— 140 — 



warbling for at least 5 minutes without ceasing, then it takes 

 a little pause, only to begin again. When it sings ~ if one 

 may call it so — it generally sits well concealed in the top of 

 some low troe or deep in the gloom of the thick branches. 

 Wing, tarsus, culmen, 



cfcT ad. 92, 95, 96 mm. 24 — 25 mm. 21—22 mm. 



99 ad. 90—92 mm. 23 5—24 mm. 21—21 mm. 



Iridps red-reddish-yellow; bill in cf black, in 9 ^^^ upper 

 mandible is dark-grey, the lower mandible greyish blue (some- 

 times with light tip); legs greyish green. 



Lanius collaris humeralis Stanl. — Rchw. II. p. 609. 



Odiero . . . ki-kavirondo. — Kidu . . . ki-kamba. — Goma-komi . . . ki-kamba. 



1 <5 ad. 13. 4. Nairobi. — 2 <5(5 ad. 5. a. 8. 5. Londiani. — 4 ^^ ad. 

 2.-23. 6. Mount Elgon. — 1 (5 ad. 21. 8. Kendu (Victoria Nyanza). — 

 3 QQ ad. 10.— 18. 4. Nairobi. — 1 Q ad. 7. 5. Londiani. — 2 QQ ad. 

 26. 5. Mount Elgon. — 1 (5 juv. 23. 4. Lake Naiwasha. — 1 (5 juv. 9. 5. 

 Londiani. — 2 ^^ juv. 26. 5., 12. 8.; 2 QQ juv. 6. 7. a. 24. 7. Mount Elgon. 



In the vicinity of Nairobi this race was not only the com- 

 monest Laniid but also one of the most abundant small birds. 

 One saw it, in short, everywhere: on the telephone wires along 

 the roads, in the open fields where a few solitary, small bushes 

 grew, in gardens and parks, on the outskirts of the forests, etc. 

 etc. It is not at all shy and one can approach within a few 

 yards of it before it takes fli^ht. 



At Lake Naivasha, on the 22 nd of April, I found a nest 

 of this bird in a bush near the shore, about 2 metres above the 

 ground, v. Erlanger (J. f. 0. 1905, p. 700) describes the 

 nest as "thick-walled and massive and consisting of all sorts of 

 things", and about the same description is given by v. Someren 

 (Ibis 1916, p. 395). In that case the nest I found cannot be a 

 typical one, for it consisted only of a rather small cup about 

 11 cm in diameter made of root-fibres and twigs and the walls 

 and bottom were so thin that the three eggs could be seen 

 through them. The eggs were of the same size, colour and 

 markings as those of Lanius senator (v, Erlanger). 



Reichenow (Vog. Afr. Ill p. 834) has separated the 

 eastern race, which he calls L. humeralis uropygialis, from the 

 north-east African L. collaris humeralis. The former is said to 

 have the upper tail-coverts pure white, by means of which a 

 white transverse band is formed. The latter have the upper 

 tail coverts a brighter grey. 



In the series of 14 adult individuals, which were brought 

 home, this character varies in birds from the same locality. 

 Some have grey, others almost entirely white, while others again 

 have a distinct white transverse band. I do not therefore find 

 any reason to maintain uropygialis as a good subspecies, in 



