436 BULLETIIsr 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



This species is an inhabitant of the acacia grasslands and goes 

 about in small flocks. I have not been able to find anything re- 

 corded as to the breeding season in Ethiopia, but in Eritrea the 

 form inornata is said by Zedlitz ^° to nest from August to October. 

 Zedlitz refers his specimens to orientalis but at the time inojmata 

 had not been described. In the Sudan, Butler found inornata breed- 

 ing in February, March, May, September, and October. 



Besides the actual specimens collected, Mearns noted this species 

 as follows : Chaffa village, June 23-25, 325 birds seen ; Hor, June 

 26-30, 20 noted; Dry River 18 miles southwest of Hor, July 1-2, 50; 

 Dussia, July 3-4, 10 birds; 10-25 miles south of Lake Rudolf, July 

 9-10, 6 seen; Indunumara Mountains, July 13-18, 500; south base of 

 Endoto Mountains, July 21-24, 10 birds; Er-re-re, July 25, 50; 

 Le-se-dun, July 26, 50; 24 miles south of Malele, July 29, 4. 



Lavauden ^^ has recently recorded this species as far north as the 

 oasis of Bilma in the French Sahara. 



ODONTOSPIZA CANICEPS (Rcichenow) 



Pitylia caniceps Rehchbnow, Orn. Centralbl., vol. 4, p. 139, 1879: Massa, Tana 

 River. 



Specimens collected: 



2 males, 2 females, Gato River near Gardula, Ethiopia, April 26-May 11, 



1912. 

 1 male, Gato River Crossing, Ethiopia, May 17, 1912. 

 1 male Sagon River, Ethiopia, June 6, 1912. 

 1 male, Er-re-re, Kenya Colony, July 25, 1912. 

 1 female. Northern Guaso Nyiro River, Kenya Colony, August 1, 1912. 



The present specimens extend the known range of the gray-headed 

 silverbill to southern Shoa, thereby adding the species to the fauna 

 of Ethiopia. Previously it was known from the interior of the 

 southern half of Kenya Colony north to the Northern Guaso Nyiro 

 River and to Marsabit, northwest across northern Uganda to the 

 West Nile district. The i-ecords nearest to the present Shoan ones 

 were from the Turkana country in northeastern Uganda. 



The Ethiopian birds average slightly darker on the breast than 

 Kenyan and Tanganyikan examples, but the difference is very slight. 

 Moreover, van Someren ^- writes of Kenyan and Ugandan birds 

 that some "are pale-breasted, and some dark-coloured, but the dif- 

 ferences are not limited to definite ranges. Uganda and East 

 African specimens are equal in size." 



The present birds are in fairly fresh plumage. Their size varia- 

 tions are as follows: Males — wing, 57-64 (average, 58.6) ; tail, 44-47 



lojourn. fiir Orn., 1911, p. 24. 



" Alauda, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 133-135, 1930. 



"Nov. Zool.. vol. 29, p. 153, 1922. 



