta (last page), 1827: 

 yeuegambia. 



Specimens collected: 



Female adult, Black Lake Abaya, Ethiopia, March 24, 1912. 



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



Soft parts: Iris pale yellow; bill all yellow, naked sides of face 

 and eye ring yellowish green ; legs and feet black. 



Birds from the African mainland and from Madagascar are 

 identical. 



The European form, typical alhus, does not seem to migrate 

 farther south than northern Africa (Tunis. Algiers, Morocco, 



»»Journ. f. Ornith., 1904, p. 339. 



