BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 197 



CISTICOLA ARIDULA LAVENDULAE Ogilvie-Grant and Reid 



Cisticola lavendiilae Ogilvie-Grant and Reid, Ibis, 1901, p. 650: Aroharlaise 



(Ari Harlaise), British Somaliland. 

 Specimens collected: 1 male, Anole, Ethiopia, June 17, 1912. 



This specimen matches the description and figure of lavendulae 

 given by Lynes,^* It constitutes a new southwestern extension of 

 range, as the form was formerly known only from Somaliland and 

 adjacent parts of southern Ethiopia, where Erlanger and Hilgert 

 obtained examples at Dadab, Leila to Gildessa, and Felwa, Hawash 

 Valley. The identification is somewhat open to question in the pres- 

 ent case, as no authentic lavendulae material has been available to 

 me for study and comparison. Specimens of tanganyika are much 

 darker than this bird. 



The dimensions of the single example obtained by the expedition 

 are: Wing, 49; tail, 38 mm. 



According to Lynes, the breeding season appears to be in January 

 in southern Ethiopia, and in November and December in British 

 Somaliland, but very little is known of its habits with any degree 

 of definiteness. 



CISTICOLA ARIDULA TANGANYIKA Lynes 



Cisticola aridula tanganyika Lynes, Ibis, 1930, Suppl., p. 120 : Morogoro, Tan- 

 ganyika Territory. 



Specimens collected: 2 males, Atbi Station, Uganda Railway, Kenya Colony, 

 September 1, 1912. 



These two specimens have the dark fuscous-black marks on the 

 upperparts more developed (or at least more conspicuous) than in 

 the illustration given by Lynes ^^ but appear to be definitely of this 

 race. Their dimensions are as follows : Wing, 49, 49 ; tail, 36, 36 mm, 

 respectively. Both are in considerably abraded plumage. 



The range of tanganyika includes the drier parts of the northern 

 half of Tanganyika Territory, and of Kenya Colony. Lynes writes 

 that in northeastern Kenya Colony the birds become paler as one 

 goes north, intergrading with lavendulae "towards S. Ethiopia and 

 Somaliland, but whereabouts the mode of dress becomes seasonal 

 there is as yet nothing to show. To the north-eastward, the Athi 

 River seems near the limit of typical tanganyika^ Birds from the 

 lower stretches of the Tana River and from Marsabit are more or 

 less intermediate between the two forms. 



The breeding season is from April to July, and, to a lesser extent, 

 during; November and December. 



« Ibis, 1930, Suppl., p. 128, pi. 4, flg. 14. 

 «Ibis, 1930, Suppl., pi. 4, flg. 13. 

 106220—37 14 



