BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 429 



Hemprich's hornbill is the only full species of its family entirely 

 restricted to northeastern Africa. It occurs in Eritrea and north- 

 western Somaliland, throughout Ethiopia, and in the Turkwell 

 district of northeastern Uganda. 



Neumann «^ has recently separated the birds of extreme northern 

 Kenya Colony and the Turkwell country under the name exsul 

 (terra typica, Moyale). I have seen no examples of this form, but 

 the characters are not too convincing. According to Neumann this 

 form has a wing length (in the male) of 260 millimeters as against 

 280 to 305 millimeters in hemprichii. The male of exsul is said to 

 be even smaller than the female of the typical race. It also differs 

 from the nominate form in the color of the bill. While in males of 

 hemprichii the whole mandible is cherry red to mahogany red, in 

 exsul the base and tomial edge of the mandible are black, and only 

 the middle of the basal part is reddish. The base of the maxilla is 

 said to be much lighter than in hemprichii^ yellowish gray to reddish 

 white. The color of the bill I find (to judge from dried specimens) 

 to be a matter of age, so that character is ruled out, and the small 

 size may possibly be due to wrong sexing. Jackson's birds (Neu- 

 mann got his type from the Jackson collection) were largely 

 obtained by native collectors and consequently the sexing is open to 

 question. However, Neumann's work is usually so reliable that I 

 accept his race, at least until I can see some material. 



Assuming, then, that exsul is valid, the ranges of the two forms are 

 as follows: 



1. L. h. hemprichii — Eritrea, Ethiopia, south to the north end of 

 Lake Rudolf, and Somaliland. 



2. L. h. exsul.— T\\Q highlands to the east, west, and southwest of 

 Lake Eudolf (Turkwell, Karamojo, Suk, etc.). 



Sclater ^^ gives the type locality as " Abyssinian coastlands," but 

 I question if this species breeds in the low coastal belt. Von Heuglin 

 says definitely that this hornbill occurs from 5,000 to 11,000 feet 

 (1,500 to 3,300 meters) in the Dega country, that it is found as well 

 in the Tigre and Ambara district east as far as the Taranta Pass and 

 Mensa. He also writes that he remembers, but not too surely, that 

 he had received specimens from southern Kordofan and the upper 

 White Nile, but this seems to be wrong. Sclater and Mackworth- 

 Praed do not record this species in their list of Sudanese birds. Blan- 

 ford ^^ writes that it is a highland species, but not very common in the 

 parts of northern Ethiopia he visited. He saw it most commonly 

 around Senafe and in the higher parts of the Anseba Valley. 



86 Journ. f. Ornith., 1928, p. 784. 

 8»Syst. Avium Ethiop., 1924, p. 229. 

 " Geol. and Zool. Abyss., 1870, p. 326. 



