386 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAIi MUSEUM 



not worn, plumage agree absolutely with the co-type of P. c. enchora 

 Oberh., and I doubt if this race is recognizable. I find the undersides 

 of my birds white without any fleshy-pink tinge which is stated by 

 Oberholser to be a character of cabanisV^ My observations agree with 

 van Someren's. I can find no constant differences in size or color that 

 are at all correlated with geography. 



The adult males have wings of 65-72 mm in length (average, 67.9 

 mm) ; the females, 66-68 mm (average, 67.1 mm). 



The young birds show signs of molt, especially on the crown, where 

 a few black feathers show through among the dull brown ones of the 

 immature plumage. 



Sclater ^^ gives the range of this bird as from "the Ogaden-Somali 

 country, through Kenya Colony to the Pare Mts." It is common, how- 

 ever, in Arussi Gallaland and in southern Shoa as well. Erlanger ^^ 

 found and collected a long series in Arussi Gallaland and the Garre- 

 Lewin country farther east. Apparently, the present Shoan speci- 

 mens constitute the most northwestern records for the species. 



Erlanger found this bird nesting in February, March, and May in 

 southern Somaliland. In Kenya Colony it appears to breed during 

 the two rainy seasons, March to June, and September to November. 



PASSER lAGOENSIS RUFOCINCTUS Finsch and Reichenow 



Passer rufocinctus Finsch and Reichenow, Journ. fiir Orn., 1884, p. 55: Lake 



Naivasha. 

 Specimens collected: 1 male, Athi Station, Uganda Railway, Kenya Colony, 



September 1, 1912. 



I have not enough comparative material of other races of this 

 sparrow to attempt a critical study of its geographical variations, 

 and therefore I follow Sclater's arrangement.^^ 



The present specimen agrees very closely with a long series from 

 south-central Kenya Colony. It is in fresh plumage and has the 

 following dimensions: Wing, 75; tail, 51; culmen, 12; tarsus, 20 mm. 



This race of the rufous sparrow inhabits south-central Kenya 

 Colony from Ukamba and Kikuyu to Laikipia and the Kift Valley. 

 It does not seem to be known from northern Kenya Colony, although 

 the race shelleyi is said to occur from the Upper White Nile and 

 northern Uganda, east to Jifa Medir in Gallaland. 



Van Someren ^^ found this bird breeding in June and October, ''in 

 holes under the eaves of an outhouse, in holes in trees, and in desertt'd 

 Weavers' nests." 



*5 Systema avium .Ethiopicarum, pt. 2, p. 719, 1930. 

 «« Journ. fur Orn., 1907, pp. 18-20. 

 ^' Systema avium ^thiopicarum, pt. 2, p. 721, 1930. 

 "Ibis, 1916, p. 427. 



