BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 287 



DRYOSCOPUS PRINGLII Jackson 



Dryoscopus pringlii Jackson, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, vol. 3, p. 3, 1893: Between 



Tsavo and Kufumika, Kenya Colony. 

 Specimens collected: 1 male (= female), Lekiundu River, Kenya Colony, 



August 6, 1912. 



Soft parts : Iris yellow. 



This uncommon little shrike occurs in the arid, thorny desert belt 

 of Kenya Colony from the Tanganyika border east of Mount Kili- 

 manjaro, north through the Taru Desert to Jubaland and southern 

 Italian Somaliland. It appears not to have been recorded before 

 from north-central Kenya Colony, and its appearance on the Leki- 

 undu River is another confirmation of the westward extension of 

 the coastal-Somali fauna in northern Kenya Colony and suggests 

 that the species may yet be found in the Eendile country and south- 

 em Gallaland. 



Of all the species of Dryoscopus the present one has the plumage 

 most dimorphic sexually. I have seen no males, but, to judge from 

 the description, it is totally different in color from the female. The 

 present specimen, although sexed as a male, is undoubtedly a female, 

 as it has the entire upperparts ashy brown and agrees absolutely 

 with the plumage characters of the female as given by most authors. 



Nothing is known of the habits of this bird. Zedlitz ^^ notes, how- 

 ever, that of the eight specimens collected by Erlanger in southern 

 Somaliland *^ there are two juvenal males taken on May 7 and 25, 

 respectively, which indicates a very early nesting season. 



The measurements of this specimen are as follows: Wing, 69; 

 tail, 66 ; culmen, 17 ; tarsus, 20 mm. 



Since the above account was written, van Someren ^^^ has recorded 

 this bird from a number of places in northern Kenya Colony — 

 Northern Guaso Nyiro ; Archers Post ; Moyale ; Mandera ; Juba River. 



POMATORHYNCHUS AUSTRALIS LITTORALIS (van Someren) 



Harpolestes australis littoralis van Someben, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, vol. 41, 



p. 102, 1921: Changamwe, Kenya Colony. 

 Specimens collected: 1 adult male, Tana River, below Camp No. 4, Kenya 



Colony, August 17, 1912. 



The present specimen is clearly referable to littoralis and not to 

 minor or dohertyi. It is small, having a wing measurement of 70, 

 tail 82, culmen 17, and tarsus 24.5 mm. It agrees in color with 

 coastal specimens (Dar es Salaam, etc.) in being very white below. 



" Journ. fur Orn., 1915, pp. 61-62. 

 sojourn, fur Oru., 1905. p. 699. 

 «« Nov. Zool., vol. 37, p. 309, 1932. 



