400 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



September. Neumann ^^ found a nest at Muger in Shoa on October 

 9, so it would seem as if the season is more prolonged than Erlanger 

 believed. Zedlitz ^^ noted that in extreme northern Ethiopia the 

 breeding season was in the summer ; his notes on the date of assump- 

 tion of nu]3tial plumage agree with Blanford's observations. 



PLOCEUS EMINI EMINI (Hartlaub) 



Sycobrotus emini Hartlaub, Orn. Centralbl., 1882, p. 02 : Agaru, east of Nimule 

 (Journ. fiir Orn., 1882, p. 322). 



Specimens collected : 



1 male, Harrar, Ethiopia, July 26, 1909 (Zaphiro coll. ) 



2 males, Ourso, Ethiopia, October 13-November 2, 1911 (Quellard collection.) 

 2 males, 3 females, Arussl Plateau, Ethiopia, February 17-23', 1912. 



The Arussi birds are in molt, changing from the winter to the 

 breeding plumage ; the Harrar bird is in full nuptial feathering with 

 the rump entirely brownish gray, no j^ellow on the posterior under- 

 parts, mantle all black ; the October bird from Ourso is similar except 

 that there are a few brownish feathers mixed with the black of the 

 mantle; the November Ourso specimen is still in breeding plumage, 

 but there are a few brownish feathers among the black of the lower 

 mantle ; and there are several new olive-yellow feathers in the brown 

 of the rump, posterior underparts entirely uniform pale smoky 

 brown. Two of the males from Arussi Plateau are just beginning to 

 change to the breeding plumage. One (U.S.N.M, no. 247067) collected 

 on February 22, has several short yellow feathers scattered over the 

 crown and has yellow pinfeathers bordering the base of the bill. The 

 chin is yellow, and the breast and neck are sprinkled with new yellow 

 feathers. The sides of the head are black but the feathers are still 

 largely encased in their sheaths. Another (U.S.N.M. no. 247069) col- 

 lected February 23, has acquired the complete yellow on the forehead 

 and crown, behind which the black of the breeding plumage appears as 

 a band across the occiput. In the mantle, among the brown feathers 

 of the winter plumage, are several new olive-green ones with black 

 shaft streaks. The sides of the head are jet black. From the chin to 

 the breast is solid yellow, with scattered yellow feathers on the 

 lower chest and upper abdomen. 



So much for the males. Three females from the high Arrusi 

 Plateau, February 17-22, show a corresponding extent of yellow on 

 the underparts and have acquired more or less of the black breeding 

 plumage on the top and sides of the head. Two have some scattered 

 olive-green feathers, with black shaft streaks, on the mantle ; and one 

 is slightly greenish on the rump. 



»» Journ. fiir Orn., 1905, pp. 837-338. 

 ••Journ. fur Orn., 1911, p. 16. 



