BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 229 



DIOPTRORNIS FISCHERI FISCHERI Reichenow 



Dioptrornis fischeri Reichenow, J«urn. fiir Orii., 1884, p. 53; Meru Mountain, 

 Tanganyika Territory. 



Specimens collected: 



1 male, Athi River near Juja Farm, Kenya Colony, August 31, 1912. 

 1 male, 2 females. Escarpment, 7,390 feet, Kenya Colony, September 4-8, 

 1912. 



One of the females (U.S.N.M. no. 244566) was prepared by a native 

 skinner and is therefore not too reliably sexed. 



This flycatcher has a surprisingly wide range altitudinally when 

 compared with its relatively limited geographical distribution. Al- 

 though known from altitudes of as little as 2,500 feet and as much 

 as 11,000 feet, nevertheless its range extends for only 7° of latitude 

 and 5° of longitude. Its geographical limits are as follows: Mount 

 Kenya and Mount Elgon west to the eastern province of Uganda, 

 southeast to the Taveta district, south into northern Tanganyika 

 Territory as far as the Kilimanjaro-Meru highlands and the Uluguru 

 Mountains. As far as I know, it has not been recorded from the 

 Pare or the Bura Mountains, but the chances are that it is to be 

 found there as well. In the Usambara Mountains a small, pale form, 

 aniani, takes its place. 



All four specimens are adults in fine, fresh plumage, apparently 

 birds that only recently finished their postnuptial molt. The breed- 

 ing season is from January to June. The nest is made of dry 

 leaves, moss, fiber, and hair, and is placed in a fork of a tree, usually 

 fairly high up (30 feet or so). The usual clutch is two eggs. 



In his field notebooks Doctor Mearns made entries of what he 

 called ^'' Brady oimAs -ftsclierV from as far north as the Endoto Moun- 

 tains. Unfortunately, no specimens were taken there, and inasmuch 

 as his notes on D. chocolatinus are entered in his books as "Z>, 

 ■fischeri^'' it is unsafe even to assume that the present flycatcher occurs 

 as far to the north as the Endoto Mountains. 



DIOPTRORNIS CHOCOLATINUS CHOCOLATINUS (Ruppell) 



Muscicapa chocolafhia Riippexl, Neue Wirbelthiere, zu der Fauna Abyssinien 



gehorig, etc., Vogel, p. 107, 1835 : Simien, Ethiopia. 

 Specimens collected : 



1 male, 2 females, Arussi Plateau, 9,000 feet, Ethiopia, February 20-22, 1912. 



4 females, Cofali, Ethiopia, March 1-2, 1912. 



1 male, Malke, Ethiopia, March 3, 1912. 



1 male, Ethiopia, March 1, 1912. 



4 females, Aletta, Sidamo, Ethiopia, March 7-11, 1912. 



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



This flycatcher occurs throughout the highlands of Ethiopia from 

 the Simien Mountains, the Tigre district, and the Bogosland frontier 



106220—37 16 



