BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 21 



found it to be very common there. As far as I have been able to 

 learn, it is usually considered uncommon in most parts of its range, 

 although Lovat found it to be numerous, but wary, in the Hawash 

 region. Mearns noted in his diary that this lark was seen in the bushy 

 and grassy plains from near Bilan to the high plain above Gada 

 Bourca. 



Erlanger found a nest on June 22 near Umfudu, southern Somali- 

 land. It contained one egg. He also obtained juvenal birds at the 

 same locality on the same date. 



Recently van Someren ^°^ has intimated that the nominate form has 

 a dark, a gray, and a rufous phase. If this be substantiated by fur- 

 ther material, it may tend to upset the characters of gaUarum. 



MIRAFRA AFRICANA ATHI Hartert 



Mirafra africana athi Hartert, Nov. Zool., vol. 7, p. 46, 1900 : Athi Plains, Kenya 

 Colony. 



Specimens coixected : 1 adult male, Athi River Station, Uganda Railway, Kenya 

 Colony, September 1, 1912. 



The rufous-naped lark does not occur in the northern half of Kenya 

 Colony or in Ethiopia, where its place is taken by 31. hypermefra, and 

 consequently it was not until the very last days of the expedition that 

 Mearns found this bird. Only one specimen was procured, but sev- 

 eral others were seen at the Athi Eiver, and a few (of another race, 

 dohertyi) were noted at Escarpment, September 4r-12. 



A good deal of material has been published on the races of this lark, 

 and I have not sufficient series to enable me to contribute much. The 

 one point I wish to make is that harterti may possibly be a synonym 

 of athi^ and that athi may be inclined to be dichromatic. 



Sclater ^^ lists harterti as a doubtful form. Van Someren,^^ on the 

 other hand, suggests that it is a distinct species. He says : 



If harterti is a form of africana, which I very much doubt, how is it that we 

 get the very palest race next to the most rufous? It may be suggested that the 

 character of the soil, etc., is the determining factor; but this rufous bird is 

 not found only on red soil, nor yet the pale atlii on "black cotton" soil. So far 

 I have no proof of the presence of the two foi-ms in the same locality, except 

 in South-west Ukamba. 



Hartert ^^ records a specimen of tropicalis from Koboko River, 

 Ukamba. Is this a specimen of harterti also ? Lonnberg -° records a 

 "rufous phase of athi from Punda Melia near Fort Hall. It appears, 



"» Nov. Zool., vol. 37, p. 335, 1932. 

 ^"^ Systema avium iEthiopicarum, pt. 2, p. 312, 1930. 

 «Nov. Zool., vol. 29, pp. 175-176, 1922. 

 ^» Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, vol. 19, p. 93, 1907. 



20 Kongl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Flandl., vol. 47, no. 5, p. 113, 1911. 

 106220 — 37 3 



