472 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



amples, in that they have the underside buffy, not creamy white 

 as in typical striolata. He considers them as afjinis. I can not find 

 any such difference in the ventral coloration in the two groups and 

 therefore unite them. In the original description of afflnis^^^ Kich- 

 mond states that Kilimanjaro birds are smaller than Abyssinian ones, 

 but here again I fail to find any constant difference. Sharpe ^^ found 

 specimens from Mount Elgon, Kikuyu, and Mount Kilimanjaro to 

 be darker than ones from Ethiopia. This too is not substantiated 

 in the material seen by me (55 specimens from Kenya Colony, Tan- 

 ganyika Territory, and Ethiopia). The birds from Mount Elgon are 

 darker above but are not afflnis (type locality, Mount Kilimanjaro) 

 but a distinct race, ugandae van Someren. A third form, graiieri 

 Hartert, like ugandae^ but darker, deeper buff on the breast, occurs 

 in the Ruwenzori and Kivu highlands. Gyldenstolpe ^^ recognizes 

 mfflnis and writes that in all the Abyssinian birds he has seen the 

 underparts are pure whitish without any buff. Inasmuch as all the 

 specimens collected by the Frick expedition are decidedly buffy below, 

 I can only suggest that perhaps typical striolata is confined to ex- 

 treme northern Ethiopia (Simien, etc.), whence I have seen no mate- 

 rial, in which case the birds of Shoa and Arussi-Gallaland would 

 have to be considered as affinis. 



The measurements of the present series are shown in table 80. 



The specimens collected are in fairly fresh plumage, but there is 

 some variation in this respect. Wear makes a fairly noticeable dif- 

 ference in the appearance of these birds, as in fresh plumage they 

 tend to be more yellowish, especially on the upper wing coverts, than 

 when abraded. 



This seed-eater occurs over most of Ethiopia and Kenya Colony 

 (except the coastal strip) and ranges north to the Bogos country of 

 southern Eritrea. It occurs in the highland areas only, and has 

 been recorded as high as 13,500 feet. The lower limits of its range 

 seem to be about 5,000 feet, but it is chiefly a bird of altitudes above 

 7,500 feet. In southern Somaliland a little known fonn, P. pachy- 

 rhyncha occurs. It has been suggested by Zedlitz ^^ that it may be 

 a race of P. striolata^ which, if true, would extend the lower limits 

 of the range of the species very considerably. 



Erlanger ^^ found nests with eggs on October 8 at Adis Abeba, 

 on April 23 at Cialanco, between Harrar and Adis Abeba, and on 

 May 12 at Cunni, also between Harrar and Adis Abeba. 



3-' Auk, vol. 14, p. 156, 1897. 



••« Ibis, 1891, p. 258. 



27 Kongl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 1924, pp. 70-72. 



=s Journ. fill- Orn., 1916, p. 51. 



»» Journ. fur Orn., 1907, pp. 28-29. 



