BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 



261 



distinct. It seems to me that it is better to keep the two as species 

 as they are very distinct, although it is true that they are more closely 

 related to each other than to any other members of the genus. 



Several investigators have maintained that the sexes differ in size, 

 the females being noticeably smaller than the males. I do not find 

 this to hold for the present series, and therefore, if the birds are 

 correctly sexed, the measurements (table 51) may be of interest to 

 those whose specimens indicate some sexual dimorphism. All the 

 present birds are in fine, fresh plumage. 



There is considerable variation in color. Thus, the throat patch 

 is light cadmium yellow in one bird, aniline yellow in another, and 

 mars yellow in a third. Some specimens have the underparts very 

 much whiter than others, especially around the posterolateral margin 

 of the black gorget; some have the margins on the feathers of the 

 upperparts paler brown than others. 



Erlanger found this longclaw breeding in July and August near 

 Adis Abeba, while Neumann obtained nestlings in February at Doko. 

 According to Erlanger,^^ the eggs, usually three in number, are quite 

 glossy pale greenish white abundantly flecked and scrawled with clay 

 color. 



Table 51. — Measurements of 12 specimens of Macronyx flavicollis from Ethiopia 



Family LANIIDAE, Shrikes 



LANIUS EXCUBITOR PALLIDIROSTRIS Cassin 



Lanius palUdirostris Cassin, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 5, p. 244, 

 1852 : "Eastern Africa." 



Specimens collected : 1 male, 1 female, Hawash River, Ethiopia, February 7-8, 

 1912. 



The subspeoific identification of these two specimens is rendered 

 somewhat uncertain by the fact that I have had very little compara- 



^=Journ. fiir Orn., 1007, p. 40. 

 106220—37 18 



