BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 333 



available as it is definitely assigned to "Abyssinia." Van Someren 

 also found that birds from south Ethiopia and Turkana to Uganda — 



* * * are paler than typical V. in. pulcher and * * * have the throat 

 and breast more pinkish than V. tn. macrourus, but not so dark as in U. m. 

 pulcher. The forehead, crest, and nape more brownish than typical race. 

 The under side paler than C. m. pulcher and the upper side less bluish green — 

 paler, and tinged with brownish. The nape patch is sky blue, not squill blue as 

 in C. m. pulcher. It appears, therefore, that this race is intermediate be- 

 tween C. m. syntactus and C. m. pulchei-; and as the type localities of these 

 two are so widely separated, they may form another subspecie,s. 



If we read into Van Someren's words the idea that the birds of 

 southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya Colony are intermediate be- 

 tween north and central Ethiopian birds (true macrourus) and 

 typical fulcJier then I agree as to the intermediate character of the 

 series from the intermediate area, but feel it unwise to name such a 

 variable aggregate, especially since the two peripheral races are 

 often difficult to identify. If, however. Van Someren was thinking 

 in terms of his Eritrean '• syntactus^'' and typical fulclier^ then his 

 '' intermediates " are really nothing but typical inacrov/rus. As far 

 as the material examined in the present study indicates, the birds of 

 the southern Shoan Lakes region and the Lake Rudolf country south 

 to where Van Someren permits typical jmlcher to wander, are, on 

 the whole, nearer to that form than to macrourus. 



2. C. m. pulcher. — Southern Ethiopia, northern Kenya Colony, 

 and southern Somaliland (Italian) to Uganda and to central 

 Tanganyika Territory. Sclater *- does not include the last-named 

 country in the range of this race, but I have seen material from as 

 far south as Morogoro (Loveridge collection). This race is darker 

 generally than the typical one, particularly on the upper parts 

 which have an ashy wash lacking in macrourus. According to 

 Grant this race is somewhat larger than macrourus., but this I can 

 not affirm, as the appended measurements show. 



3. C. tn. griseogularis. — Western Uganda (Toro and Ankole 

 Provinces) Ruanda, Urundi, to the Kivu district, Belgian Congo, 

 south to the country north of Lake Nj'asa. Similar to C. m. pulcher 

 but darker, the crown grayer; the blue nape patch somewhat niore 

 silvery, the wings and mantle tinged more greenish, less bluish, and 

 the throat and breast more grayish. 



It should be borne in mind that all these races are based on 

 average differences, and are therefore appreciable only in good 

 series. 



" Syst. Avium Ethiop., 1924, pp. 267-268. 



