BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 371 



less yellowish below than any others seen by me. It may be that the 

 birds of the coastal belt of southern Kenya Colony and of northern 

 Tanganyika Territory are separable on this basis, but more material 

 is needed to make sure. 



Sclater/" following Hartert/^ considers Z. smithi Neumann a syn- 

 onym of juhaensis, although the latter author states that this is only 

 a probability and that topotypical jubaensis are needed to be certain 

 of this. Neumann ^^ had two specimens from Sillul and two from 

 the lower Omo River on which he based smithi. This form is said 

 to be dull olive green-gray, not pure olive-green above. The present 

 bird from Bodessa and one from the Omo river, now in the Academy 

 of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia, bear out this character. I have 

 no topotypical jubaensis available and therefore follow Sclater, al- 

 though ampler series may show smithi to be valid. If this be shown, 

 then the present bird would have to be referred to smithi and not 

 jubaensis. 



Subspecific differences are small at best in this species, but they 

 are worthy of study for just that reason. 



ZOSTEROPS VIRENS KIKUYUENSIS Sharpe 

 FlGUBB 21 



Zosterops Tcikuyuensis Sharpe, Ibis, 1891, p. 444: Kikuyu, Kenya Colony. 

 Specimens coixected : 2 males, 1 female. Escarpment, 7,390 feet, Kenya Colony, 

 September 8-10, 1912. 



The present specimens are not quite typical Mkuyuen^is but, while 

 best referred to that form, are very slightly intermediate between it 

 and jachsoni. 



The African forms of the genus Zosterops are very difficult to deal 

 with, as material is not available of a number of them, but it seems 

 to me that Neumann's arrangement ^^ is a better one than that 

 followed by Sclater.^^ I have not sufficient series to attempt any 

 revisions, but garguensls appears to be a valid form and not a syn- 

 onym of haffensis as Sclater suggests. I have seen the type and 

 three other examples of garguensis and they are uniformly different 

 from hajfensis in having the yellow on the forehead less extensive 

 than in the latter, and also they are somewhat darker on the back 

 than haffensis. Van Someren ^^ has also found garguensis to be a 

 valid race and has extended its known ranffe to Marsabit. 



"Ibid., p. 673. 



"Nov. Zool., vol. 27, p. 432, 1920. 



«0rn. Monatsb., 1902, p. 139. 



"Orn. Monatsb., vol. 12, pp. 109-118, 1904. 



1* Systema avium .Ethiopicarum, pt. 2, pp. 672-675, 1930. 



^s Journ. East Africa and Uganda Nat. Hist. See, no. 35, p. 64 (140), 1930. 



