BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 73 



islands. In all this enormous range it has produced no valid geo- 

 graphic races, a fact that indicates the wide range of ecological tol- 

 erance of the species. Many investigators have assembled series from 

 all parts of Africa and have found no constant differences between 

 birds from different areas. Merely to satisfy myself on this point I 

 have examined some 50 specimens from the following localities — 

 Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya Colony, Uganda, Tanganyika Territory, Bel- 

 gian Congo, South Africa, Madagascar, Aldabra Island, and Assump- 

 tion Island, and my results confirm those of others as given above. 



In northeastern Africa some rather puzzling plumage variations 

 occasionally occur. Kleinschmidt ''* has delved into the question of 

 the so-called Corvus phaeocej^halus and has come to the conclusion 

 that the type of this form is merely a faded (brown instead of black) 

 specimen of alhus. On Plate 3 he figures a specimen that differs from 

 typical albus in having broad black shaft marks on the white feathers 

 of the upper back, breast, and upper part of the abdomen. This bird 

 he calls "Corvus . . .?" On Plate 4 (fig. 3) he shows a bird in 

 which the feathers of the upper back, breast, and anterior part of the 

 belly are dusky brownish or fuscous, edged with whitish, while in 

 normal birds these feathers are pure white. In the present series 

 are two birds that match these two. They were recorded by Mearns 

 as a mated pair killed by the same shot at Arussi Plateau, on Febru- 

 ary 15, although on the labels he has written "imm." (= immature) 

 in each case. The male approximates the appearance of the bird in 

 Plate 3 of Kleinschmidt's paper. It has the nape and the upper back 

 covered with blackish feathers laterally margined with white, and the 

 breast and upper abdomen fuscous-black, each feather very broadly 

 margined with white, giving the region a predominantly white ap- 

 pearance, heavily marked with blackish. In other words, it agrees 

 with the plate except that the nape and upper back are less whitish. 

 The female lacks the white on the nape and upper back, each feather 

 being edged with brownish and narrowly margined externally with 

 white. The feathers of the breast and upper abdomen are likewise 

 black margined with brown and narrowly edged with white, giving 

 this bird an appearance very like Plate 4, Figure 3, of Kleinschmidt's 

 work, except that the head is black and not brown. 



The immature male from Alaltu, on the other hand, agrees with the 

 Arussi male on the breast and abdomen, and with the Arussi female 

 on the color of the upperparts. None of these three are normal 

 plumages, because of immaturity. Young birds are browner than 

 adults but do not have the white areas streaked with dark fuscous as 

 in tliese instances. Thus, a young male examined (from the Belgian 

 Congo) has the chin, throat, and lower abdomen brownish mixed with 



8* Journ. fur Orn., 1906, pp. 90-99, pis. 2-4. 



