126 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Table 23. — Measurements of Ui specimens of Turdus libouj'anus centralis fiohi 



Ethiopia 



TURDUS OLIVACEUS ELGONENSIS (Sharpe) 



Merula elgonensis Sharpe, Ibis, 1891, p. 445 : "Mt. Elgou" ; type from Kikuyu. 

 Specimens collected : 6 adult males, 1 immature male, 1 immature female, 

 Escarpment, 7,390 feet, Kenya Colouy, September 7-10, 1912. 



Sclater/* following Kensch/^ lias considered Turdus milanjensis 

 and its northern form uluguru as races of T. olivaceus. A perusal of 

 the literature niiglit make this appear incorrect, as T. inilanjensis 

 uluguru has been recorded from the Usambara Mountains, a region 

 inhabited by T. olivaceus roeKli}^ However, on reexamining the 

 specimens of ulugwu from the Usambara Mountains, I find they 

 really are roehli. I therefore conclude that Rensch and Sclater are 

 justified in their decisions. 



Two other criticisms are in order. Firstly, Sclater writes that 

 Planesticus hellen Mearns is closely allied to, if not identical with, 

 Turdus olivaceus roehli. This is not so. T. o. helleri is a very dis- 

 tinct subspecies easily told from any other race of its species by its 

 solid black top and sides of the head, which are very strikingly and 

 abruptly demarcated from the brownish-olive back. Also, the rufous 

 on the sides of the abdomen is vastly richer and deeper than in any 

 race of olivaceus and is in marked contrast to the pure white middle 

 of the abdomen. 



Secondly, T. olivaceus polius Mearns is a good, valid subspecies 

 easily told from elgonensis by its paler, grayer coloration. I have 

 seen series of eight birds, including the type, of polius from Mounts 

 Garguess and Lololokui. Van Someren ^^ finds that polius is distinct 



" Sy.stema avium ^thlopicaium, pt. 2, pp. 440-442, 1930. 

 ^'Journ. fur Orn., 1923, pp. 100-104. 

 "See Friedmann, Ibis, 1928, p. 94. 

 " Nov. Zool., vol. 29, p. 239, 1922. 



