BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND 1\^NYA COLONY 373 



feet) '' and in some of the vallies farther south * * *." He found 

 it very common in the subtropical region of the Anseba and the 

 Lebka and saw a few at Samhar on the coast. ErL^nger *^ met 

 with it only in Shoa proper, west of the Hawash Valley. Inci- 

 dentally, he suggests that this bird may be a race of caudatus in 

 which he is wrong, as lorii^ a race of that species, occurs together 

 with aJji/ssinicu^. He also calls the present species abi/sshius instead 

 of ahyssinicus in which he is likewise wrong. Zedlitz ^^ writes that 

 his experience was somewhat different from that of Erlanger. He 

 found C&racias abi/sslnicus very common in southern Ethiopia 

 (where Erlanger saw it but once) everywhere except in the coastal 

 area where it was not noted. 



The altitudinal range of this l)ird extends from sea level to over 

 8,500 feet (2.550 meters). 



According to Von Heuglin it breeds in the latter part of the 

 rainy season. Brehm and Vierthaler found it nesting in holes in 

 trees. 



CORACIAS CAUDATUS LORTI Shelley 



CoracUts lorti Sheixey, Ibis, 1SS5, p. 399: Somalihind (plateau south vf 

 Berlxn-a ) . 



Speci?)iens collected: 



Two male adults, near Gardula, Ethiopia, March 2-1-29, 1912. 



Two female adults, Black Lake x^baya, south, Ethiopia, March 

 25-26, 1912. 



Eight male adults, five female adults, and two females, young, 

 Gato Kiver near Gardula. Ethiopia, March 31 to April 24, 1912. 



One male adult, Mar Mora, Ethiopia, June 14, 1912. 



One male adult, Turturo, Ethiopia, June 15, 1912. 



One male adult. Dire Daoua, Ethiopia (Cepharino collection), no 

 date. 



Four male adults, Ourso, Ethiopia, September 17 to October 27, 

 1911 (Ouellard collection). 



Soft parts: Iris, grayish brown; bill, all black; feet, olive; claws, 

 black. 



Besides the birds listed above I have examined 12 others, making 

 38 in all. The series shows great variation in color, some features of 

 which are of sufficient importance to merit discussion. The first 

 of these has to do with the status of Madartisz's species, Coracias 

 kovdcsi,^'^ a form which has been apparently overlooked by Grant, 

 Zedlitz, Sclater, and other recent workers. This bird is said to be 



*«Journ. f. Ornith., 1905, p. 459. 



'" Idem, 1910, p. 759. 



»"Bull. Brit. Oru. CI., vol. 29, 1911, p. 13: Ourso, S. Abyssinia. 



