414 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



tana was not yet described at the time Zedlitz did his work. Sclater's 

 arrangement agrees very closely with that adopted by Bannerman *° 

 which has been used by Gyldenstolpe *^ and others. Van Someren ^^ 

 considers aethiopica as a synonym of melanota. 



Although aethiopica has been found over a large area in southern 

 Ethiopia it seems to be rather scarce and local, which may account 

 for its absence in the present collection. 



Of the Kenyan forms I am in a position to write from personal 

 experience both with the birds in the museum and in the field. The 

 two races differ in coloration, montana having a tendency to become 

 almost uniformly black; and in size, montana being larger with a 

 heavier bill. The present specimen is subadult and is in molt in the 

 wings and is therefore not suitable for measurement, but a small 

 series of adults from near the type locality uphold the characters of 

 the race. 



Zedlitz *^ has produced evidence showing that the males of this 

 weaver pass through a sequence of three plumages. The juvenal 

 plumage resembles that of the adult female; the subadult stage is 

 achieved by a complete postjuvenal molt and is similar to the adult 

 plumage except that there is no white on the forehead and the 

 feathers of the lower breast, abdomen, sides, flanks, back, upper and 

 under tail coverts are more broadly tipped with white. When first 

 acquired these feathers in the adult stage are also tipped with whit- 

 ish, but the tips are narrow and are quickly worn off. 



This grosbeak weaver is a bird of the swamps, where it occurs in 

 fair numbers. In the little swamp at Nairobi there are always a 

 dozen or more pairs to be seen. In spite of their heavy, clumsy- 

 looking bills, these birds build the most finely and compactly woven 

 nests of any member of their family. The nesting season is in March, 

 June, and December. 



ANAPLECTES MELANOTIS (Lafresnaye) 



Ploceus melanotis Lafeesnaye, Rev. Zool., 1839, p. 20 : Senegal. 

 Specimens coixeoted: 



2 adult males, Ourso, Ethiopia, September 17, October 7, 1911 (Ouellard 

 coll.). 



1 adult male, Serre, Ethiopia, February 13, 1912. 



1 adult male, Gato River near Gardula, Ethiopia, April 13, 1912. 



1 adult male, 1 immature male, Anole villages, Ethiopia, May 18, 1912. 



2 adult males, 1 immature male, 1 immature female, Bodessa, Ethiopia, 

 May 20-31, 1912. 



1 adult male, Tana River at mouth of Thika River, Kenya Colony, August 

 23, 1912. 



*«Rev. Zool. Africaine, vol. 9, p. 273, 1921. 



« Kongl. Svonska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 1924, pp. 27-28. 



*»Nov. Zool. vol. 29, p. 144, 1922. 



«Journ. fur Orn., 1916, pp. 23-25. 



