BIEDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 245 



calls the birds of Darfur waalia and makes no inention of cinerei- 

 ceps. Three Sudanese examples in the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology (Fazogli, Blue Nile, and Binder Kiver) are not different 

 from Ethiopian specimens (including one practically topotypical 

 individual). As far as I know, Zedlitz ^*^ is the only author who 

 recognizes the two forms of this bird, but his very evidence contra- 

 dicts the racial validity of cmereiceps, as he writes that his two 

 specimens (from Ela Bered, extreme northeastern Ethiopia) ap- 

 proach cmereiceps in coloration, having practically pure gray heads 

 and necks. Geographically his birds should have been closer to 

 typical waalia. 



If we study the characters of cinereiceps one by one we find that 

 each varies individually without regard to locality, sex, age, or 

 season. Thus, the lack of greenish color on the head and neck, 

 the presence or absence of yellow on the tarsi, the amount of 

 yellow or olive-green on the upper parts, all vary considerably. 

 Zedlitz ^^ found that his northeastern Abyssinian birds agreed with 

 one from Togo, West Africa, a fact which further indicates the ab- 

 sence of correlation between geography and racial characters. V . w. 

 cinereiceps can not be recognized in the light of present knowledge. 



The only other attempt at subspecific splitting is the suggestion 

 made by Van Someren,^^ who writes that the Jubaland birds prob- 

 ably represent a distinct race. I have seen no material from Juba- 

 land or southern Somaliland and so can not form an opinion on this 

 point. Two specimens from British Somaliland in the Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology are very slightly paler than the average, but 

 can be matched by some Ethiopian (true toaalia) examples. Er- 

 langer ^^ writes that two birds collected at Massowa by Schrader are 

 somewhat lighter colored on the upper parts than his series from 

 southern Ethiopia and Gallaland, but that the difference is so very 

 faint that he prefers not to describe a geographic form of such slight 

 character on two specimens. The two from British Somaliland 

 probably agree with those from Massowa, but the birds do not differ 

 enough to warrant nomenclatural recognition. 



The geographical distribution of V. waalia extends from Senegal 

 through Northern Nigeria, the Sudan to Uganda, Kenya Colony, 

 Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somaliland, Socotra, and the Aden Protectorate, 

 southwestern Arabia. To attempt anything like a detailed account of 

 the occurrence of this pigeon in any one district is rendered difficult 

 by the fact that the birds wander about a great deal, their presence 

 being largely correlated with the ripening of certain wild fruits, 

 particularly the wild figs. The species is sometimes found in forests, 



sojourn, f. Ornlth., 1910. p. 339. 



sojourn. E. Afr. and Uganda Nat. Hist. Soc, January, 1928, p. 176, footnote. 



»Journ. f. Ornith., 1905, p. 111. 



