BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 311 



the group shows a tendency to produce elongated middle rectrices is 

 of evolutionary interest in showing a possible origin of the highly 

 graduated Scotornis cUmacurus^ a point that Van Someren seems to 

 have considered wholly from the wrong angle — that of arranging 

 the variations in an artificial linear series to reduce the gap between 

 G. fossei and Scotoi^nis. Linear series are often intellectual figments 

 when applied to birds, and to go out of one's way to provide steps 

 where only an original variational tendency is needed seems wholly 

 unnecessary. 



The races of Cafrimulgns fossei are as follows : 



1. C. f. fossei. — South Africa north to the Katanga, Ruwenzori, 

 Gaboon, and through Nysaland and Mozambique to the coastal por- 

 tions of southern Tanganyika Territory; rarely as far north as 

 Zanzibar. 



2. C. f. clarus. — Similar to the typical race but smaller (wings 

 135 to 150 millimeters as against 153 to 165 millimeters in fossei)., 

 also paler, more grayish above with sandy or buffy markings: 

 Eastern Unyoro and Ankole districts of Uganda east throughout 

 Kenya Colony to the east coast ; also throughout the inland portions 

 of the northern half of Tanganyika Territory. 



Sclater ^^ has given only a very incomplete statement of range ; 

 in fact his western limits (eastern shores of Victoria Nyanza) are 

 over 100 miles east of the type locality. Birds from Mount Kili- 

 manjaro and vicinity which have been referred to typical fossei by 

 Oberholser ''^ and to apatelius by Neumann *^ and Sjostedt ^^ are 

 really claims. 



Ogilvie-Grant ^^ writes that clarus is founded on young specimens 

 of fossei., which are paler and of smaller dimensions than the adults. 

 In this he is mistaken, but the reason for his confusion lies in the 

 fact that probably both fossei and clarus meet in the general vicinity 

 of Ruwenzori. 



3. C . f. apatelius. — Similar to clarus but averaging slightly larger 

 (wings 147 to 162 millimeters). I find that Van Someren is entirely 

 correct in his observation that the character on which Neumann 

 distinguished this bird from the other two races; that is, the white 

 wing mark extending over both webs of the outermost primary, does 

 not hold good in all Ethiopian specimens, and is found in some 

 individuals of fossei and clarus. Neumann's statement that the range 

 of apatelius extends south to Kilimanjaro was undoubtedly based 

 on an aberrant individual of clarus in which the white mark was 



*^ Syst. Avium Bthiop., 1924, p. 253. 



'^ Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 28, 1905, p. 857. 



8= Orn. Monatsb., vol. 12, 1904, p. 143. 



™ Kilimanjaro-Mcru Exp., 1910, p. 102. 



«' Ruwenzori Exp., Aves, Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., vol. 19, 1910, pp. 428-429. 



