BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 387 



PASSER CASTANOPTERUS FULGENS Friedmann 



Passer castanopterus fulgens Friedmann, Occ. Papers Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 



vol. 5, p. 428, 1921 : Induniimara Mountains, Kenya Colony. 

 Specimens collected: 



3 adult males, Chaffa, Ethiopia, June 24-25, 1912, 



1 adult male, 1 immature male, 3 adult females, Hor, Kenya Colony, June 

 29, 1912. 



4 adult males, 1 juvenal male, 1 juveual female, Induuumara Mountains, 

 Kenya Colony, July 15-16, 1912. 



The Somali sparrow was first recorded from northern Kenya 

 Colony by van Someren,^^ who listed 13 specimens from Marsabit, 

 taken in July, 1923. Aside from these and a series from Karoli col- 

 lected by Caldwell, now in the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory, the present birds are the only other Kenyan records known to 

 me, and, in point of collecting date, are the first ones taken in that 

 country. 



The species was first discovered in British Somaliland, but in 1903 

 Hammerton obtained a male at Bera, southern Somaliland. This 

 record, published by Witherby,^" constituted a considerable extension 

 of range, but was doubted by Zedlitz,^^ who suggested that inasmuch 

 as Hammerton obtained this bird at Upper Sheikh in northern 

 Somaliland in 1904, the specimen labeled Bera probably came from 

 Upper Sheikh also. However, in view of the fact that van Someren, 

 Caldwell, and Mearns all obtained this species in northern Kenya 

 Colony, Hammerton 's record need no longer be looked upon with 

 doubt and suspicion. The present Chaffa birds are the first records 

 for Ethiopia. 



The nominate race is known from British Somaliland. In northern 

 Kenya Colony and extreme southern Shoa the present race replaces it. 

 Which form occurs at Bera in southern Somaliland is an open ques- 

 tion that can not be answered except by an examination of Hammer- 

 ton's specimen. P. c. fulgens differs from typical castanopterus in 

 being more yellowish on the cheeks and underparts; the males of 

 fulgens with the top of the head and nape brighter cinnamon-rufous, 

 and the upper back with a slightly more greenish tone. 



P. c. fulgens is definitely known only from the following localities : 

 Ethiopia — Malata, Chaffa ; Kenya Colony — Hor, Indunumara Moun- 

 tains, Koroli, and Marsabit. 



As the juvenal plumage has never been described, the following 

 notes are worthy of record: Sexes alike; forehead, crown, nape, and 

 entire back and upper tail coverts uniform pale buffy brown, some of 

 the interscapulars with dark brown centers; upper wing coverts, 



=0 Journ. East Africa and Uganda Nat. Hist. Soc, no. 35, p. 60 (136), 1930. 



6" Ibis, 1905, p. 518. 



"Journ. fiir Orn., 1916, p. 45. 



