322 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



the difference is by no means so great as a perusal of Roberts's 

 diagnosis would indicate. I do not recognize Eressornis as a valid 

 genus. 



Nothing appears to have been recorded of the breeding habits of 

 this bird. It is a denizen of dense forests, where it is usually found 

 in pairs or small groups of from three to seven birds. 



EUROCEPHALUS RUPPELLI RUPPELLI Bonaparte 



Eurocephalus ruppelli Bonaparte, Rev. Mag. Zool., 1853, p. 440: White Nile (vide 



Zedlitz, Journ. fiir Orn., 1915, p. 47). 

 Specimens collected: 



10 males, 3 females, Gate River near Gardula, Ethiopia, April 3-May 9, 1912. 



1 male, east of Lake Stefanie, Ethiopia, April 26, 1912. 



1 female, Bodessa, Ethiopia, May 22, 1912. 



1 male, Tertale, Ethiopia, June 10, 1912. 



1 male, Endoto Mountains, south, Kenya Colony, July 23, 1912. 



1 male, Marsabit Road, 25 miles north of Northern Guaso Nyiro River, 

 Kenya Colony, July 30, 1912. 



1 male, Lekiundu River, Kenya Colony, August 4, 1912. 



1 male, 5 females, Tana River, Kenya Colony, August 14-23, 1912. 



1 male, Athi River near Juja Farm, Kenya Colony, August 30, 1912. 



1 male, Indian Store, south of Donio Sabuk, Kenya Colony, August 30, 1912. 



E. r. deckeni Zedlitz and E. r. -fischeH Zedlitz are synonyms. Van 

 Someren ^^ considers these two names as synonyms of E. r. erlangeri, 

 a conclusion in which he is mistaken. 



Zedlitz '^'^ reviewed the variations of this species and concluded that 

 there were six valid races, four of which are new at that point. First 

 of all, he considered rup2>elli and anguitimens conspecific and, as the 

 latter is the older name, used it for the species. According to his 

 arrangement, anguitimens^ the only form with a brownish rump and 

 brown upper tail coverts, inhabits South Africa, which is correct, and 

 the other five, w^ith white rumps and upper tail coverts, range from 

 southwestern Tanganyika Territory north through East Africa and 

 Uganda to the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somaliland. 

 I find not the slightest sign of intergradation between anguitimens 

 and any of the white-rumped races, and keep them specifically dis- 

 tinct. Sclater and Mackworth-Praed ^^ ^nd van Someren have also 

 reached this conclusion. 



"We may restrict our attention to the white-rumped birds, for 

 which the name ruppelli is the oldest and nmst be used. Zedlitz ^^ 

 splits this group up as follows : ruppelli^ a form of rather small size, 

 wings 119-126 mm, the underparts washed with pale brownish, in- 

 habits the Mongalla and Upper White Nile regions of the Anglo- 



ooNov. Zool., vol. 29, p. 108, 1922. 

 siOrn. Monatsb., vol. 21, pp. 58-59, 1913. 

 «-' Ibis, 1918, p. 640. 

 «^ Journ. fUr Orn., 1915, pp. 46-50. 



