BIEDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 291 



simplex, the type of which was subsequently found to be a female of 

 P. ru-fivent7ns. Twenty-five years later Madarasz ^^ separated the 

 birds of East Africa from those of Ethiopia and revived the name 

 simplex for the former group and restricted rufiventris to the latter. 

 Zedlitz, a few years later ^^ corroborated Madarasz 's conclusions and 

 stated that the best characters for identifying the two races are: 

 (1) The bill which is relatively more slender in rufiventris and 

 thicker, more swollen in simplex; and, (2) the coloration — I'ufiven- 

 tris having darker upper parts, and in the female, the under parts 

 being more bluish in rufiventris, more greenish yellow in simplex. 



The present series has been carefully examined with these char- 

 acters in mind, pains being taken to compare fresh plumages with 

 fresh plumages, adults with adults, etc., as cautioned by Zedlitz. No 

 appreciable or constant difference in the stoutness or slenderness of 

 the bill can be noticed in birds from Kenya Colony (south to Taveta, 

 whence Van Someren claims to have examples of simplex) and from 

 Ethiopia (north to Dire Daoua, Sadi Malka, etc.). It is true that 

 Abyssinian birds are slightly darker above, but while no examples 

 from Kenya Colony are as dark as the darkest northern birds, many 

 of the latter are no darker than the average southern type. The 

 character of the color of the underparts in the female is exactly 

 reversed by the present series. Where Zedlitz found that Abyssinian 

 birds were more bluish below, I find this true of specimens from 

 southern Kenya Colony (Taveta and the Guaso Nyiro) while 

 Abyssinian females are more greenish or greenish yellow. It there- 

 fore follows that simplex can not be maintained as a recognizable 

 race. 



Van Someren not only recognizes simplex but also suggests that 

 there may be still another (intermediate) form in southern Ethiopia, 

 having the small bill of rufiventris but paler above and bluer on the 

 rump, agreeing in this respect with simplex. Most of the series col- 

 lected by Mearns would be of this intermediate form on geographical 

 grounds alone, but inasmuch as simplex is not separable, it follows 

 that an intermediate form would have even less to support it. 



The measurements of the series studied by me are appended in 

 tabular form as further evidence of the identity of rufiventris and 

 simplex. The northern Somaliland form palUdus is upheld by 

 Sclater ^^ and is probably valid. 



=2 Orn. Moniitsb., 1912, Heft 5, p. 80. 

 =»Journ. f. Ornith., 1915, pp. 4-5. 

 2* Syst. Avium Ethiop., 1924, p. 201. 



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