120 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



84; ciibnen, 15.5; tarsus, 21.5 mm; females — wing, 8^84.5; tail, 80- 

 84; ciilmen, 14; tarsus, 21.5-22 mm. 



On Mount Elgon, Granvik ^= found this bird from 6,500 to 7,500 

 feet. It was fairly common there in the undergrowth in the dense 

 forests. On Ruwenzori, Woosnam ^^ found it up to 10,000 feet in the 

 dense undergrowth, but also in the tops of the tallest trees and in 

 the bamboo jungles. He found a nest with one egg on March 4, 



CHLOROCICHLA FLAVIVENTRIS CENTRALIS Reichenow 



Chlorocichla centraUs Ee^chenow, Joiirn. fiir Orn., 1887, p. 74 : Loeru, Tan- 

 ganyika Territory. 

 Specimens collected : 1 male, Meru Forest, Kenya Colony, August 10, 1912. 



This specimen is the type of Chlorocichla flaviventris meruensis 

 Mearns.^^ 



The subspecies question in the case of the yellow-bellied bulbul in 

 tropical East Africa is rather confusing, and is still an open one. 

 Three names have to be considered in this question: C. f. centralis 

 Reichenow, C. f. inonibasae Shelley, and C. /. meruensis Mearns. 



Reichenow separated the birds of eastern Africa from those of Natal 

 and Zululand on the basis of the yellower upperparts and lighter, 

 paler yellow underparts. Shelley "^ described a form from Mom- 

 basa as being like the South African form but with darker under 

 Aving coverts. Mearns described meruensis as differing from mom- 

 hasae in having the crown darker, the back more greenish olive, and 

 the underparts more yellowish. 



The present specimen bears out the diagnosis of tneruensis^ and at 

 first sight this form appears to be valid. However, two specimens 

 from Morogoro, Tanganyika Territory (nearly topotypical cen- 

 tralis), match it very closely. Furthermore, van Someren ^^ writes 

 that the only difference he can find "between these up-country birds, 

 and the coastal form is the slightly larger size. The males have wings 

 of 108-114, females 102-108 mm., and perhaps the coloration is 

 brighter. As I have no birds from Meru or Kenia, I am unable to 

 say definitely whether these birds are really the same as the race 

 described by Mearns." 



I find that there is no constant size difference between meruensis 

 and birds from Morogoro and Dodoma. Birds from the last-named 

 I)lace are mombasae in color, although geographically they are as 

 nearly topotypical centralis, as are the darker Morogoro birds. I 

 am therefore led to the conclusion that the individual is at least as 



»»Journ. fiir Orn., 1923, Sonderheft, p. 205. 



08 Trans. Zoo]. See. London, 1910, p. 383. 



^ Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 61, no. 25, p. 3, 1914. 



»8The birds of Africa, etc., vol. 1, p. 64, 1896. 



" Nov. Zool., vol. 29, p. 186, 1922. 



