330 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



van Someren's notes, I cannot see that this is so. The scarcity of 

 bald-headed specimens in collections argues against the purely 

 seasonal nature of this phenomenon. 



Both van Someren and de Schauensee appear to have overlooked 

 Neumann's notes ^» to the effect that he found a large breeding colony 

 at Ngare Longai, north of Taveta, and that it did not contain a single 

 gymnocephalic male. He even suggests that gymnocephaly is pro- 

 duced only in South African birds and hints that the birds of north- 

 eastern and eastern equatorial Africa may be racially separable on 

 this basis. This last is negatived by the bare-headed male from the 

 Sudan-Uganda border, but it shows the great scarcity of gymnoce- 

 phalic individuals. 



The question is partly a matter of age — young birds do not have 

 large bare spaces or wattles ; the problem is then a matter of seasonal 

 change among adults, or one of extreme age. 



The wattled starling is widely distributed over eastern Africa 

 from central Shoa, the Blue Nile, and Kordofan southward. It is 

 not known in the very high country of Ethiopia. It is a nomadic 

 species, following the swarms of locusts, and is known to change its 

 breeding place (it is gregarious in its nesting) from year to year. 



Besides the specimens collected, Mearns noted this bird as follows : 

 Chaffa villages, June 23-25, 1,000 birds; dry river 18 miles south- 

 west of Hor, 50 seen ; Nyero Mountains south of Lake Rudolf, July 

 13, 40 noted ; Endoto Mountains July 19-24, 600 ; Er-re-re, July 25, 

 50 birds ; river 24 miles south of Malele, July 29, 100 ; 40 miles south 

 of Malele, July 30, 500; Northern Guaso Nyiro River, July 31, 200; 

 Lekiundu River, August 4-8, 1,500 birds ; Guaso Mara River, August 

 9, 200 birds seen. 



The breeding season in Kenya Colony is in the rainy seasons; at 

 least to a large extent. Neumann found a breeding colony north of 

 Taveta in the middle of December ; van Someren ®° obtained a molting 

 young bird in October. 



CINNYRICINCLUS LEUCOGASTER FRIEDMANNI Bowen 



Cinnyricincliis Icucogaster friedmanni Bowen, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 

 vol. 82, p. 166, 1930 : Near Gardula, southern Ethiopia. 



Specimens collected: 



2 adult males, Ourso, Ethiopia, October 3, 12, 1911 (Ouellard coll.). 



1 adult male. Loco, Ethiopia, March 13, 1912. 



1 adult male, near Gardula, Ethiopia, March 29, 1912. 



1 immature male, Bodessa, Ethiopia, May 24, 1912. 



Bowen ^^ has recently reviewed the races of this starling and con- 

 cluded that there were four valid forms, two of which, including the 



■'".lourn. fiir Orn., 1905, p. 237. 



'"Ibis, 1916, p. 400. 



" Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 82, pp. 165-167, 1930. 



