272 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



September. During these three months the birds molted their worn 

 plumage. It may be that the northward migration of the tropical 

 breeding birds {jacohirms) starts later than that of hypopinarus. 



As alread}^ mentioned under the typical race, Stresemann's assump- 

 tion that this form and serratios are merely color phases of each other 

 (the name serratus being used because of priority) is without 

 foundation, and can not be upheld. 



CLAMATOR SERRATUS SERRATUS (Sparrman) 



Cucnlus serratus Sparrman, Mus. Carls., fasc. 1, pi. 3, 1786: Cape of Good 

 Hope. 



Specwiens collected: 



Male, Sagon River, Ethiopia, June 4, 1912. 



Soft parts: Iris, dark brown; bill, entirely black; feet and claws, 

 plumbeous black. 



This specimen constitutes the first record for the species in Ethi- 

 opia and extends the known range of the bird northward by nearly 

 600 miles. Along the coast, this cuckoo has been taken as far north 

 as Lamu, at the mouth of the Tana River, Kenya Colony, while in- 

 land it appears to have been unknown north of the Usambara Moun- 

 tains, Tanganyika Territory. The single specimen known from the 

 latter locality was made the type of another race, aWonotatus, by 

 Shelley,**^ on the basis of larger size, and the presence of a large white 

 spot on the outer webs of the two pairs of outer rectrices, and the 

 under tail coverts being broadly tipped with white. A second speci- 

 men of albonotatus from Mombasa is said to lack the white tips to 

 the under tail coverts. Reichenow "* considers this form as merely 

 an unusual variant of seiTatus as he has examined typical specimens 

 of the latter from the same general area (north of Lamu). Sclater ®^ 

 recognizes albonotatus as a valid subspecies. Stresemann,*'® on the 

 other hand, concludes that albonotatus has nothing at all to do with 

 serratus, but is a melanistic mutation of cafer. This decision is based 

 on the large size of albonotatus, in which respect it approaches the 

 measurements of cafei' more than those of ser-ratus. 



As far as I kilow, but four examples of albonotatus are Imown. and 

 these four do not agree any too consistently. (The under tail coverts 

 may or may not have white tips.) The variability of the birds taken 

 into consideration together with the fact that in size they are more 

 or less intermediate between cafer and serratus suggests a possible 

 hybrid origin. As against this suggestion, the geographical con- 

 tiguity of the stations in which albonotatus has been taken (Usam- 



«3Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1881. p. 594. 

 <"VOg. Afr., vol. 2, 1002, p. 7G. 

 "sSyst. Avium Ethiop., 1924, p. 182. 

 •«Journ. f. Ornith., 1924, pp. 79-83. 



