BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 183 



Soft parts : Iris yellow ; bill black, greenish yellow at base except 

 along commissure and on ridge of maxilla at base; feet greenish 

 yellow ; claws black. 



In the study of this and the other species of stone curlews I have 

 used Mrs. Meinertzhagen's review of the group " as a basis. Other 

 workers had previously revised the systematics of these birds in 

 whole or part, notably Erlanger,-^ Zedlitz,-^ Grant,'"' and Hartert,^^ 

 but the material in the Museum of Comparative Zoology agrees best 

 with the conclusions reached by Mrs. Meinertzhagen. 



Sclater ^^ does not recognize assimilis, but the reason is probably 

 that only freshly plumaged specimens exhibit the racial characters, 

 while worn birds are quite indistinguishable from specimens in simi- 

 lar condition of typical senegalensis. However, in fresh plumage 

 assimilis has the upper parts grayer and the edges and markings of 

 these feathers paler buff, less cinnamomeous, than in senegalensis. 

 The two races are perfectly good and readily distinguishable. Their 

 ranges are as follows : 



O. s. senegalensis : Western Africa from Senegal to Loango, east to 

 Gold Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, and French Ubangi. 



O. s. assimilis: Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 

 and extreme northern Uganda and the Turkana country west of Lake 

 Rudolf (Kebua and Meuressi).^^ 



The two races meet in the Lado Enclave, whence both are recorded. 



The young birds resemble the adults but have the pectoral streaks 

 narrower, and the edges of the feathers of the upper parts, particu- 

 larly the wing coverts, paler. 



The extent of the white patches in the three outermost primaries 

 varies considerably, but Avholly in an individual manner, in adult 

 birds. In one female the patch on the third primary from the out- 

 side is restricted to a small area extending for half the width of the 

 outer web and about 25 millimeters long, while the inner web has 

 only a slightly larger white area on its inner edge. In other words, 

 there are two small patches of white in this feather, whereas in most 

 specimens there is one continuous white area across the feather. 



Oedionemus inornatus Salvadori ^* was described from Ethiopia 

 and is therefore a synonym of assimilis^ not of typical senegalensis, 

 as Mrs. Meinertzhagen ^^ has recorded it. 



27 Ibis, 1924, pp. 329-356. 



ssjourn. f. Ornith., 1905, pp. 68-74. 



^-Idem, 1910, pp. 313-317. 



""Ibis, 1915, pp. 62-G3. 



3iVog. pal. Fauna, pp. 1517-1522. 



^Syst. Avium Ethiop., 1924, p. 142. 



^ See Van Someren, Nov. Zool., vol. 29, 1922, p. 17. 



!«Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat., vol. 8, 1866. p. 381. 



«■ Ibis, 1924, p. 340. 



