— 85 — 



being smaller than the male. (Compare Z e d 1 i t z : Journ. f. 

 Orn. 1915, p. 9.) 



Indicator minor conirostris Cass. — Rchw. II. p. III. 



Indicator conirostris conirostris Bass. — Bates: Ibis 1911, p. 503. — Grant: 

 Ibis 1915, p. 434. - Bannerman: Ibis 1921 p. 84. 



1 Q ad. 25. 5. Mount Elgon 7.000 feet. 



Of this interesting Honey Guide I have only one specimen, 

 which was shot in the forest. 



Wing, total legth in flesh, tarsus, culmen, tail, 

 90 mm. 155 mm. 15 mm. 12 mm 57 mm. 



The whole under — surface is a very dark-grey, the under- 

 tail-coverts and tibia-feathers with a yellowish green wash on 

 the edges. 



Bill entirely black, irides brown, legs dark lead-grey. 



I have compared my specimen with all the Indicator spe- 

 cimens in the Berlin Museum, and Prof. Neumann has also 

 examined it, coming to the same conclusion as myself, that my 

 bird is undoubtedly 1. m. conirostris. It agrees in every respect 

 with the 3 specimens of this bird found in Berlin. 



E r 1 a n g e r (J. f. 0. 1905, p. 464) and Z e d 1 i t z (J. f. 0. 

 1915, p. 11 — 14) have established that of the little Honey Guides 

 we have two "form-circles": minor and exilis, and that those found 

 in East and North East Africa (of both groups) are a uniform 

 olive-green on the under -parts while the West African have 

 blackish brown longitudinal streaks on an olive green ground. 

 Bannerman (Ibis 1921, p. 84) gives the wing -length for 

 d'cf 88—92 mm. for 99 79, 85, 85 mm. 



My specimen belongs to the last-mentioned group and is 

 thus a representative for the West African birds, found in East 

 Africa. According to Reichenow (op. cit.) the bird is met 

 with in the Gold-coast and its distribution is fixed, by Zedlitz 

 (op. cit.) to lower Guinea, by Grant (Ibis 1915, p. 434) to 

 Gaboon north of Ogowe River and Cameroon, by Erlanger 

 (op. cit.) to West Africa piercing eastwards to Albert and Albert 

 Edward Lakes. As v. S o m e r e n (Journ. E Afr. Ug. N. H. Soc, 

 1921 No. 16 p. 32) says that he is not satisfied with the identi- 

 fication of his specimens of 1, minor teitensis from Moroto, 

 W. Lake Rudolph, and gives 93 mm. as the wing-length of one 

 specimen, which judging from the brief description and the mea- 

 surement of the wing, is propably not a teitensis at all. I am 

 inclined to believe that even his birds are possibly specimens 

 of conirostris. 



In proportion as different discoveries determine that species 

 hitherto considered to be solely westafrican also occur in East 

 Africa the problems of their distribution must to some extent 



