448 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



northern form is migratory and may therefore occur at times in 

 the range of niassaicuin. These two specimens can not be said to 

 be immature, as they have the red on the forehead and crown well 

 developed and have the maxillary tomia with well-developed " teeth.*' 

 one on each side. 



The southernmost race, frontatum (terra typica, Angola), which 

 unfortunately I have not seen, is the most heavily marked on the 

 undersides. It follows that massmcumv is, both geographically and 

 in its plumage characters, intermediate between diadeTJiatuin and 

 mustu?/i, and fronfatwm. Are we then to explain the appearance of 

 unspotted birds in the northern half of Tanganyika Territory, where 

 most of the birds are spotted, on the basis of the intermediacy of 

 7nassaiGU7n\? In this connection it may be noted that Van Someren ^^ 

 writes that viassaiciim^ is " * * * heavily spotted on the under- 

 side in both adult and young. Some birds, however, are not so 

 heavily spotted as others." If we assume the variational limits of 

 the intermediate to include in its range those of both the peripheral 

 races, then we can not draw a line anywhere and would have to dis- 

 card the idea of the subspecific reality of massaicwn. However, 

 since by far the majority of the birds from the range of that form 

 agree with the characters ascribed to it by Reichenow in his original 

 description, it certainly seems valid, and the occasional dmdematum- 

 like specimens are probably wandering migrants from farther north. 

 But, here again, we must remember that there is no other evidence, 

 no evidence based on observations of living birds in Africa, to sup- 

 port the suggestion that this barbet is even partly migratory. 

 Barbets of other species {Tricholaema hirsidmii, for example) are 

 known to wander about in accordance with the ripening of certain 

 wild fruits, but the present species is known to feed extensively on 

 termites as well as on fruit. The two Tanganyikan examples of 

 diadematmih examined by me were, collected on December 22. It 

 remains to be discovered if this is in the nonbreeding season of this 

 species. 



The races of T. diadematuiiv are as follows : 



1. T. d. diadematuoih. — The upper AYhite Nile (Mongalla and 

 Lado, where it is uncommon), northwestern Uganda (Masindi, Kye- 

 tume), east to central and southern Ethiopia from Dire Daoua and 

 the Hawash Basin (Arba, Dadadjamalka, etc.) to northern Somali- 

 land, south through Shoa to Mar Mora and the northern end of Lake 

 Stefanie. On migration (?) as far south as Dodoma, Tanganyika 

 Territory. Characters: Underparts unspotted or only very slightly 

 so; wings 72.80 millimeters in length. 



a" Nov. Zool., vol. 29, 1922, p. 57. 



