BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 383 



Ethiopian region. I have seen no ma'jOi\ but none of the eyops exam- 

 ined approach the figure given by Hartert for the former race. 



The typical race of this species is known in the region occupying 

 our attention in this report only as a winter visitor from the north. 

 Meinertzhagen '^ has summarized what is known of it in East Africa. 

 He finds that the birds begin migrating from their breeding grounds 

 in Armenia in early August and the flights continue through Sep- 

 tember. They arrive in Egypt during the last third of August and 

 continue to arrive until the end of September. In the Sudan they 

 appear in numbers in September and remain for the winter, becom- 

 ing scarcer toward the south (Bahr-el-Ghazal region). Birds occur 

 in northern Somaliland during the last days of September, all of 

 October, and the first half of November. In Kenya Colony they are 

 decidedly scarce. Meinertzhagen obtained one on Mount Kenia on 

 November 23, Turner secured another on Lake Rudolf on March 13, 

 Van Someren procured one at Kyambu and one at Naivasha, and 

 there is a record for Uganda and one for Turkanaland. According to 

 Meinertzhagen the northward migration begins in early March, the 

 latest dates for the Sudan being May 2 and 4 (Port Sudan) and 

 May 24 (Khartoum). Grant "^ writes that two specimens were taken 

 in Somaliland in July and September, and two in Ethiopia in August, 

 so it appears that a few individuals may stay behind. Such birds 

 are. however, probably sick or wounded individuals that are unable 

 ro migrate. 



The molting process in this bird (as shown by 40 specimens) ap- 

 parently bears no definite relation to the migration. Some birds 

 complete the postnuptial molt before leaving the breeding grounds, 

 Avhile others arrive in Ethiopia and the Sudan in worn nuptial dress 

 or in various stages of molt. The order of replacement of the 

 remiges is noteworthy because of its irregularity. For example, 

 two of the birds collected at Dire Daoua early in December were 

 molting the primaries. One has replaced the innermost ones and 

 the outermost two, the other has replaced all but the outermost three 

 pairs. I have not been able to detect any sign of a prenuptial molt. 



It seems then, that the actual breeding is done in worn plumage 

 (which differs from that of the winter only by abrasion), exactly the 

 opposite of what takes place in Upupa africana. Aside from the 

 general interest attached to such a diametrically opposite condition 

 in these two congeners, this is another argument in favor of the 

 specific distinctness of the two. 



The size of the adults is variable, but not more so than in most 

 birds. Males have wings 139-152. tails Ofi-lOfi. and bills 51-62 milli- 



•«Ibis, 1922, pp. 48-50. 

 " Idem, 1915, p. 278. 



