BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 25 



Guaso Nyiro Kiver, and the Lekiundu River, are rather paler than 

 the rest, but the difference is slight, and, in so variable a form, 

 not sufficient to warrant subspecific splitting. 



An argument against the validity of Kenyan "aZope*" is the fact 

 that rufous birds have been taken practically throughout the range 

 of intercedens. If the reddish phase were geographically restricted, 

 it would have more significance. The dark, blackish race longono- 

 tensis is a valid form, but even there a tendency toward dichroma- 

 tism exists. 



A good argument in favor of the Kenyan "aZo^^ic" being a distinct 

 species is advanced by van Someren,-^ who states that they "are 

 certainly not intercedens. Their song or call note is totally differ- 

 ent." This seems to be another case where life-history studies are 

 needed to clear up the systematics of the birds. 



The size variations of the present series are as follows: Males — 

 wing, 86.5-92; tail, 52.5-56; culmen, 13-15.5; tarsus, 21.5-24 mm. 

 Females — wing, 78.5-84 ; tail, 50-51 ; culmen, 11 ; tarsus, 20-22 mm. 



The bird taken on February 7 on the Hawash River is in worn 

 plumage; the rest of the specimens are freshly feathered. 



This lark is a denizen of the semiarid grasslands, thinly dotted 

 with thornbushes and trees. 



MIRAFRA POECILOSTERNA POECILOSTERNA (Reichenow) 

 FiGTJEE 4 



Alauda poecilosterna Reichenow, Orn. Centralb., 1879, p. 155 : Kibaradja, Tana 



River, Kenya Colony. 

 Specimens collected : 



1 male, near Saru, Ethiopia, June 19, 1912. 



1 immature male, Nyero Mountains, Kenya Colony, July 13, 1912. 



2 males (1 adult, 1 immature), Indunumara Mountains, Kenya Colony, 

 July 14-17, 1912. 



1 adult male, 1 immature female, camp near Endoto Mountains, Kenya 



Colony, July 19, 1912. 

 1 male, Endoto Mountains, Kenya Colony, July 20, 1912. 

 1 male, 1 female, Le-se-dun, Kenya Colony, July 26, 1912. 

 1 male, 1 female, Malele, Kenya Colony, July 27, 1912. 

 1 male, 2 females, 18 miles south of Malele, Kenya Colony, July 27-28, 



1912. 

 1 male, river 24 miles south of Malele, Kenya Colony, July 29, 1912. 

 1 immature male, 35 miles north of the Northern Guaso Nyiro River, 



Kenya Colony, July 30, 1912. 

 1 male. Northern Guaso Nyiro River, 10 miles east of Archers Camp, 



Kenya Colony, July 31, 1912. 

 1 male, 1 female, Northern Guaso Nyiro River, Kenya Colony, August 



1-2, 1912. 



^ Nov. Zool., vol. 37, p. 335, 1932. 



