320 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



tliebaica). Lynes made similar observations in the Darfur province 

 of the Sudan, where the species is a rather uncommon resident in 

 the southern and western parts of the plains, " * * * but only 

 where doleib or dom palm trees are present; probably breeding 

 in winter." He found nests containing fresh eggs and nestlings 

 at Khartoum at Christmas time. 



Usually the species occurs in fair numbers wherever it is found, 

 as the following observations entered in his diary by Mearns in- 

 dicate. Malele and region to the south for 45 miles, July 29-30, 

 40 seen; Northern Guaso Nyiro Kiver, July 31 to August 3, 100; 

 Lekiundu River, August 8, 4 seen; Tharaka district, August 12-13, 

 130 noted; Tana River, August 14-16, 400 birds seen. 



TELACAl^THURA USSHERI STICTILAEMA (Reichenow) 



Cypselus stictilaemus Reichenow, Orn. Ceutralbl., 1879, p. 114: Ualimi, Tana 

 River, Kenya Colony. 



Specimens collected: 



Male, Meru Forest, Kenya Colony, August 9, 1912. 

 Male, Guaso Mara River, Kenya Colony, August 9, 1912. 



These two specimens agree with another (the only other example 

 seen) from Mombasa. With no comparative series available I can 

 do no better than to accept the arrangement given by Sclater '^ with 

 the hope that if there are any mistakes in his conclusions they will 

 be corrected by other investigators. It may be noted, however, that 

 Sclater recognizes henguellensis and, with reservations, marwitzi 

 as well, while Bannerman ^"^ considers both these forms identical 

 with stictilaeina. 



In Kenya Colony this swift appears to be rather scarce. Van 

 Someren -' did not have any examples in his extensive collection, 

 and, as far as I have been able to ascertain, the bird was known 

 only from two localities in that country — Ualimi and Mombasa, 

 before the present specimens were procured. These two birds are 

 therefore the northwesternmost captures of the race and extend 

 the known range of stictilaeina northwestward from Ualimi on the 

 lower Tana River by approximately 350 miles. 



The two birds collected are in fresh plumage, while another from 

 Mombasa, June 14, is in very worn feathering — so abraded that the 

 spiny projecting rectricial shafts are completely worn away. This 

 indicates that in Kenya Colony the birds molt between the middle 

 of June and the first half of August, and inasmuch as swifts gen- 

 erally have but one complete molt a year, the postnuptial one, it 



=»Syst. Avium Ethiop., 1924, p. 262. 

 28 Ibis, 1923, pp. 730-731. 

 « Nov. Zool., vol. 29, 19!!2. 



