BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 281 



One male, Bodessa, Ethiopia, May 31, 1912. 



One male and one female, Sagon Kiver, Ethiopia, June 3-5, 1912. 



One female, North Kudolf, Womo River, Kenya Colony, May 30, 

 1912. 



One male, Endoto Mountains, south, Kenya Colony, July 21, 1912. 



One male and one female, Lekiundu Eiver, Kenya Colony, August 

 4-5, 1912. 



One female, Tana River, camp 6, Kenya Colony, August 21, 1912. 



One female, between Thika and Athi Rivers, Kenya Colony, 

 August 29, 1912. 



Soft parts : Iris, red ; bill, black ; feet, plumbeous, with black 

 claws. 



In studying the subspecies of the white-browed coucal, I have care- 

 fully examined a series of 75 specimens, distributed as follows: 

 Ethiopia, 14; British Somaliland, 4; Sudan, 7; Kenya Colony, 40; 

 Tanganyika Territory, 6; Uganda, 2; Belgian Congo, 2. The 

 Socotra Island form I have not seen. Sclater ^^ recognizes three 

 races — the typical one, living in southern Arabia and northeastern 

 Africa (Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somaliland, and Kenya Colony) ; 

 loandae^ a darker backed form found from the " * * * Congo 

 River south to Angola, east to Uganda and the north end of Lake 

 Nyasa (possibly to the Zambesi Valley and also to the lake district 

 of southern Ethiopia)"; and sokotrae^ known only from the island 

 of Socotra. 



Three other races have been proposed as well. They are inter- 

 medius Van Someren,^^ niloticus Sztolcman,^® and Tneridionalw 

 Madarasz.^^ These may be considered at this point. The first 

 named, interTJiedius, is said to be characterized by being darker 

 above and smaller than typical superdliosus. Some years ago I 

 had the opportunity of examining Van Someren's series in Nairobi 

 and came to the conclusion that, although the differences between 

 it and the typical form were slight, yet the East African race was 

 recognizable. In 1926 ^ I renamed it furvus as Van Someren's name 

 was found to be preoccupied by Gentroyus sinensis intermedms 

 Hume. However, since then I have examined over a hundred birds 

 in all, and with each additional specimen, the case against furvus 

 becomes stronger. Neither the size nor the color differences hold, 

 and I am convinced that furvus must be relegated to the synonymy 

 of superciliosus. Birds from northeastern Africa (Sudan, Ethiopia, 

 and Somaliland) present the following wing measurements: Male, 



»«Syst. Avium Ethiop., 1924, pp. 186-187. 



•"Nov. Zool., vol. 29, 1922, p. 50: Mombasa. 



»»Ann. Zool. Mus. Pol., vol. 3, 1925, p. 160: Keuissa, White Nile. 



»»Ann. Mus. Hung., vol. 12, 1918, p. 584: "East Africa." 



>Auk. vol. 43, p. 370. 



