- 17^ - 



Wing, tarsus, 



47, 48, 48 (Kisumu), 50, 51 mm. 11—13 mm. 

 Irides dark-brown ; bill black or only upper mandible black 

 and lower mandible bluish grey; legs greyish brown-dark lead- 

 grey. . , ^ ^ ^- . : ,. , : ,. ' . ..; 



Spermestes nigriceps nigriceps Cass. — Rchw. III. p. 153. 

 3 <Sd ad. 26.-29. 4. Mombasa. 



In contradistinction to the preceding race, which frequented 

 the open places, I found this one always in the interior of the 

 palragroves or the forests at Mombasa. In this coast- land it 

 was very common. 



One had swollen testes, which indicates that the breeding 

 time was at hand. 



Wing 46, 47, 49 mm. tarsus 13 mm. . 



Irides dark-brown; bill bluish grey; legs, dark-grey, 



Nigriia emiliae schistacea Sharpe. — Rchw. III. p. 169. 

 1 (5 ad. 17. 6. Mount Elgon, 7.000 ft. 



Neumann has (Orn. Monatsber. 1898, p. 62—63) given 

 a table of the black -fronted Nigrita races, and mentions, as a 

 character for the above race, that it has the back of the head 

 and rump much lighter than the middle part of the back. This 

 does not, however, agree with this specimen, which is undoubt- 

 edly N. e. schistacea. 



V. Someren (Ibis 1916, p. 621) describes the young bird 

 and says, among other things, that ''the rump is light grey", 

 from which the character cited by Neumann should thus refer 

 only to young birds. 



The specimen before me is in full dress and has a few 

 spots on the coverts but the rump is of nearly the same colour 

 as the back (a few feathers, however, are lighter on the tips). 

 The whole under surface black, and in other respects as R e i - 

 c h e n w describes the race. 



The lower wing-coverts are light greyish blue or greyish 

 white ; not white as R e i c h e n o w (op. cit.) states. 

 Wing, 68 m., tarsus, 18 mm. 



Irides yellow; bill black; legs dark-brown. 



Cryptospiea ocularis Sharpe. — Rchw. III. p. 174. 

 1 <5 ad. 2. 7. 1 Q ad. 28. 5. Mount Elgon. 



On Elgon this is a bamboo-forest bird, occurring in the most 

 inaccessible places. It is an earth-bound creature which jumps 



