BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 105 



Family PYCNONOTIDAE, Bulbuls 



PYCNONOTUS DODSONI DODSONI Sliarpe 



Figure 10 



Pycnonotus dodsoni Shabpe, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1895, p. 4SS: Sillul, 

 Ogaden, western Somaliland. 



Specimens collected : 



1 male, Yebo, Ethiopia, June 20, 1912. 



1 male, Chaffa village, Ethiopia, June 24, 1912. 



2 males, Hor, Kenya Colony, June 28-30. 1912. 



7 males, 5 females, 18 miles southwest of Hor, Kenya Colony, July 1-2, 



1912. 

 1 male, Dussia, Kenya Colony, July 3, 1912. 

 1 male. Lake Rudolf, southeast, Kenya Colony, July 11, 1912. 

 1 female, 25 miles southeast of Lake Rudolf, Kenya Colony, July 12, 1912. 

 1 female, Endoto Mountains, south, Kenya Colony, July 23, 1912. 

 1 female, Le-se-dun, Kenya Colony, July 26, 1912. 

 1 male, 1 female, 24 miles south of Malele, Kenya Colony, July 29, 1912. 



In studying the geographic and individual variations of the white- 

 eared geelgat, I have examined a series of 70 specimens represent- 

 ing four of the five named forms. The treatment accorded these 

 forms by different writers has been so varied and contradictory 

 that I have felt it necessary to go into the matter in some detail. 

 The names to be considered are: Pycnonotus dodsoni Sharpe,^° 

 Pycnonotus spurius Reichenow,''^ Pycnonotus layardi peasei Mearns,^^ 

 Pycnonotus dodsoni teitensis van Someren/^ and Pycnonotus dodsoni 

 littoralis van Someren.** 



Sclater ®^ considers all these five sj^nonymous and recognizes no 

 races of P. dodsoni. Gyldenstolpe ^® admits two forms — dodsoni 

 (with peasei, teitensis, and littoralis as synonyms), and spurius. As 

 a result of my study of both literature and material, I find it not 

 only possible, but also essential, to recognize dodsoni, spurius, and 

 peasei. Of littoralis I have seen no material, but teitensis is not 

 distinct from peasei. I have examined specimens from Maktau and 

 Taveta (both of which should be teitensis on geographic grounds) 

 and find them indistinguishable from typical peasei. Wlien de- 

 scribing teitensis, van Someren had no peasei available and sent his 

 birds to Washington, where Doctor Oberholser compared them with 

 the identical series of that) form that I have examined and found 

 them to be distinct. My observations reverse his conclusions, and 

 the only deduction that may be drawn is that the differences he 

 found were individual ones. 



•'oProc. Zool. Soc. London, 1893, p. 488: Sillul. 



" nie Vo?el Afrikis, vol. 3, p. 841, 1905 : Ennia Gallaland. 



"Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. .56, no. 20, p. 8, 1911: Kitunga. 



83 Nov. Zool., vol. 29, p. 190, 1922: Tsavo. 



" Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, vol. 43, p. 153, 1923 : Changamwe. 



" Systema avium' ^thiopicarum, pt. 2, p. 370, 1930. 



"•Kongl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Hand!., 1924, pp. 191-192. 



