BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 65 



banded type (adult females) have since been taken in Tanganyika 

 Territory, Kenya Colony, Uganda, and the Belgian Congo. 



Zedlitz collected four young birds, which, judging by his com- 

 ments, are peculiar. One (his No. 764), not yet a year old, has the 

 under parts strongly flecked with white, and has a pure white chin. 

 Another (his No. 1331), apparently not any older, is darker on the 

 whole, with light tips to the feathers. A third (his No. 1284) has 

 no light tips to the feathers and is in general dark brown in color. 

 It may be a year-old bird. The fourth (his No. 856), probably two 

 years old, has many black feathers showing between the brown ones 

 and is molting into adult (?) plumage. 



An immature bird in the United States National Museum 

 (U.S.N.M. 214842) has the chin largely whitish, the rest of the 

 under parts brown, each feather tipped with white; the brown 

 being darkest on the lower breast, lighter and redder on the abdomen, 

 palest on the upper throat; the flanks are darker brown and the 

 thigh feathers are very dark brown with subterminal rufous bars and 

 narrow white terminal edges. The upper parts are brownish, the 

 feathers of the head and nape paler than those of the interscapulars 

 and back and edged with light brownish white, while the inter- 

 scapulars and back have reddish brown edges. The upper wing 

 coverts have narrower and paler, slightly more grayish edges than 

 the interscapulars, and are slightly darker otherwise. The primaries 

 are blackish with silvery gray brown outer webs and the secondaries 

 are dull gray brown like the rectrices, and, like them, are tipped with 

 tawny. The under wing coverts are rich rufous brown with white 

 tips, with the exception of the greater under wing coverts which are 

 pale brownish gray with white tips; the under tail coverts are 

 rufous brown without lighter tips. 



All the light tips wear off, making the birds thereby become darker. 

 Another specimen in the National Museum (U.S.N.M. 76945) illus- 

 trates this stage but has acquired a good number of new, darker 

 feathers. 



Mouritz -' writes that: 



" The fully adult plumage in the female, distinguishable from the male by the. 

 broad black edging to the secondaries, does not seem to be attained until the 

 fourth year. The third year's plumage I believe to be very little different, 

 however, from the fourth, albeit still considerably speckled vpith brownish 

 feathers ; whilst the second year's is practically similar to that of the first 

 year's, with cere and feet bluish, and perhaps lacking the light emarginations 

 to many of the feathers of the mantle and underparts. I also believe that the 

 female is not infrequently to be found breeding in immature plumage." 



With all this I agree. 



=' Ibis, 1915, p. 205. 



