352 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



It is possible that the birds of that mountain may prove to be a 

 distinct race, as they are smaller than others from Escarpment, 

 Mount Kenya, and the Sotik district. Heller collected three speci- 

 mens on Mount Uraguess, now in the United States National Mu- 

 seum. Two are adult males with wings of 74 and 75.5 mm, re- 

 spectively; one is an adult female — wing, 66 mm. As opposed to 

 these, 18 adult males from the other, more southern localities men- 

 tioned have wing lengths of from 77.5 to 83 mm ; females, 67-72 mm. 



Adult males vary considerably in the color of the sheen of the 

 feathers of the back ; in some there is almost no trace of coppery pur- 

 ple, while in others the purplish is the dominant tone. 



This bird is common in the Kikuyu region, where it lives on the 

 outskirts of wooded areas and in the thornbush country. It is 

 numerous near Nairobi and other civilized centers and, consequently, 

 has been ob3erved and collected a good deal. 



The only character on which the genus D rcpanorhynchus rests is 

 the yellow color of the margins of the remiges and rectrices. I do 

 not consider this anything but specific in taxonomic value and there- 

 fore refer the name to the synonymy of Nectarinia. This was done 

 years ago by Shelley,*^ but nevertheless recent workers have used 

 Drepanorhynchus for this species. 



Mearns noted about 200 of these birds at Escarpment, September 

 4-12. 



CINNYRIS HABESSINICUS HABESSINICUS (Hemprich and Ehrenberg) 



Nectarinia {Cinnyris) hahessinicus Hemprich and Ehkenbeeg, Symbolae physi- 



cae, folio a, pi. 4, 1828 : Eilet, Ethiopia. 

 Specimens collecjted : 



7 adult males, Ourso, Ethiopia, September 3-October 16, 1911 (Ouellard 

 coll.). 



9 adult males, Dire Daoua, Ethiopia, December 10-20, 1911. 



1 adult male, Duletcha, Ethiopia, January 24, 1912. 



1 adult male, 1 adult female, Sadi Malka, Ethiopia, January 28-29, 1912. 



1 adult male, Hawash River, Ethiopia, February 6, 1912. 



1 adult male, 1 immature male, Gato River near Gardula, Ethiopia, April 

 10-13, 1912. 



2 adult males, 1 immature male, Bodessa, Ethiopia, Mayl 20-27, 1912. 



1 adult male, 1 immature male, 2 adult females, Sagon River, Ethiopia, 



April 7 and June 3, 1912. 

 1 adult male, divide between Lakes Stefanie and Rudolf, Kenya Colony, 



June 2, 1912. 



I have not seen any material of C. h. alter Neumann or of 0. h. 

 turhanae van Someren, and so can not form an opinion of them. 

 The former, said to occur in northern Somaliland west to Harrar, is 

 described as very similar to Hahessinicus but somewhat larger and 

 with a longer and straighter bill (wing, males, 68-71 mm, as against 

 64-68 mm in males of hahessiniciis; culmen, 21.5-24 mm, as against 



*8 The birds of Africa, vol. 2, p. 31, 1900. 



