242 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Of intensa and iiiedia I am in a position to form definite conclu- 

 sions based on a critical study of typical material. These two forms 

 are said ^^ to be darker than birds from Kenya Colony and Tan- 

 ganyika Territory. It is true that the series of these two Ethiopian 

 races average slightly darker above and more rufescent below than 

 a series farther south (Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika Territory), 

 but this difference is not constant, some individuals from East Africa 

 (practically typical " acanthina *') being just as dark. The southern 

 Abyssinian form media is said to differ from intensa of the Hawash 

 region in being joaler throughout and having more bluish purple in 

 the wing spots. The type specimens of the two forms differ only in 

 the wing-spot character, that of media having some of the spots 

 green and some purplish-bluish green, while that of iiiteiisa has them 

 all greenish. The two paratypical series, however, show this dif- 

 ference to be inconstant. 



In this connection it is worthy of mention that Van Someren^" 

 found that specimens from Lumbo, Mozambique, were darker on 

 the underside than East Afi'ican (Kenya Colony) birds and that 

 the wing spots varied in color ; in one individual they were purplish 

 blue, in another half green, half blue, and in still another, all green. 



The Ethiopian birds do not differ subspecifically from those of 

 Kenya Colony and farther south. 



In the first real revision of this species, Erlanger "^ admitted that, 

 although he recognized five forms, the differences between any two 

 were not well defined and could not be made out except with large 

 series. The present series does not justify any of the eastern races, 

 and, to judge from publications, the series in the British Museum and 

 at Tring apparently are not large enough to illustrate the racial 

 characters. When races are based on such minute average differences, 

 it becomes a practical impossibility to recognize them. 



Two of the birds from Gardula (one male and one female) are 

 molting the outermost pair of primaries and some of the inner 

 secondaries. 



APLOPELIA LARVATA LARVATA (Temminck) 



Columba larvata Tkmminck, Pig., Colombes, p. 71, pi. 31, ISIO: Le pays 

 d'Aiitiniquois ; i. e., Kiiysua, Cape Province. 



/Specimens collected: 



Female, Meru Forest, near Mount Kenia, Kenya Colony, August 

 10, 1912. 



Soft parts: Bill, black; feet, vinaceous; claws, dark brown. 



'8 Journ. f. Ornith., 1905, p. 134. 



■J'Mearns Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.. vol. 48, 1915, p. 384. 



»Nov. Zool., vol. 29, 1922, p. 36. 



