BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 157 



and six from Mount Kenya (topot5^pical keniensis^ including the 

 type), the present four from Escarpment, and six adults from Mount 

 Garguess. The Escarpment and Garguess birds agree with those 

 from Mount Kenya, and all differ from the Kilimanjaro birds in being 

 definitely paler, purer yellowish green, less rusty, on the back. I 

 therefore recognize keniensis as a valid form. 



With regard to heUei'i^ I have examined the unique type and feel 

 that it is probably a synonym of orientalis, not of guttifer. Its chief 

 distinguishing character, the narrow black tips on the rectrices, is 

 also present in two adults of orientalis from the Uluguru Mountains, 

 Unfortunately, no ju venal birds from Mount Mbololo are known, but 

 aside from the characters of the adults of helleri and orientalis^ their 

 geography suggests possible, if not probable, identity. Still, it should 

 be borne in mind that Gyldenstolpe has found the width of the rec- 

 tricial tips to be a variable character, but at any rate I doubt whether 

 helleri could be looked upon as a synonym of guttifer. If it is not a 

 distinct race (which is not impossible) and if it is not a synonym of 

 orientalis, I should suggest lumping it with keniensis rather than 

 with guttifer. 



After discussing several of the forms of this bush-robin, Gylden- 

 stolpe writes that it would not be surprising "if birds from Usambara, 

 Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, and the Highlands of Kenya Colony be- 

 longed to one and the same form. But if Pogonocichla orientalis 

 really has a plain juvenal dress, as has been stated by Neumann {in 

 litt.), we must regard this race distinct and confined to the Hills of 

 Usambara," To this I may add that two juvenal birds from the 

 Uluguru Mountains are unspotted above and have the breast feathers 

 edged with olive-green, not with black as in guttifer. 



After reading Gyldenstolpe's valuable notes, I have examined 

 Levaillant's plate of "Le Gobe Mouches Etoile" ^^ on which Vieillot ^^ 

 based his description of Muscicapa stellata., and I concur in the con- 

 clusion that that name can not be used for the present species. 

 Sundevall's name margaritata ^® is therefore the oldest available 

 name. Sclater ^° continues to use Vieillot's name. 



Sclater gives the range of keniensis (or, as he calls it, guttifer) as 

 north to Mount Kenya. However, it occurs considerably farther 

 north, as Heller obtained a series on Mount Garguess north of the 

 Northern Guaso Nyiro River. 



This bird is a denizen of the highland forests, and its range is 

 therefore rather broken and discontinuous. It has been found in the 

 following localities — Mount Kenya, Nairobi, Kyambu, Ngong, El- 



" Histoire naturelle des oiseaux d'Afrique, vol. 4, pi. 157, 1805. 

 "Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., vol. 21, p. 468, 1818. 

 " Ofv. Kongl. Vet.-Akad. Forh., 1850, p. 104 : Caffraria. 

 ^oSystema avium ^thiopicarum, pt. 2, p. 486, 1930. 



