366 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



agree with the figures given by Neumann for scioana. They have 

 wings of 73.5-75 mm; tail, 54.5-56 mm; culmen, 25-26 mm; tarsus, 

 16-17 mm. 



This sunbird appears to be fairly common in Ethiopia and in 

 southern Eritrea. It appears not to have been recorded before from 

 as far south as southern Shoa, so the specimen from Bodessa consti- 

 tutes a definite extension of range. It is of interest to find this 

 bird coming so close to the range of C. hunteri (known from Tur- 

 turo near Bodessa), and it would be highly interesting to see whether 

 the two intergrade in southern Shoa. 



Mearns noted this sunbird in small numbers practically every day 

 on his journey from Aletta (March 13) to Bodessa (June 3). 



CYANOMITRA OLIVACEA RAGAZZII (Salvadori) 



Eleocerthia ragazzii Salvadoei, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genova, vol. 26, p. 247, 1888: 

 Ferkerie-ghem Forests, Shoa. 



Specimens coixected: 2 males, Escarpment, 7,390 feet, Kenya Colony, Septem- 

 ber 8-10, 1912. 



The races of the olive sunbird have been studied quite exhaustively 

 by Neumann, Bannerman, Gyldenstolpe, and others, and I find that 

 the arrangement followed by Sclater^^ holds very well for all the 

 material I have seen (67 specimens of 4 races). 



The present race is the most greenish below of all the subspecies, 

 and it is said to be the largest of the three forms in Kenya Colony. 

 Van Someren^® gives its wing length as from 51 to 71 mm. The 

 present specimens measure 56 and 61 mm, respectively. I find the 

 size differences between ragazzii and neglecta do not hold true. 



This form occurs from Shoa and Djimma in southern Ethiopia 

 to western Kenya Colony, Uganda, and the eastern Ituri district 

 of the Belgian Congo. In Kenya Colony it occurs as far south as 

 the Sotik area. 



I have only one Ethiopian specimen for comparison — a male from 

 Charada, in Kaffa. This example is paler, more grayish, less bright 

 yellowish, below than the two Escarpment birds. I see no real 

 difference between the Kaffa bird and examples of neglecta^ but it 

 must be ragazzii on geogi-aphic grounds. The Escarpment birds 

 show the characters of ragazzii very well. They are both in fresh 

 plumage. 



Van Someren ^^ writes that this bird is a forest species, and stays 

 high up in tall trees. In Uganda the breeding season is in June 

 and February. 



^ System avium ^thiopicarum, pt. 2, pp. 705-706, 1930. 

 M Nov. Zool., vol. 29, p. 200, 1922. 

 " Ibis, 1916, p. 443. 



