BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 121 



great as the geographic variation in tliis bulbiil, and that it is unwise 

 to attempt to recognize racial forms in Kenya Colony and the north- 

 ern half of Tanganyika Territory. The wing lengths of the males 

 examined are as follows: Meru, 102; Dodoma, 100-104; Morogoro, 

 103-109 mm. 



Van Someren ^ has recently studied this species and now considers 

 the birds of Kilimanjaro, inland to Kikuyu and Mount Kenya, as 

 Tneruensis, based on their larger size, and the coastal race morribasae. 

 If he is correct the latter has a very narrow coastal range, and the 

 Morogoro and Dodoma birds would be m£fuensis. The difference, 

 however, is slight at best, and the recognition of meruensis may be 

 deferred until more definite proof is forthcoming, especially since 

 7neruensis is to be distinguished from centralis and not necessarily 

 from coastal birds. 



ANDROPADUS INSULARIS FRICKI Mearns 



Andropadus fricki Meabns, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 61, no. 25, p. 4, 1914: 



Endoto Mountains, Kenya Colony. 

 Specimens oollected : 1 male, Endoto Mountains, north, Kenya Colony, July 20, 



1912. 



This specimen is the type of fricki. 



I have not been able to examine enough material to come to definite 

 conclusions about the geographic races of the sombre bulbul, but it 

 appears that in addition to the five forms recognized by Sclater,- two 

 others are also valid — subalarls Reichenow and kitu7igensis Mearns. 

 I have seen no material of kilimandjaricus or somaliensis and can 

 not pass any judgment on them, but I accept them tentatively on the 

 basis of Sclater's conclusions. The races here recognized are as 

 follows : 



1. A. i. insularis: Zanzibar and the coastal belt of eastern Africa 

 from Dar es Salaam north to the Pangani River. 



2. A. i. hilimandjaricus : Known only from Kibonoto on Mount 

 Kilimanjaro, at 4,200 feet. The colored figure given by Sjostedt^ 

 resembles insularis but is duskier, more grayish olive-brown, less 

 yellowish. 



3. A. i. fricJci: Known only from the Endoto Mountains, northern 

 Kenya Colony. This race has a yellow eye ring, not found in any 

 of the others except kitungensis. In the original description of this 

 form, Mearns wrote that it has much more yellow on the underparts 

 than does insularis. I fail to find any difference between them in this 

 respect, but jrichl is darker above than insularis. 



» Nov. Zool.. vol. 37, p, 345, 1932. 

 * Systema avium .ffithiopicarum, pt. 2, p. 393, 1930. 



' Wissenscbaftliche Ergebnisse der schwedlsclien zoologischen Expedition nach dem Kili- 

 mandjaro . . . Deutsch-Ostafiika, 1905-6, etc., Vogel, pi. 2, flg. 2, 1908. 



