440 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Erlanger -^ obtained a j^oimg bird in Arussi-Gallaland ; Zaphiro -^ 

 collected three specimens at Konso near the Sagon River in southern 

 Shoa. If there are other Ethiopian records, I have not come across 

 them. I know of none from Somali land or Jubaland, 



Nothing appears to be known of the breeding season in Ethiopia ; 

 in north-central Tanganyika Territory, Loveridge ^° found a nest with 

 eggs on March 23. 



Mearns noted that the male and female collected at Boclessa on 

 May 25 were a mated pair. 



PYTILIA MELBA SOUDANENSIS (Sharpe) 



Zonogastris soudanensis Sharps, Catalogue of the birds in the British Museum, 



vol. 13, p. 29S, 1890: Type in British Museum said to be from Khartouiu, 



but probably from the Upper White Nile. 

 Specimens coixected : 



3 adult males, 2 adult females. Dire Daoua, Ethiopia, December 1-16, 1911. 



1 adult male. Iron Bridge, Hawash River, Ethiopia, February 4, 1912. 



1 adult male, Reishat, north Lake Rudolf, Kenya Colony, May 25, 1912. 



1 adult male, Sagon River, Ethiopia, June 5, 1912. 



1 adult female, 18 miles southwest of Hor, Kenya Colony, July 2, 1912. 



1 adult male, Eudoto Mountains, Kenya Colony, July 23, 1912. 



2 adult males, Tharaka district, Kenya Colony, August 12, 1912. 



1 adult male, 1 juvenal male, 2 adult females, 1 Juvenal female, Tana River, 

 Kenya Colony, August 15-17, 1912. 



Soft parts: Iris orange-red; bill red with a dark brown spot at 

 base of maxilla ; feet and claws grayish brown. 



In the absence of sufficiently large series, I follow Sclater ^^ in con- 

 sidering afjiiiis and kirhi as synonyms of soudanensis. The bird from 

 Sagon River was compared with the type of afjinis and found identi- 

 cal, and it bears out the characters by which this form is said to dif- 

 fer from soudanensis. It has darker, more sharply delineated bars 

 on tlie underparts, a greener color on the back, and has the under tail 

 coverts more distinctly barred than Hawash birds. However, in the 

 last character, that of the under tail coverts, there is some variation 

 in souda7ie7isis, some individuals having these feathers nearly plain 

 white with almost no bars, while others are definitely barred. 



The case of MrM seems to be one of individual variation. The best 

 character liere is the color of the lores in adult males. In klrki the 

 lores are grayish separating the red areas above and below, while in 

 soudanensis the red extends across the lores. If we group the present 

 birds according to this criterion, we find no correlation between it 

 and geography. Tims, birds with gray lores come from Dire Daoua, 



2s Journ. fiir Orn., 1907, p. 17. 



23 Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1913, p. 5G9. 



30 Proc. Zool. Sue. London, 1923, p. 903. 



2' Systema avium ^tbiopicaium, pt. 2, p. 788, 1930. 



