BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 135 



According to Sclater and Mackworth-Praed *° the Cyprian race 

 cypriaca also occurs in northeastern Africa in winter. It is said 

 to be distinguished by its deeper coloration and shorter wing (84-89 

 mm as against 94—96 mm in leucomda). One of the males and the 

 female from Dire Daoua are small, having wings measuring 88 and 89 

 mm, respectively, but they do not differ in color from the others 

 with wings of 91-98.5 mm). I therefore consider them as Jeucomcla. 



Grote ^^ finds that the pied wheatear winters from Arabia and the 

 Red Sea coast from Eritrea southward through Ethiopia, northern 

 and southern Somaliland, the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Uganda, and 

 Kenya Colony to northern Tanganyika Territory. The birds begin 

 to arrive in September and October and leave for the north in March 

 and April. 



OENANTHE LUGUBKIS (Ruppell) 



SaxicoJa lugubris Ruppp:t r-, Neue Wirlieltiuero, zii der Fauna von Ab:\ si^inien 

 geborig, etc., Y()gel, p. 77, pi. 28, fig. 3, 1837; Simien, Abyssinia. 



Specimens col.lect?;d: 



1 female, Gada Bourea, Ethiopia, December 25, 1911. 

 1 male, Ankober, Ethiopia, January 22, 1912. 



The Abyssinian black chat appears to be a rather scarce bird in 

 the southern part of its range, as evidenced by the comments of 

 several fairly recent writers, such as Erlanger and Zedlitz, and by 

 Mearns's manuscript comment that this bird Avas found sparingly 

 from Gada Bourea to Aclis Abeba. In northern Ethiopia and Bogos- 

 land it is commoner. Thus, Blanford*" savv' it "frequently on the 

 highlands, and obtained several specimens. It is a constant resident, 

 as I shot birds in May, when all true Saxicolae had left. I saw it in 

 the passes at about 3,000 feet above the sea, but not so commonly as 

 at a higher elevation. It keeps more to bushes and rocks than the 

 true Saxicolae, in this resembling S. melanvra.'''' On the other hand, 

 Zedlitz '^^ found it to be anything but abundant in Eritrea. He sug- 

 gests that it may be somewhat migratory, going south in winter and 

 reappearing in the breeding range in the second half of March. The 

 present two specimens, taken in December and January, show the 

 species remains in Ethiopia throughout the year, but these two may 

 be wintering birds that would have bred in Bogosland or the north- 

 ern Ethiopian highlands. Erlanger** collected two pairs between 

 Harrar and Adis Abeba on September 23. 



The male is in worn plumage and has the upper and under tail 

 coverts practically white; the female is in fresher plumage and has 



«Ibis, 1020. p. 851. 



^Mitteil. Zool. Mns. Berlin, vol. 16, p. 42, 19.30. 



^Observations on the geology and zoology of Abyssinia, etc., p. 3G.3, 1870. 



<3Journ. fiir Orn., 1911, p. 85. 



** Journ. fiir Orn., 1905, p. 748. 



