BIEDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 107 



One adult female and one immature female, 24 miles south of 

 Malele, Kenya Colony, July 29, 1912. 



Three adult males and four adult females, Tana River near mouth 

 of Thika River, Kenya Colony, August 20-25, 1912. 



Soft parts: Adult male — iris hazel; bill olivaceous brown; feet 

 brownish red; claws olive. 



In addition to the above 40 specimens I have examined 5 speci- 

 mens of grantii from Tanganyika Territory and 12 others from 

 various parts of Kenya Colony, making 57 examples of this form 

 in all. 



The races of this variable francolin are extremely puzzling. Long 

 series of specimens usually show that no characters are reliable sub- 

 specific indices, yet, on the whole, there seem to be several more or 

 less distinct forms in southern and eastern Africa. Sclater *' 

 recognizes 7 subspecies, while Mackworth-Praed ^* lists 7 named, 

 and 4 unnamed races. These last four appear, from the description, 

 to be merely intermediates, and in a species as variable as the present 

 one, intermediates are best left unnamed, as their subsequent identi- 

 fication would be well nigh hopeless. Of the 7 races, I have assembled 

 for this study some 82 specimens belonging to 4 forms. I have seen 

 no material of zambesiae, rovuma^ or juhaensis. None of these occur 

 in the region represented by the present collection, but the last two 

 are found in immediately adjacent territory. 



After studying the conclusions reached by Neumann,*^ Erlanger,^® 

 C. H. B. Grant,*^ Mackworth-Praed ,"« Zedlitz,*^ Van Someren ^^ 

 and Sclater,^^ as well as the abundant material at hand, I have de- 

 cided that the following are synonyms of grantii: 



Francolinus ochrogaster Hartlaub, Journ. f . Ornith., 1882, p. 327 : 

 Upper Nile. 



Francolinus granti delutesceris Mearns, Smiths. Misc. Coll. vol. 56, 

 1911, no. 20, p. 3 : Base of Mt. Kenya. 



Francolinus sephaena subspecies 3, Mackworth-Praed, Ibis, 1922, 

 p. 112; Northern Guaso Nyiro to Marsabit and westwards to south 

 of Lake Rudolf. 



Francolinus sephaena subspecies 4, Mackworth-Praed, Ibis, 1922, 

 p. 112: extreme northern boundary of Kenya Colony (Moyale, 

 Wajheir, etc.). 



" Syst. Avium Ethiop., 1924, pp. 79-80. 

 "Ibis, 1922, pp. 110-1 LS. 

 'i^ Journ. f. Ornith., 1904, pp. 356-358. 

 «Idem, 1905, pp. 151-155. 

 «Ibis, 1915, pp. 10-13. 

 «Idem, 1922, pp. 110-113. 

 "Journ. f. Ornith., 1914, pp. 656-661. 



«>Nov. Zool., vol. 29, 1922, pp. 30-31, and Journ. E. Afr. and Uganda Nat. Hist. Soc. 

 1926, pp 36-40. 



°' Syst. Avium Ethiop., 1924, pp. 79-80. 



