BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 315 



out topotypical material I prefer to let the matter rest and hope that 

 someone else will look into it. 



Chapin ^^ has discussed the relationships of this curious genus and 

 has come to the conclusion that it is one of the links between the 

 Laniidae and the Pycnonotidae. In this he is probably correct, but 

 the birds stand out pretty well from the members of any other genus. 



This species is a denizen of dense bush and is difficult to observe, 

 not only because of the rather impenetrable nature of its habitat, but 

 also on account of its exceedingly timid disposition. It is a rather 

 silent bird, except when breeding. 



As far as I know, the nest of this bird has not been found in Kenya 

 Colony, but at Beira, Mozambique, Sheppard discovered one with 

 three eggs on December 17, and Boyd Alexander shot a breeding male 

 on the Zambesi in December. 



The typical race is known to nest in June in Uganda. Thus, van 

 Someren *° writes that chloris is — 



* * * a common forest-species. It frequents the undergrowth and the 

 lower branches of the taller trees. A nest was obtained in June, composed of 

 rootlets and fibres, and contained two eggs of a dirty cream-pink spotted and 

 freckled with lilac-grey and darker grey, the surface glossy. Young birds were 

 taken in July and September. 



The two specimens collected are probably females, as they are 

 small, having the following dimensions: Wing, 89-92.5; tail, 94—96; 

 culmen, 18 ; tarsus, 29 mm. 



Family PRIONOPIDAE, Wood-shrikes 



PRIONOPS POLIOCEPHALUS POLIOCEPHALUS (Stanley) 



Lanius poliocepJialus Stanley, in Salt, Travels in Abyssinia . . ., Appendix, p. 1 

 (= 50), 1814: "Abyssinia," errore, Mozambique {vide Neumann, Journ. fiir 

 Orn., 1905, pp. 216-217.) 

 Specimens coli>ected: 



1 unsexed. Tana River, camp 3, Kenya Colony, August 16, 1912. 



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



24, 1912. 

 1 male ?, 1 adult female, Tana River at Bowlder Hill, Kenya Colony, 

 August 28, 1912. 



Soft parts: Adult male — iris and eye wattles yellow; bill black; 

 feet orange-red; claws brownish black. 



This helmet-shrike occurs from the Transvaal, Zululand, Swazi- 

 land, Bechuanaland, Damaraland, and Namaqualand north to Angola, 

 the Katanga, and to southwestern Uganda and the IJl<:ambani, Loita, 

 Kitui, Teita, and Mombasa districts of southern Kenya Colony. The 



*9 Amer. Mus. Nov., No. 17, pp. 9-11, 1921. 

 « Ibis, 1916, p. 390. 



