BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 109 



PYCNONOTUS DODSONI SPURIUS Rcichenow 

 FiGTJKE 10 



Pycnonotus simrius Reichenow, Die Vogcl Afrikas, etc., vol. 3, p. 841, 1905: 

 Ennia Gallaland. 



Specimens collected : 



5 adult males, 7 adult females, 1 juvenal female, Bodessa, Ethiopia, May 



20-31, 1912. 

 1 adult male, Sagon River, Ethiopia, June 3, 1912. 

 1 adult male, Tertale, Ethiopia, June 10, 1912. 



Soft parts: Iris dark brown; entire bill black; feet and claws 

 grayish black. 



As intimated in the account of the nominate race of this geelgat, 

 specimens of western spurius are not typical and often have white- 

 tipped rectrices (in fresh plumage). It may even be thought worth 

 naming the birds of extreme southern Shoa and southern Arussi- 

 Gallaland on this basis, but in the absence of topotypical material 

 I prefer to let the matter rest. Also, it seems not at all unlikely 

 that they are intermediates bridging the gap between true spurius 

 and dodsoni. 



The dimensions of these specimens, given in table 19, clearly show 

 their agreement in size with spurius and not with dodsoni. 



Table 19. — Measurements of H specimens of Pycnonotus dodsoni spurius from 



Ethiopia 



For some reason unknown to me this bird appears to have been 

 met with by very few collectors, and yet it is a common bird where 

 it occurs, as evidenced by the present series and by the sight records 

 listed in his notebooks by Mearns. Thus, at Sagon River, on May 

 19 he saw several of the birds ; at Bodessa, May 19-June 6, 250 were 

 noted; at Sagon River again on June 3-6, 200 more were seen; at 



