462 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The Oiirso specimen and four of the Dire Daoua series were col- 

 lected by H. and F. Von Ziilow ; one female from the latter place was 

 taken by Cepharino, the rest by Doctor Mearns. 



The yellow-breasted barbets have been divided into two races, as 

 follows : 



1. T. m. mcvrgaritatus. — The Khartoum and Sennar districts of 

 the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Eritrea, Bogosland, northern and north- 

 western Ethiopia, west to Darfur, Lake Chad, Northern Nigeria, 

 and to Asben. This race is large (wings, 89-100 millimeters in the 

 males, 87-94 millimeters in the females) and has the abdomen 

 yellowish, almost as bright as the breast and throat. 



2. T. 111. somalicus. — Northern Somaliland, west through xVrussi- 

 land and Gallaland to Shoa where it intergrades with the tj-pical 

 form. The characters of this form are (1) small size (wings 83-91 

 millimeters in both sexes), and (2) the abdomen with but little 

 yellow, much grayer and whiter than the breast and throat. 



Both these races are valid and are upheld by the material studied. 



Zedlitz ^" has indicated that the color of the back has no taxonomic 

 or geographic significance, but is merely a matter of individual 

 variation. Some birds have the ground color of the wings, mantle, 

 and upper back dull grayish brown while in others it is much 

 darker — brownish fuscous. I have seen no specimens in which the 

 brown is replaced by black, but Elliot ^^ recorded such to be the case 

 in some Somaliland specimens. Erlanger ^^ cites Elliot's observa- 

 tions only to refute them with his more recent specimens. The 

 present series (with seven others, making 25 in all) shows two 

 things with regard to the intensity of the dorsal body coloration. 

 First, there is considerable individual variation. Second, the Juve- 

 nal plumage is lighter, more grayish brown, the adult feathers 

 darker, more fuscous brown. Several molting birds in the series 

 collected at Dire Daoua have the tv>"o shades of brown present, and 

 in every case the light colored feathers are old and worn, the dark 

 ones new and fresh. Add to the matter of age, the factors of abrasion 

 and fading, and all the observable differences are accounted for. 



The size variations are presented in the following table : 



"Journ. f. Ornith., lUlO, pp. 740-752. . 



"* Field Col. Mus., vol. 1, p. 2 ; l'<!)7, p. 40. 

 se.Journ. f. Oiniih., 1905, p. 470. 



