BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 



327 



have paler chestnut sides and flanks than minor^ and the range is 

 said to be southern Gallaland east through southern Somaliland to 

 the coast, and possibly south to the Taru desert. I have seen no 

 topotypical material of erlangeri^ but find that minor from Ethiopia, 

 Kenya Colony, and British Somaliland varies considerably in color 

 and in size, and I note that while Neumann '^^ refers a bird from the 

 Taru Desert to erlangeri^ van Someren ^^ finds no difference between 

 Taru birds and minor. It appears, therefore, that erlangeri is based 

 on inconstant characters and can not be maintained. 

 There are, then, two races of this species, as follows : 



1. N. h. hruhru: Southern Africa from Natal, the Transvaal, and 

 the Orange Kiver, north to Benguella and Southern Khodesia (to 

 the Zambesi River in Mashonaland) ; wings, 80-90 mm. 



2. N. h. minor: Southern Eritrea (southern Danakil area), south 

 through Somaliland and the eastern lowlands of Ethiopia (eastern 

 Harrar to Ogaden), southern Gallaland west to Shoa, south through 

 Kenya Colony to northeastern Tanganyika Territory (the Kiliman- 

 jaro region west to the Natron Lakes). Similar to hruhru but 

 smaller; wings, 67-81 mm. 



The size variations of the present series are shown in table 65. 



Table 65. — Afeasurements of 18 specimens of Nilaus brubru minor 



A few of these birds are molting, but the majority are not and 

 are in good fairly fresh plumage. The breeding season in Somali- 



'1 Journ. fiir Orn., 1907, p. 363. 

 ^3 Nov. Zool., vol. 29, p. 110, 1922. 



