— 124 — 



I found a little nest of this bird, built out on the ends of the 

 slender branches of a Fodocarpus. It was built of dry grass- 

 blades, fibres and the penicils of Composite' plants and con- 

 tained 2 eggs, almost incubated, which strongly called to mind 

 the eggs of Muscicapa striata striata. 



Grote (Orn. Monatsber., 1920, p. 112 — 115) has dealt with 

 the various forms of Alseonax murinus in an excellent manner, 

 separating 12 different forms belonging to this species. He 

 emphasises here that every geographical zoi.'e, every mountain- 

 range has its own race, but that the different distinguishing 

 features which characterize the separate forms are at times dif- 

 ficult to render in words and it is only when having a large 

 supply of material for comparison that the differences can be 

 distinctly seen. 



I have compared my specimens with those in the Berlin 

 Museum and cannot find any difference between mine and others 

 from Kilimandjaro, therefore for the present I have named them 

 minimus murinus. It is possible that further studies may estab- 

 lish a new Elgon form. 



The whole group — previously named murinus — must now 

 according to Grote (Ornithol. Monatsber., 1920, p. 115) be 

 called minimus. 



CryptolopJia machensiana Sharpe. — llchw. II, p. 463. 



2 (5(5 ad. 27. 6. and 2. 7. Mount Elgon, lO-U.OOO ft. - 2 Q.Q ad. 27. G. 

 and 5. 7. Mount Elgon, 11.000 and 7.000 ft. 



The first specimen of this rare bird was shot in the high- 

 est regions of the bamboo-forests on the slopes of Elgon, at an 

 altitude of about 11.000 feet. As it crept about in the fallen 

 and withered straw, which covered the ground almost everywhere, 

 it was indeed very difficult to discover. The coloration of the 

 plumage blends exceedingly well with the moss-covered, brown- 

 ish-yellow straw, and the bird has — like many other species 

 inhabiting this region — an exceedingly good „protective mi- 

 micry". 



This race was among the few that followed the slopes of 

 the mountain right up to the highest summits, and I saw it 

 even among the old and withered trees of the Erica forest. 

 Only once did I observe the bird down at the foot of Elgon (this 

 bird was also shot) but otherwise it was found in the sub-alpine 

 regions. 



Only one of the 4 specimens has the throat greyish white, 

 in the other 3 it is more yellowish - brown on a pale greyish 

 white ground. 



Reichenow states (op. cit. p. 464) that the length of 

 the wing of this bird is 55 mm. In my specimens the wings 

 have a measurement of 59 and 64 mm for the cfd* and 55 and 



