BIRDS or ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 



419 



Von Heuglin found this bird in the hot valleys of Schoholand, but 

 not in the low coastal area. Blanford •'^ noted that in January and 

 February it, " * * * was abundant in the pass leading to the 

 highlands from about 2,500 to 5,000 feet above the sea. It was 

 usually in small flocks. In May and June all had migrated to higher 

 ground, and were met with, often singly, about Senafe at 7,000 and 

 8,000 feet."' Jesse •""" did not meet with this bird higher up than 

 Rayrayguddy, 1,800 meters (6,000 feet), in April. Erlanger found 

 it widely distributed throughout Somaliland where it occurs in the 

 sparsely wooded Acacia savannas of the lowlands but chiefly in the 

 more luxuriant vegetation along the periodic river beds and more 

 sheltered valleys. The fact that this bird tends to move from the 

 lowlands to the highlands according to the rains is an additional 

 argument against the subspecific distinctness of somaUensis and 

 favirostris. The highland birds descend into the lowlands during 

 the rains and then retreat upwards as the fruits on which they feed 

 ripen. It does seem, however, that some of the birds do breed in 

 the lower parts of the country, and it may be that in Somaliland the 

 situation is complicated by the presence at certain seasons of a 

 resident group and a migrant group of birds. 



In Kenya Colony the range of this species extends west farther 

 in the north than in the south, where it narrows down to the Taru 

 desert region. Lonnberg "^ procured specimens at Njoro and at 



»«Geol. and Zool. Abyss., 1870, p. 327. 



«'' Sec Finsch, Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., vol. 7, 1872, p. 279. 



o'Kunsi. Sv. Vet. Akad. Ilandlgr., vol. 47, no. 5, 1911, p. 72. 



»4312— 30 28 



