BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AXD KEXYA COLONY 101 



Territory. This form is generally darker than the nominate one, 

 especially on the underparts and on the crown, and is slightly larger 

 in size. 



The present specimens are the southwestermnost records for 

 ayhnerl and extend its known range westward by nearly 400 miles. 

 The male has the pale edges of the throat feathers more rufescent 

 than the females and, in this respect, approaches the characters of 

 ''•'keniand'\ a form of which I have not seen any typical material. 



The three birds obtained by the Frick expedition are in worn 

 plumage and are in an early stage of molt. Their dimensions are 

 as follows: Male — wing, 80; tail, 117; culmen, 19; tarsus, 29 mm. 

 Females — wing, 71-T2.5; tail, 111.5-114; culmen, 17; tarsus, 26.5- 

 28 mm. A pair of mentalis from central Tanganyika Territory have 

 wings measuring 81 mm in the male and 77 mm in the female. 



Zedlitz *^ v.rites that the birds of southern Somaliland are only 

 questionably referable to ayJmeri, as they are smaller than the meas- 

 urements given by Eeichenow for typical north Somaliland birds. 

 Zedlitz found the wing lengths of four south Somali males to be 

 67 to 71 mm, as against 75 to 78 mm for typical ayhneri. 



Van Somerenhas recently*- recognized heniaiia and loveridgei^hvX 

 "for the time being" only. 



The scaly chatterer appears to be uncommon throughout its range 

 and has been collected only a small number of times. Erlanger *^ 

 recorded it as much scarcer and more secretive in habits than A. 

 riibiginosa. He found it singly or in pairs, except for one gi'oup 

 of five birds seen on April 4 in Gurraland. On April 2, he found 

 a nest with two eggs at Kata on the Mane River in the southern 

 Ginir area. The nest was in a clump of bushes and euphorbias and 

 was about 5 feet from the ground. The eggs were fresh and prob- 

 ably the two did not comprise a full clutch. The male bird was 

 found sitting on the nest, a fact that Erlanger interprets as mean- 

 ing not that incubation is performed by the male as a rule but that 

 the male merely sits on them while the female is away before the 

 latter actually begins to incubate. 



PSEUDOALCIPPE ABYSSINICUS ABYSSINICUS (Rfippell) • 



Drymophila ali/ssinica Ruppeix, Neiie Wirbelthiere, zu der Fauua von Abys- 

 siuien gehorig, etc., Vogel, p. lOS, pi. 40, 1S35 : Simicu Mouutains, Etliiopia. 

 Specimens colu:cted: Male, Aletta, Ethiopia, March 9, 1912. 



Lack of adequate material prevents me from doing more than 

 merely tabulating the previously recorded facts of variation and 



"Journ. fiir Orn., 1916, pp. 103-104. 

 *= Nov. Zool., vol. 37, pp. 340-341, 1932. 

 ** Journ. fur Orn., 1905, p. 739. 

 106220 — 37 8 



