390 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Subadult birds differ from older ones in having a bronze-colored 

 gloss instead of a greenish sheen as in the latter. 



The breeding season in Kenya Colony appears to be in July. 

 Van Someren found a female with nestlings on July 23. This bird 

 had the whole of the lower bill black and was, according to the 

 collector, " perfectly adult.'' 



Mearns noted this kakelaar as follows: Tharaka district, August 

 12-13, 45 seen ; Tana River, August 14r-23, 90 birds ; Tana River at 

 mouth of Thika River, August 23, 10 seen ; Athi River, August 29, 

 15 birds, 



PHOENICULUS PURPUREUS NILOTICUS (Neumann) 



Irrisor erijtlirorhynclLUs niloticus Neumann, Orn. Monatsb., vol. 11, p. 181, 

 1903: Goz Abu Guma, White Nile. 



Speciinens collected: 



Two adult males, one immature female, Hawash River, Ethiopia, 

 February 10-13, 1912. 



One adult male, Endoto Mountains, Ken^^a Colony, July 23, 1912. 



Soft parts: Iris dark brown; bill red. 



The Endoto specimen, the third recorded from Kenya Colony, is 

 more or less intermediate between true niloticus and rnarvyitzi but 

 nearer the former. Claude Grant ^* writes that the southern limits of 

 the range of niloticus are Lakes Stefanie and Rudolf, so the present 

 specimen extends the range of the race southeastward for a small, 

 but noteworthy, distance. Neumann ^^ found niloticus in Shoa, Van 

 Someren ■'*' obtained one on the Kobua River, west of Lake Rudolf, 

 and later "^ on the Turkwell River, Lake Rudolf, Kobua River, and 

 Mount Moroto. Granvik ^® lists niloticus from Mount Elgon, but he 

 writes that his specimen had the underside of the wings predominantly 

 green, not blue, and I therefore consider his record as really refer- 

 ring to marwitzi. Quite naturally under the circumstances, he ap- 

 pears to have had some doubts as to the validity of niloticus and 

 even hints that it may be based on age characters of 7iiarwitzL Gran- 

 vik also lists marwitzi from Mount Elgon, and so does Van Someren. 

 It is highly unlikely that two races of the same species would occur 

 together, especially so in a nonmigratory bird like the present one. 



The three birds from Hawash River constitute an eastern exten- 

 sion of range from Neumann's Ave ve record. The two adults are not 

 fully achilt as they have the maxillae blackish. 



"* Ibis, lOl.^, p. 285. 



sBJourn. f. Ornith., 1905, p. 194. 



e«Journ. E. Afr. Ug. Nat. Hist. Soc, 1921. no. 16, p. 30. 



wNov. Zool., vol. 29, 1922, p. 82. 



"sjourn. f. Ornith., 1923, Sonderheft, p. 111. 



