— 254 — 



Both specimens are dark -brown on the upper surface — 

 head brownish black — and in cT the nape shades somewhat into 

 grey. In other respects they agree with Reich enow's de- 

 scription. 



Irides dark-brown; bill and legs black. 



Saxicola torquata salax Verr. — Journ. f. Orn., 1910, p. 176. 



Saxicola salax Verr. v. Someren: Nov. Zool. XXV, 1918, p. 290. — Pra- 

 tt ncola salax Verr. Og. -Grant: Zool. Res. Ruw. Exp., 1910, p. 375. — 

 Pratincola salax axillaris, v. Somereu: Ibis, 1916, p. 466. — Pratincola 

 axiUaris. Gurney: Ibis, 1909, p. 504. — Pratuicala torqimta axillaris 

 Shell. Hartert: Journ. f. Orn. 1910, p. 176. — Pratincola torquata salax 

 Verr. Grote: Journ. f. Orn., 1921, p. 137. Lonnberg: Arkiv for Zool,, 

 Band II, No. 5, 1917. 



2 <5(5 ad. 11. 4. Ngong. — 4 (5(3 ad. 20. 4., 22. 4. Lake Naiwasha. — 2 ^^ ad. 

 24. 4. Kikuyu. — 1 (5 ad. 5. 5. Londiani. — 1 (5 ad. 10. 5. Eldoret. — 6 (5(5 ad. 

 19 5 —20. 6. Mount Elgon. — 1 2 ad. 24. 4. Kikuyu. — 4 gQ ad. 5. 5., 8. 5. 

 Londiani. - 4 <5C ad. 19. 5.-20. 6.; 4 QQ juv. 20. 5.-24 6. Mount Elgon. 



At all places where our expedition stayed this Stone-chat 

 was one of the commonest birds, being found in the glades and 

 on the fringes of the forests. 



In the neighbourhood of Londiani on the 8th May I found 

 a nest of this bird in a forest glade, overjirown with short grass. 

 It lay on the edge of a tuft, hidden in the grass. It measured 

 110 mm. in diameter and was 80 mm. high. The inner frame- 

 work measured 60 cm. The nesting material was composed, for 

 the most part, of brown, dry straw and hair. The nest was 

 sparingly lined with tufts of hair: Even thin roots of plants 

 formed part of the outer bowl. 



The eggs were newly-laid and were three in number: 



1. 20.2 X 13 5 mm. 90 mg. 



2. 20 X 132 mm 90 mg. 



3. 18.6 X 13.3 mm. 89 rag. 



In colour and size they resemble much the' eggs of Pra- 

 tincola rubetra. The ground colour of the shell is dirty-green 

 with small, fine reddish-brown spots over the whole of the sur- 

 face, forming a kind of calotte at the thick end of one of the eggs. 



Hartert has (Journ. f. Orn. 1910, p. 176-177) dealt 

 with the genus Pratincola in detail, and among other things 

 separated salax (West Africa) and axillaris (East Africa). In 

 my large series of 29 specimens all have the inner-web of the 

 wing dark-brown — li^'ht- brown. Not a single one has a white 

 inner-web like salax (according to Hartert). R c i c h e u o w 

 (Vogeif. Mittelafr. Seengeb , 1912, p. 369), however, mentions that 

 in East African specimens he has also found a white inner-web, 

 and therefore cannot ascribe to this difference no more than to 

 the other differences given by Hartert any systematic value. 



