404 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



lony are somalieus, but I do not agree with him, as he probably was 

 confusing breeding and nonbreeding individuals. 



3. E. m. cabanisi. — No white wing band; wings, male, 97.5-102.5 

 millimeters, female, 88-98.5 millimeters. This bird at first sight is 

 very distinct from minor and might be considered specifically so 

 were it not for the variable nature of the connecting form, somalicus^ 

 Zedlitz,^° Van Someren,^- and others have suggested that the birds 

 of southern Kenya Colony were different from typical cahanisi. but 

 hesitated to separate them in the absence of topotypical material. 

 B. m. cabanisi was described from the White Nile between 3° and 4° 

 north latitude, a region where the bird is rare. The type in the 

 Turin Museum is not available to me, and the only clue as to its size 

 is in the original description, Avliere it is said that, " magnitudine, 

 forma, pictura, Irrisori minori Riipp. valde affinis, sed absque re- 

 migum maculis albis." It seems, therefore, that the type was rather 

 small, agreeing with the birds of the northern half of Kenya Colony, 

 and not with the more southern ones {extim/us). The range of 

 cahanisi is as follows : The upper White Nile from Mongalla south 

 to Uganda and east through the northern half of Kenya Colony 

 south to about the equator. 



4. R. m. extimus. — Similar to cabarnisi but larger (wings 106-112 

 millimeters in extimus as against 97.5-102 millimeters in cabanisi). 

 The range is as follows : Northern Tanganyika Territory and south- 

 ern Kenya Colony (Taveta and Teita districts to southern Ukamba 

 and south Kavirondo). The southern limits as given by Sclater for 

 cabanisi (which includes extwius) are Teita and the Pagani River, 

 but the range of extimus extends as far south as Dodoma on the 

 central railway line. 



This bird is a characteristic inhabitant of the Acacia savannas of 

 northeastern Africa but does not occur in the lowlands, where it is 

 replaced by somalicus. Erlanger found it breeding in the country 

 between Zeila and Jeldessa, where on March 1, he found a nest with 

 six young. The breeding season lasts from February to May. 



In the northern part of its range the molting season is earlier 

 in the west than in the east. Thus, most of the birds collected at 

 Dire Daoua in December are in molt, but are nearly finished, only 

 the outermost pair or two of the remiges being old, while farther 

 toward the Somaliland border the molt appears to linger until 

 the end of March or early April. More material is needed, however, 

 to establish this point with certainty. 



It takes at least two years for the birds to become fully adult in 

 plumage (that is, with bluish-black underparts instead of dull black 

 as in year old birds). 



sojourn, f. Ornith., 1915, p. 35. 

 32 Nov. Zool., vol. 29, 1922, p. 83. 



