4 BULLETIN" 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



specimens collected by Doctor Vierthaler in Egypt, Nubia, Dongola, 

 and Sennar. Antinori, Hartmann, and others were also actively col- 

 lecting at this time, but in a brief summary, such as this, we may 

 concentrate at this point on the work of Theodor von Heuglin, per- 

 haps the most outstanding name in Ethiopian ornithology. 



Heuglin spent approximately 12 years in the field, observing and 

 collecting, and published a long series of papers dealing with his 

 observations. His culminating work was the classic " Ornithologie 

 Nordost-Afrikas, der Nilquellen und Kiisten-Gebiete des Rothen 

 Meeres und des nordlichen Somal-Landes," of which the first volume 

 appeared in 1869 and the second in 1871. This work put the orni- 

 thology of this region on a firm basis and is still the only general 

 work with any claim to completeness. In it are described no fewer 

 than 948 species of birds. It summarized not only von Heuglin's 

 own observations, but also all those previously recorded by others. 

 Blanford's useful " Geology and zoology of Abyssinia," appeared in 

 1870 and contains much information about the birds of the Tigre 

 and adjacent portions of Ethiopia, and of Eritrea, while Finsch's 

 valuable report on Jesse's collections made in Bogosland ® supple- 

 ments Blanford's work. However, most of the work done up to 1870 

 dealt either with the coastal areas, the Nile Valley, or northern 

 Ethiopia. Central Ethiopia, Shoa, Arussiland, and Gallaland were 

 still largely unknown. Van Heuglin's field work included a survey 

 of the region about Lake Tsana and of western Ethiopia. Sir Sam- 

 uel W. Baker's extensive explorations of the Blue Nile and its 

 tributaries unfortunately yielded almost nothing ornithologically. 



Antinori, Ragazzi, and Traversi (1876-87) were the first to make 

 extensive collections in Shoa (which were worked out by Salvador! 

 and by Giglioli). Bottego's zoological explorations of Eritrea (re- 

 ported on b}'- Del Prato in 1891) Muzioli's work in the Tigre dis- 

 trict, and Blundell and Lovat's journey through Somaliland and 

 southern Gallaland (published on by Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1900, pp. 

 115-178, and 304-337) all added considerably to what was known 

 of the birds and their distribution. Revoil's trip to Somaliland in 

 1880 resulted in further discoveries, described by Oustalet. The 

 work of Lort Phillips, in the highlands of British Somaliland, and 

 of Donaldson Smith in the region between southern Somaliland, 

 Jubaland, and Lake Rudolf contributed much of importance. 



In the meanwhile (1887-88) Count Teleki had marched north- 

 wards from Mount Kilimanjaro, past Mount Kenya, up the Rift 

 Valley and had discovered Lakes Rudolf and Stefanie, but aside 

 from scattered references, his expedition contributed little as far 



« Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., vol. 7, 1872. pp. 197-331. 



