344 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Both of the Ourso birds are in an early stage of the postjuvenal 

 molt ; the one from Sagon Eiver is not molting ; the adult is in worn 

 plumage. 



The main home of this bird appears to be in Ennia and Arussi 

 Gallaland, where Erlanger ^^ found it quite abundant. He obtained 

 young birds there in May, June, and July. 



Mearns saw 10 of these birds at Sagon River, June 3, and 20 at 

 Bodessa, June 6. 



SPREO SUPERBUS (Ruppell) 



LamprocoUus superMs Ruppexl, Systematische Uebersicht der Vogel Nordost- 

 Afrika's, pp. 65, 75, pi. 26, 1845: Shoa. 



Specimens coixected: 



2 adult males, Ourso, Ethiopia, October 7-27, 1911 (Ouellard coll.). 



3 adult males, 1 adult female. Dire Daoua, Ethiopia, November 1-December 

 19, 1911. 



1 adult male, Gidabo River, Ethiopia, March 17, 1912. 



1 adult female, betvpeeu Bodessa and Tertale, Ethiopia, April 9, 1912. 



2 adult males, 1 nestling male, 1 nestling fen^ale, Gato River near Gardula, 

 Ethiopia, April 8-May 1, 1912. 



1 adult female, Tertale, June 8, 1912. 



1 adult male, Turturo, June 15, 1912. 



1 adult female, Endoto Mountains, Kenya Colony, July 21, 1912. 



1 immature male, Malele, Kenya Colony, July 27, 1912. 



1 adult male, 1 immature male, 1 adult female, Lekiundu River, Kenya 



Colony, August 4, 1912. 

 1 adult male, Tharaka district, Kenya Colony, August 14, 1912. 

 1 adult female, Tana River, Kenya Colony, August 20, 1912. 



Soft parts : Iris very pale yellow, almost white ; bill, feet, and claws 

 black. 



The superb starling is an abandant bird in Somaliland, southern 

 Ethiopia, Kenya Colony, and Tanganyika Territory. It inhabits the 

 open bush country and does not ascend to very great altitudes in the 

 highlands. 



Erlanger ^^ found a nest with eggs in northern Somaliland on 

 March 1. Mearns found a nest with two young at Gato River near 

 Gardula on Ma}^ 1. The two nestlings, which were collected, show 

 that the first pennaceous feathering is similar to the adult plumage, 

 with possibly less white on the breast, and a little less sheen on the 

 back and throat. 



Birds from northern Kenya Colony are ?aid by van Someren ^- to be 

 smaller (wings, 110-121 mm) than birds from southern Kenya Col- 

 ony and Tanganyika Territory (wings, 115-128 mm). This is not 

 borne out by the material I have seen. I find northern males (Ethi- 



20 Journ. fur Orn., 1905, p. 707. 



« Ibid., p. 706. 



« Nov. Zool., vol. 37, p. 314, 1932. 



