— 170 — 



In the month of July, when the young were full-fledged, 

 they visited — then in much larger flocks — the maize fields 

 of the natives. 



All the specimens (except the one from Rendu) are in 

 full dress. 



Wing, tarsus, 



82-88 mm. 24-25 mm. cfd* 



68, 69, 76 mm. 20, 21, 24 mm. 99 



Irides dark-brown; bill of cTd* greyish blue (darker at the 

 base) of 99 greyish brown; legs of cTd* black, of 99 greyish 

 brown. 



Fenthetria laticauda smihelica v. Someren. — Bull. Brit. Orn. 

 Club, vol. XLI, 1921, p. 121. 



5 (5(5 ad. 10. a. 13. 4. Nairobi. - 1 (J ad. 11. 4. Ngong. — 2 S6 ad. 



] 2. 5. Eldoret. — 5 (5(5 ad. 20. 5. — 6. 6. Mount Elgon. — 3 QQ ad. 



10. 4. Nairobi. — 3 QQ ad. 11. 4. Ngong. — 4 QQ ad. 17.— 18. 4. 



Kiambu. — 5 QQ ad. 6. 6. — 24. 7. Mount Elgon. 



This race was one of the commonest in the grass country 

 below the eastern slopes of Elgon. 



In the series of 13 males brought home there are rather 

 great differences, which are, however, not of the kind to justify 

 a separation of forms, even if, at first sight, this may seem to 

 be the rvght thing to do. 



All the specimens from Nairobi and its environs have a 

 number of the feathers of the red patch on the head and neck 

 tipped with black, and although all have their backs broadly 

 striped with brown and have thus not yet assumed the full dress, 

 two of them had swollen testes (see Lonnberg: Birds coll. 

 B. E. Afr. 1911, p. 103). The red band on the fore-neck varies 

 also in shade, so that some have scarlet-red, others orange-red, 

 etc. etc. The lower tail-feathers greyish white or brownish white 

 in the tips. 



The specimens from the Elgon regions all have the band 

 on the fore- neck considerably broader and of a darker red. 

 Whether this character is sufficient to name a new form or not 

 is difficult to decide. Yet, it seems to me that this may simply 

 be regarded as a more developed phase towards the full 

 nuptial plumage, which also appears from the fact that the wide, 

 brown edges to the feathers of the back and to the under tail- 

 coverts in the Nairobi specimens (April) have almost entirely 

 disappeared in the Elgon birds (end of May — beginning of 

 June). In the series there is also found every desirable grade 

 of transition from the brown (if I may so call it) to the entirely 

 black full dress. 



What at once catches the eye in these specimens is that 

 those with the most developed plumage, and evidently the oldest, 



