BIKDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 



369 



This very distinct bee eater is of interest because of its restricted 

 range and the absence of any representative forms elsewhere. It is 

 known to occur onl}^ in Somaliland and adjacent parts of Ethiopia 

 and northern Kenya Colony, The northern limits of its range are 

 Gobeyla, Harrar, the Goolis Mountains, the Haud plateau, and the 

 upper Webi Shebelli; the southernmost points at which it has been 

 found are the Northern Guaso Nyiro in the interior, and the Bardera 

 region nearer the coast. Before the present series was collected, 

 the species was known from the following localities in Kenya Colony : 

 Northern Guaso Nyiro, Thera, and below Chanler Fails. The birds 

 listed above extend the knov/n range westwards to the Lake Rudolf 

 district and indicate that, like so many Somaliland forms, this bird 

 occurs east and south of the Abyssinian highlands extending quite 

 far to the west in the southern part of its range, but not occurring in 

 the intervening mountainous country. Zedlitz ^^ records it from 

 Gallaland in the area between Harrar and the Haud plateau of 

 Somaliland but not from west of Harrar. 



Inasmuch as this species is relatively uncommon in collections, the 

 following measurements of the series examined are appended for the 

 use of future workers. 



In coloration the series varies but slightly, the amount of tawny 

 on the hind neck being the most noticeably variable, and this appears 

 to be largely a matter of wear, more of the tawny color being exposed 

 as the distal, greenish barbules of the feathers wear off. 



Van Someren ^° writes of his two specimens from the Northern 

 Guaso Nyiro that insufficient material prevents him, " * * * from 

 ascertaining whether these are the same as typical birds, but they 

 probably are." Ken3^a birds are not in any way separable from speci- 

 es joum. f. Oriiith., 1915. p. 30. 

 3«Nov. Zool., vol. 29, 1922, p. 79. 



