BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 



327 



Two specimens from Marsabit (topotypes of O. s. marsdbit Jack- 

 son) are intermediate between erlangeri and kikuyuensis, but slightly 

 nearer the latter, with which race I synonymize marsdbit. 



Mearns recorded this race of the speckled mouse bird as follows : 

 Plains at base and south of Endoto Mountains, July 19-24, 110 birds 

 Lekiundu Kiver, August 4-8, 90 seen; Kilindini and Meru, 



seen 



August 10, 50; Theraka district, August 11-12, 12 birds; Athi River, 



August 30, 1 noted ; Escarpment, September 4-12, 300 birds. 



COLIUS STRIATUS ERLANGERI Zedlitz 



Colius stnatus erlangeri Zedlitz, Orn. Monatsb., 1910, p. 191 : Djam Djam, 

 southwestern Ethiopia. 



Specimens collected: 



One male, Adis Abeba, Ethiopia, January 8, 1912. 

 One (tail only) near Ankober, Ethiopia, January 24, 1912. 

 One male, Kofali, Arussi Plateau, Ethiopia, March 1, 1912. 

 One male. Loco, Sidamo, Ethiopia, March 13, 1912. 

 One female, Gidabo River, Ethiopia, March 16, 1912. 

 One female, Gardula, Ethiopia, March 27, 1912. 

 Eight male adults, three male young, and seven female adults, 

 Gato River near Gardula, Ethiopia, March 31 to May 11, 1912. 

 One male, Sagon River, Ethiopia, June .5, 1912. 



Soft i^arts (male) : Iris, bluish black; bill with maxilla black with 

 a large gray spot at base above and small white spots near base on 

 sides, mandible white, black at base ; feet, red ; claws, black. 



The Juvenal plumage of this race differs from that of kikuyuensis 

 in the following particulars: The cheeks and auriculars are grayer 

 than in kikuyuensis and the feathers are narrowly barred with black, 

 while in the latter they are not. The mantle is more conspicuously 

 barred in the present subspecies, and the general tone of the entire 



