50 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



color. Some have blackish subterminal spots 7 mm wide, while others 

 have merely a speck of black on either web. 



Neumann ^'' writes that Ethiopian birds are somewhat smaller than 

 West African ones. His specimens from the former region had wings 

 of 149-155 mm (males) and 142-148 mm (females). The present 

 series agree fairly well with these figures — 150-157.5 mm (males), 

 144r-154 mm (females). 



Sharpe and Wyatt,^^ quoting von Heuglin's notes, write that this 

 swallow is migratory in northeastern Africa. Von Heuglin found it 

 from May to January in Kordofan and central Ethiopia, at altitudes 

 of from 5,000 to 9,000 feet. Neumann likewise found it in the high- 

 lands from 6,500 to 8,300 feet. Brehm, however, states that it is found 

 even on the Red Sea, but I know of no specimens from there. 



The breeding season in Ethiopia appears to be from April to July. 

 Erlanger^^ found a nest with two young about 10 days old near 

 Harrar on April 28, while on July 7 near Akaki, near Adis Abeba, he 

 found a nest with three eggs, one of which was smaller than the other 

 two and may have been of another species. In Kenya Colony and 

 Uganda van Someren^" found nests from May to July and October 

 to January. 



Besides the specimens collected, Mearns recorded this swallow as 

 follows : July 25, Er-re-re, 2 seen ; July 26, Le-se-dun, 2 birds; August 

 27, Thika River, 200 observed. 



HIRUNDO ABYSSINICA ABYSSINICA Guerin 



Hirundo ahyssinica Guebin, Rev. Zool., 1843, p. 322 : Abyssinia. 



Specimens collected: 1 male, Tharaka dstrict, Kenya Colony, August 12, 1912. 



The material available for study is insufficient to enable me to 

 delve very far into the systematics of this swallow. There are four 

 races currently recognized in literature, as follows : 



1. H. a. puella: Gold Coast, etc., east through the Upper Guinean 

 savannahs to Darfur. 



2. H. a. maxima: A large, very heavily streaked form from the 

 highlands of northern Nigeria. 



3. H. a. ahyssinica: Larger than the nominate form, the ventral 

 streaking somewhat heavier and broader: Eritrea, Ethiopia, East 

 Uganda, Kenya Colony, and Tanganyika Territory, intergrading 

 over a fairly large area with the next form. Smaller than maceima. 



4. H. a. unitatis: Similar to maxima but smaller (wing, 107 as 

 against 116 mm in the latter) , the ventral black streaks less prominent 



a'Journ. fur Orn.. 1905, p. 201. 



^ A monograph of the Hirundlnidae or family of swallows, vol. 2, p. 400, 1885. 



89Journ. fur Orn., 1905, pp. 677-678. 



»«Ibis, 1916, p. 374. 



