BIEDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 251 



Kenya, Nairobi, and Escarpment districts there may possibly be a 

 recognizable subspecies which would have to bear the name of 

 T. h. medius * * * T. A. eaeruleus * * * from Mount 

 Uraguess may possibly be separable, because the avifauna from that 

 district is most remarkable." In other woi-ds. Van Someren was 

 unable to definitely corroborate any of Mearns' races and was able 

 to show that one of them was clearly untenable. Sclater - writes 

 that the three new forms named by Mearns, " * * * require 

 further investigation before they can be recognized as valid." In 

 1928 ' I noted that the three could not be distinguished in a series of 

 45 adults from various parts of Kenya Colony and Tanganyika 

 Territory. 



In studying the variations and systematics of this species I have 

 carefully examined a large series (108 adults) including the types of 

 medius, crissalis, and caenilescens, and practically topotypical speci- 

 mens of hartlauhi. The localities represented in the series are as 

 follows: Tanganyika Territory — Mount Kilimanjaro, Usambara 

 Mountains; Kenya Colony — Chuka, Nyeri, Embu, 10 miles from 

 Gilgil, Ngong, Nairobi, Morijo, Morroshura, Escarpment, Mount 

 Gargues (equal Mount Uraguess of Van Someren), Mount Mbololo, 

 and Mount Kenia. I find that none of the characters of any of the 

 races holds good, that hartlauhi is a variable species but that the 

 variations have no geographical significance. Of all the so-called 

 forms, tnedius seems the best characterized by being very slightly 

 less violaceous, more bluish, than typical hartlauhi, but the difference, 

 very slight at best, is only an extremely small average one requiring 

 large series for its exhibition. If it were to be recognized about four- 

 fifths of the birds from its so-called range would have to be identi- 

 fied as intermediate between it and hartlauhi. 



Turacus hartlauhi is a bird of the highland forests of Kenya 

 Colony, ranging south into northern Tanganyika Territory where 

 it extends to the Usambara Mountains, but does not reach the Ulu- 

 guru range. Its ecological requirements are not merely those of a 

 dense forest, as it does not occur in lowland forests. On Mount 

 Kilimanjaro, for example, it occurs in the wooded zone from about 

 4,000 feet to 10,000 feet, but in the near-by forest at Taveta (2,300 

 feet) it certainly does not occur, as I spent some two months there 

 in 1925 and did not see it. Likewise Abbott did not meet with 

 it at Taveta. The species is definitely known from the following 

 localities : 



Tanganyika Territory. — Mount Meru, Mount Kilimanjaro, Ma- 

 rangu. Great Arusha, Mori River, Usambara INIountains (Bumbuli, 

 Phillipshof, and Lushoto), and Sagayo. 



- Syst. Avium EthiolJ., 1924, p. 193. 

 3 Ibis. nn. T8-79. 



^ Ibis, pp. T8-79 



