^ 164 — 



The question then is: Is dimidiatus a synonym of fischeri 

 or is it] not? I have not seen the type of dimidiatus and there- 

 fore cannot express any opinion about it at present, but if the 

 dimidiatus type does not originate from Kassala, and Grant 

 has already in 1910 established that the norther limit of the 

 bird is Wadelai, there is much in favour of its being, in spite 

 of the dissimilarities, a synonym of fischeri. But the latter form 

 was first described in 1887 and the former in 1873, therefore 

 I have retained the older name. 



Seth-Smith (Ibis 1913, p. 493) calls his specimens 



from Mpumu (in the vicinity of Kampala on Victoria Nyanza) 



Eyphantornis dimidiatus fischeri thus making fischeri a race of 



dimidiatus. Further investigations must decide whether his 



opinions or mine is the correct one. 



Wing, tarsus, 



75 mm. 23 mm. 



77 mm. 23 mm. 



75 mm. 23 mm. 



75 mm. 23 mm. 



65 mm. 22 mm. 



74 mm. 23 mm. 



68 mm. 23 mm. 



65 mm. 22 mm. 



67 mm. 22 mm. 



65 mm. 21 mm. 



Irides dark-brown; legs brownish grey. 



I have examined Jagerskiold's specimen, shot on 



23. 2. 1901, from the White Nile (fixed by Reichenow once 



as dimidiatus) and found a rather strong likeness to a number 



of my female specimens. This specimen is by mistake marked 



"young male", for it is a female bird. 



It differs, however, from my 9 specimens — all of which 

 have a more or less marked olive -green wash on the tail-fea- 

 thers and on the outer-web of the primaries and secondaries — 

 in having the tail-feathers more greyish brown and only the 

 outer-web light olive-green, the olive-green edges of the primaries 

 and secondaries being considerably paler. One of my specimens, 

 having a rather worn dress, agrees very well with the White 

 Nile discovery. It has the following measurements: 

 Wing, bill, tarsus, 



72 mm. 16 mm. 22.5 mm. 



Even the fore-neck of this specimen is greyish brown, but 

 in all my specimens it is brownish yellow. Whether the paler 

 dress of this Nile bird is a result of its having been shot 

 in the month of February, the plumage being thus more used 

 and abraded or (which is most probable) whether the northern 

 form is different from mine is a question I dare not decide from 

 this single 9 specimen. 



