BIEDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 145 



The male in " axlolfl-friederici " plumage from the Hawash River 

 has a couple of the feathers of the crown yellow, instead of gray, 

 lieavily mottled with black. This lends indirect support to Lynes' 

 ( ontcntion regarding the races of Glioriotis arabsr^ 



The birds vary so greatly in size that comj^arative measurements 

 mean little. The largest adult bird (sexed as a female) measures as 

 follows: Wing, 786; tail, 378; culmen, 137; tarsus, 230 millimeters. 

 This is larger than the maximum given by Reichenow ^^ except as 

 regards the tail. The largest figures given by Erlanger -" are for a 

 male ; wing, 765 ; tail, 385 ; bill, 108 millimeters. 



Mearas found this bird to be not very scarce in the country trav- 

 ersed from Errer to Gada Bourca. One of the birds shot, a very 

 large male, weighed about 25 pounds. 



Other localities where this species was met with are as follows : 

 The Abaya Lakes, March 18-26, 17 birds seen; Gato River, March 

 29 to May 17, scarce, only 1 noted; Turturo, June 15-17, 4 seen; 

 Anole, June 17, 2 birds ; Wobok, June 18, 2 ; Indunumara Mountains, 

 July 13-18, 6 seen; the plains at the base and south of the Endoto 

 Mountains, July 19-20, noted; 18 miles south of Malele, July 28, 

 2 birds; Northern Guaso Nyiro River, July 31 to August 3, 8 seen; 

 Lekiundu River, August 4-8, 7 ; Meru, August 9, 2 birds ; Athi River, 

 August 30 to September 1, 5 noted. 



Of this bird, Mearns noted that it — 



* * * usually flies in pairs, often two pairs together, and occasionally three 

 birds. Its cry is constantly heard when they are about ; but they always appear 

 about the camp at morning and evening. They utter a loud hah-lcah-ka, fre- 

 quently repeated, both when walking in the grass and when flying. During 

 the middle hours of the day they usually are absent and can not be found in 

 the grass. They frequent the hills where the grass is not too heavy for running 

 freely about, but when flushed and shot at, often fly to low places where the 

 grass and bushes give better cover, and lie quite close. When flushed they 

 utter their loud bah-kah-ka, the first two syllables slowly drawn out with a 

 nasal quality. I have seen no young ones. When I shot a female, the male 

 remained about the place for two days, constantly flying about and calling, 

 until I shot it for food. 



EUPODOTIS CANICOLLIS SOMALIENSIS (Erlanger) 



Otis canicollis somaliennis Erlangek, Journ. f. Ornith, 1905, p. 82 : Metaker, 

 Ennia-Gallaland (see Hilgert, Cat. Coll. Erl., p. 43G). 



Specimens collected: 



]\Iale, Sadi Malka, Ethiopia, February 2, 1912. 



Female, Hawash River, Ethiopia, February 7, 1912. 



Male, Bodessa, Ethiopia, May 23, 1912. 



Male, Bodessa, Ethiopia, May 24, 1912. 



Male, Lekiundu River, Kenya Colony, August 7, 1912. 



-■' See p. 143. 



^ Vog. Afr., vol. 1. p. 2-12. 



"Journ. f. Ornith., 1905, p. 80. 



