BITvDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 289 



crown yellow, while others have the entire head this color. The older 

 birds seem to have more yellow than younger ones. No specimen 

 has any bluish color on the breast or rump as shown in Heuglin's 

 plate of his citreicapilkis ^^ which Neumann ^^ regards as either a 

 species distinct from P. flavifrons or as a hybrid between it and P. 

 meyeri. 



Eeichenow ^^ considered Poicephalus crassus Sharpe as the young 

 of -flavifrons. Neumann ^« showed that the type of crassus came 

 from the lowlands of the Sudan whereas flamfrons is a highland bird 

 and that obviously young birds of the latter species in his Abyssinian 

 collection did not fit the description of crassus (said to have a brown- 

 ish head). However, he did not describe his young birds which 

 seems to imply that they resembled older ones more or less. There- 

 fore it may be of value to describe the present immature specimen, 

 which seems to be the only really juvenal one yet obtained. It is 

 like the adults but has no bright yellow on the head. The forehead, 

 anterior portion of the crown, lores, and cheeks are dull yellowish 

 olive green; the rest of the head as in the adult but somewhat 

 duller. Erlanger ^^ writes that in young birds the head and neck are 

 grayish brown with a greenish sheen; a statement possibly based 

 more on Reichenow's mistaken conclusions about crassus than on any 

 information new at that point. It is, however, applicable to flavi- 

 frons, but only rather crudely so. 



Males average larger than females. Seven adult males measure 

 as follows: Wing 166-174 (172), tail 80-87 (84.2), culmen from 

 cere 24-26.5 (25.4) millimeters; while four adult females are as 

 follows: Wing 163-166 (164.5), tail 73-78 (75), culmen from cere 

 14-15 (14.7) millimeters. 



P. flavifrons has two distinct geographical forms, as follows: 



1. P. flavifrons flavifrons. — Ethiopia, except western Shoa; that 

 is, except the valley of the Sobat River south to the Djam-djam 

 country. 



2. P. flavifrons aurantiiceps. — Upper Sobat Valley. This form 

 differs from the typical one in that it has the yellow of the head 

 replaced by deep orange red. 



This parrot is an inhabitant of the mountain forests of the Abys- 

 sinian highlands and is most numerous in the northern part of its 

 range. In the southern parts of Shoa it is much less common, 

 probably on account of the lower altitude and the ecological changes 

 thereunto attendant. Neumann givgs its altitudinal range as from 



" Orn. Nordost Afrika's, vol. 2, 1S73, pi. 26. 

 "Nov. Zool., vol. 15, 1908, p. 382. 

 "VOg. Afrikas, vol. 2, p. 18. 

 "Nov. Zool., vol. 15, 1908, p. 376. 

 "Journ. f. Ornith., 1905, pp. 43G-437. 



