124 BULLETIlsr 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



This bulbiil is a forest bird, and its distribution is therefore rather 

 discontinuous, and, in Kenya Colony at least, largely confined to 

 high country. 



Family TURDIDAE, Thrushes 



TURDUS LIBONYANUS CENTRALIS Reichenow 



Figure 12 



Turdus pelios centralis Reichenow, Die Vogel Afrikas, etc., vol. 3, p. 690, 1905 : 



Lake District of central Africa ; type from Wadelai. 

 Specimens collected: 



1 male, Lake Abaya, southeast, Ethiopia, March 21, 1912. 



7 males, 5 females, Gato River near Gardula, Ethiopia, April 1-21, 1912. 



1 male, Anole village, Ethiopia, May 18, 1912. 



Soft parts: Iris brown; narrow eye ring greenish yellow; bill 

 yellow ; feet and claws very pale yellowish brown. 



These birds are not wholly typical of centralis but are nearer to 

 it than to any other race of this thrush. They suggest a slight 

 approach to pelios, the form of the lower parts of northwestern 

 Ethiopia. 



I have not seen sufficient material to attempt a revision of the 

 races of this species, and follow the conclusions arrived at by Rensch ^ 

 and adopted by Sclater.^* 



It is rather strange that the Frick expedition failed to meet with 

 and obtain specimens of the northern form pelios when traveling 

 along the Hawash River, as it is a common bird there. The present 

 race is slightly brighter in its general coloration and darker on the 

 breast than pelios', but on the whole the subspecies of this thrush 

 are rather slightly differentiated. 



All the birds collected are in rather worn plumage and are some- 

 what more brownish, less olive above, and paler on the breast, than 

 two Ugandan birds in fairly fresh -plumage. Their dimensions are 

 given in table 23. None of the birds is in molting condition, and 

 all are in adult plumage. 



According to Neumann,^^ this bird occurs at altitudes of from 

 6,000 to 8,300 feet. Mearns, however, collected most of his specimens 

 at 4,000 feet at Gato River. 



At the Gato River, March 29-May 17, Mearns saw about 100 of 

 these birds and found them to be breeding. On April 23, he collected 

 a set of three eggs which he attributed to this bird. There seems to 

 be some doubt, however, as to their identification, as they do not 

 agree with the descriptions given by van Someren ^^ for Ugandan 



•Journ. fur Orn., 1923, pp. 95-100. 



i« Systema avium .(Ethiopicarum, pt. 2, pp. 438-440, 1930. 



"Journ. fiir Orn., 1906, p. 285. 



"Ibis, 1916, p. 465. 



