BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 23 



They were nesting in June, the nest being constructed in a shallow depres- 

 sion under a tuft of grass. Very little nesting material is used. 



The eggs, three to four in number, are a dirty-buff ground-colour, speckled 

 with dark brown, the surface semi-glossy. 



Besides the specimens collected, Mearns observed 20 of these larks 

 at the junction of the Tana and Thika Rivers, August 23-26; and 

 along the Thika River for 30 miles or more, August 26-29, he noted 

 20 more. Finally, on the Athi River, August 30, he saw a single 

 specimen. 



MIRAFRA FISCHERI DEGENI Ogilvie-Grant 



Mirafra degeni Ogilvie-Gr.\nt, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, vol. 13, p. 28, 1902 : Hiressa, 



Ethiopia. 

 Specimens collected: 



1 adult male, 1 adult female, Lake Abaya, SE., Ethiopia, March 21, 1912. 



1 adult male, 1 immature female, Bodessa, Ethiopia, May 23-25, 1912. 



1 adult male, east Lake Stefanie, Ethiopia, May 9, 1912. 



Soft parts : Iris pale brown ; bill brownish black above, below flesh- 

 color at base shading to pale plumbeous terminally; feet and claws 

 brownish flesh-color. (Sexes alike.) 



The young bird is in an advanced stage of the postjuvenal molt 

 and i3 quit^ similar to the adults but has heavier and larger pectoral 

 spots than do older birds. As already mentioned, if the birds of 

 exterme southern Shoa are true degeni^ the race is only doubtfully 

 distinct from fischeH. The blackness of the interscapulars is not 

 well shown by the present series and is found in the blackish phase 

 of -flscheri and of kavirondensis. Similarly I can not find much 

 support for degeni in its dimensional characters. I append the meas- 

 urements (males only) of both forms here as the evidence for tliis 

 statement : 



1. M. f. pchen: Wing, 73.5, 76, 79; tail, 53.5, 53.5, 56.5; culmen, 

 13.5, 14, 14.5 ; tarsus, 23, 24, 24.5 mm. 



2. M. /. degeni: Wing, 78, 78, 81.5; tail, 53, 55, 55; culmen, 13.5, 

 14, 14.5 ; tarsus, 24, 24, 24.5 mm. 



The present specimens agree quite well with the colored figure in 

 Ogilvie-Grant's paper.^* 



Mearns observed this bird on many occasions during his travels 

 through southern Shoa. I find the following entries in his notebooks : 

 Abaya Lakes, March 18-26, 170 birds seen ; Bodessa, May 19-June 3, 

 500; Sagon River, June 3-6, 35 noted; Tertale, June 7-12, 300; El 

 Ade, June 12-13, 25 birds; Mar Mora, June 14-15, 100; Turturo, 

 June 15-17, 100; Biderou, June 15, 100; Anole, June 17, 50 birds; 

 Wobok, June 18, 20 seen; Saru, June 19, 50 noted; Yebo, June 20, 

 20; Karsa Barecha, June 21, 50; Malata, June 22, 20 birds; Chaffa 

 villages, June 23-25, 40 seen. 



*« Ibis, 1904, pi. 5, facing p. 261. 



