BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 379 



worn plumage: November, December, February, and August; molt- 

 ing : November, December, February, June, July, and August. 



The males have the following size variations: Wing, 113-130 

 (120.1) ; tail, 70-83 (77) ; culmen, 21-24 (22.8) ; tarsus, 29.5-32.5 

 (31.8 mm). Females: Wing, 107-122.5 (114.5) ; tail, 68.5-80 (72.5) ; 

 culmen, 21-23 (22.3) ; tarsus, 28-33 (30.5 mm). 



The birds of northern Uganda and extreme southern Sudan may 

 prove to be separable on the basis of smaller size. A male from 

 Logos, Bahr el Jebel, has a wing length of 116.5 mm, and two males 

 from northwestern Uganda are said by van Someren ^^ to have wings 

 measuring 112 mm each. I know of no Uganda or Sudan records 

 of birds with wings of more than 120 mm while Abyssinian male 

 birds range as high as 130 mm and average 120 mm. 



Mearns noted on the label of a male shot on June 10 that it was 

 engaged in nest-building at the time. A mated pair was collected 

 on August 16. 



Hartert *^ records a nest with 4 eggs collected by Zaphiro at Bis- 

 sidimo in September. Erlanger ** found a nest with 2 eggs in north- 

 ern Somaliland in March; another in Ennia Gallaland on May 24; 

 another in the Danakil region on June 8. 



Mearns noted from 20 to 500 of these birds every day on his jour- 

 ney from Aletta to Dussia, March 7-July 2, and again from the 

 Endoto Mountains to the Lekiundu River, July 19-August 9. 

 Smaller numbers (4-25) were seen daily along the Tana River, 

 August 13-26, and the Thika River, August 26-28. 



PLOCEPASSER MAHALI MELANORHYNCHUS Bonaparte 



Plocepasscr mclanorhynchus Bonaparte, Conspectus generum aAium, vol. 1. 

 p. 444, 1850 : Shoa, ex Riippell, Systematisclie Uebersicht der Vogel Nordost- 

 Afrika's, p. 78, 1845, nom. nud. 



Specimens collected : 



7 males, 5 females, Dire Daoua, Ethiopia, December 5-21, 1911. 



1 female, Sadi IMalka, Ethiopia, February 3, 1912. 



2 males, Hawash River, Ethiopia, February 8-10, 1912. 



1 male, 3 females, Gato River near Gardula, Ethiopia, April 7-May 9, 1912. 



1 female, 1 unsexed, Sagon River, Ethiopia, June .3-4, 1912. 



1 female, Turturo, Ethiopia, June 15, 1912. 



1 female. Lake Stefanie, Kenya Colony, May 11, 1912. 



1 female, Yebo, Ethiopia, June 21, 1912. 



2 males, 3 females, Chaffa, Ethiopia, June 23, 1912. 



1 male, 1 female, Endoto Mountains, Kenya Colony, July 20-23, 1912. 

 1 female, Er-re-re, Kenya Colony, July 25, 1912. 

 1 male, Le-se-dun, Kenya Colony, July 26, 1912. 

 1 female, Malele, Kenya Colony, July 27, 1912. 



«Ibis, 1916, p. 403. 



«Nov. Zool., vol. 14, p. 487, 1907. 



**Journ. fur Orn., 1907, p. 3. 



