242 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Erlanger ^^ found a nest, with eggs, of ferJceo (called B. oHentalis 

 ■minor in his paper) on February 21 at Darassam, Gurraland, 

 Ethiopia. This is all I have been able to discover about the breeding 

 season of this flycatcher. 



PLATYSTEIRA CYANEA AETHIOPICA Neumann 



Platysteira cyanea aethiopica Neumann, Journ. fiir Orn., 1905, p. 210: Bauka, 



Malo, Ethiopia. 

 Specimens collected: 



1 male, Aletta, Sidamo, Ethiopia, March 7, 1912. 



1 male, Loco, Sidamo, Ethiopia, March 13, 1912. 



In the identification of these 2 specimens I have examined a series 

 of 18 birds representing 3 of the 4 valid races, and I find that this 

 material corroborates the results arrived at by Neumann. Gylden- 

 stolpe ^^ states that alhifrons (the one of which I have seen no ma- 

 terial) is probably a distinct species and not a geographic form of 

 cyanea. 



Two forms occur in eastern Africa. They are: 



1. P. cyanea nyansae Neumann : The countries to the west and 

 north of Lake Victoria (Bukoba, Masaka, Ankole, Unyoro, and cen- 

 tral provinces of Uganda) west to the eastern Ituri district, Belgian 

 Congo, east to the north Kavirondo, Kakamega, and Elgon districts 

 in western Kenya Colony, south to the Kivu area, and north to the 

 southern Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. This race is like the typical, west- 

 ern form (described from Senegal) but has less gloss on the feathers 

 of the back, and has a faint white line on the forehead. Wings — 

 males, 64-70 ; fem,ales, 64—68 mm. 



2. P. cyanea aethiopica: Shoa, the Omo region, the drainage areas 

 of the Blue Nile and the Hawash Eiver, Ethiopia. Similiar to 

 nyansae but smaller; wings — male, 69-63 mm (no females seen). 



The measurements of the present two specimens are: Wing, 

 62-62.5; tail, 47^8; culmen, 13-14.5; tarsus, 17-18 mm. 



According to Neumann, this bird lives in dense woods but not in 

 the high mountains. Its altitudinal range appears to be from 6,500 

 to 8,300 feet. 



PLATYSTEIRA PELTATA JACKSONI Sharpe 



Platysteira jacksoni Shakpe, Ibis, 1891, p. 445: Sotik, Kenya Colony. 

 Specimens collected : 1 immature female, Meru Forest, Equator, Kenya Colony, 

 August 10, 1912. 



This specimen agrees with two similarly immature birds from 

 Mozambique and Tanganyika Territory and is therefore identified 

 with them as P. pelfata. I have seen no young specimens of 

 Platysteira cyanea, however, and can not see (from literature) how 



«e Journ. fiir Orn., 1905, p. 685. 



"Kongl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 1924, p. 214. 



