226 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



mediately to the south (Magadi Lake and country to the west to the 

 Sotik district) . Individual variation in this species is so nearly equal 

 to geographic variation that even the races puinilus and erlangeri 

 (which are far more distinct than are birds of the Athi Kiver from 

 those of the Sotik region) are difficult to identify. 



Lonnberg ^^ has also demonstrated the great individual variation 

 of this species. 



The male is darker and larger than the female and is in fresh 

 plumage, while the latter is in very worn condition. 



BRADORNIS MICRORHYNCHUS ERLANGERI Reichenow 



Bradornis griseus erlangeri Reichenow, in Erlanger, Journ. fiir Oru., 1905, 



p. 680: Hanole, southern Somaliland. 

 Specimens collected: 



3 females, Gidabo River, Ethiopia, March 17, 1912. 



1 male, Anole Village, Ethiopia, May 18, 1912. 



5 males, 3 females, Bodessa, Ethiopia, May 20-26, 1912. 



1 male, 2 females, Tertale, Ethiopia, June 7-10, 1912. 



2 males, Indunumara Mountains, Kenya Colony, July 16, 1912. 

 1 male, Endoto Mountains, Kenya Colony, July 19, 1912. 



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



1 female, 18 miles south of Malele, Kenya Colony, July 29, 1912. 



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



3 males, 4 females, 1 unsexed, Lekiundu River, Kenya Colony, August 5-6, 

 1912. 



1 female, Tharaka district, Kenya Colony, August 14, 1912. 



Soft parts : Iris brown. 



Inasmuch as size measurements are of systematic significance in 

 this bird, and since such little harmony prevails among systematists 

 concerning the validity of erlangen^ I give the dimensions of all 

 these specimens in full (table 44). It may easily be seen that this 

 form, like 'pumAlus^ is definitely smaller than the typical race (in 

 which the wing length varies from 80 to 91 mm, with an average of 

 approximately 87 mm). 



On the whole, the birds collected in March, May, and June are in 

 worn plumage, while those taken late in July and in August are in 

 fresh feathering. This applies to the wings and tails as well as the 

 other parts and therefore implies that the breeding season is prob- 

 ably in March and April. It is satisfying to note that Erlanger's 

 observations on the breeding time in southern Somaliland are in 

 agreement with this indirect evidence.^^ Erlanger found nests w^ith 

 from two to three eggs on April 9 at Harbo-Gobassa, in Gurraland, on 

 the Ganale River near Lagamardu on April 10, and a single ^^'g at 

 Malka-Re on the Daua River as late as May 3. 



« Kongl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl.. 1911, p. 80. 

 "Journ. fur Orn., 1905, pp. 680-681. 



