- 169 — 



brown feathers, or black with brown tips, interspersed. All of 

 them have a larger or smaller number of feathers with wide, 

 white or pale brown tips on the middle of the breast. 



Lonnberg writes (Birds coll. Sw. Zool. Exp. B. E. Afr., 

 1911, p. 103) that a male from Kutu 25. 1. had swollen testes 

 and the same was the case with another male shot two months 

 later. This proves that the birds breed at different times of the 

 year. My observations corroborate this statement, for a male 

 from Kiambu 18. 4. had swollen testes and so had others from 

 Elgon on 28. 5. 



The young birds (99) resemble the old females very much. 

 Yet they are considerably lighter. In the adults, for instance, 

 the fore-neck is dark yellowish brown, but in the young birds 

 it is pale greyish brown. The lesser wing-coverts, which in the 

 former are distinctly olive-yellow, are in the latter pale olive- 

 yellow, and so on. 



Wing, tarsus, culmen, 



73, 75, 75, 75, 76 mm. 25—24 mm. 15 mm. cfcf ad. 



76, 77, 78, 78, 78 mm. 



74, 74 ram. 23 mm. 15 mm. 99 ad. 



66, 67, 67 mm. 21—22 ram. 14—15 rara. 99 juv. 



The raeasureraents are all below those given for the South 

 African E. c. capensis (L.), which, according to Reichenow 

 (op. cit.), reach to: wing 80—85 mm., tarsus 24—25 mm., culraen 

 17—19 mm. Thus E. c. xanthomelas differs from E. c. capensis 

 chiefly in being smaller, and not, — as has been suggested — 

 in having the thighs black. 



Irides dark-brown; bill in cf greyish-blue with dark spots 

 and streaks (lower mandible, as a rule, somewhat lighter, also 

 with dark streaks); in 9 greyish-brown. Legs in cf dark-brown 

 (usually) — blackish, in 9 yellowish brown. ^ 



Vrohrachya phoenicea phoenicea (Heugl.). — Rchw. III. p. 130. 



5 (5(5 ad. 10.-12. 5. Eldoret. - 1 (5 ad. 20. 5. Mount Elgon. - 1 (5 ad. 

 22. 8. Kendu. — 1 6 ad. 10. 5. Eldoret, — 2 65 ad. 6. a. 20. 6. Mount Elgon. 



At Eldoret and in its environs this race was comraon, appea- 

 ring as a rule in small flocks of 5 or 8 in number. They fre- 

 quented the tall grass on both sides of a little stream, in the 

 company of Penthetria laticauda, but in contradistinction to the 

 latter they were very timid. 



On and below the eastern slopes of Mount Elgon I met the 

 race a few times, but I do not think it can be said that it is 

 common here. Here it also inhabited the swampy grass regions 

 and was sometimes seen in the company of Vidua serena. At this 

 place I never saw the females together with the males. 



