Birds from British East Africa and Uganda. 285 



Of this, Irrisor erythrorhynchos neglectus (Neum. Journ. 

 fur Orn. 1905, p. 194: Scharabala Kiver, Male) becomes a 

 synonym, as fi'om the description it is simply a black-billed 

 young bird of /. e. niloticus. 



Adult. General appearance rather duller and darker than 

 /. e. marivitzi, mantle, breast, and head having a faint wash 

 of steel-blue ; central tail-feathers steel-blue on their upper 

 surface ; inside of wings washed with blue. Spots on wings 

 and tail large. Tail about 8i to 9 inches. 



Young. Body and head black, washed with steel-blue, 

 always some bronzy green on mantle. 



Range. White Nile and Bahr ei Ghazal, the greater part of 

 Abyssinia, except perhaps Ogaden, south to Lakes Stephanie 

 and Rudolf. 



Note. This race retains the black bill of the young for a 

 rather long time and does not appear to assume the red bill 

 with the first moult. 



From the extreme north of Abyssinia, Prof. Neumann 

 has described a race under the name Irrisor erythrorJiynchus 

 abyssinicus (Orn. Monatsb. 1903, p. 182 : Arba Schiko, 

 Anseba River) which appears to be referable to his /. e. 

 niloticus, but the constant character of the particoloured 

 bill compels me to recognise it as a distinct race, at any rate 

 until full red-billed birds are brought back from the Anseba 

 River Valley or nearer the Red Sea. The range of this race 

 is at present the Tigre and Bogos districts of northern 

 Abyssinia. Tail 8| to 9 inches. 



Irrisor erythrorhynchus marwitzi. 



Irrisor erythrorhynchos marwitzi Reichw. Orn. Monatsb. 

 1906, p. 171 : Makalama in the Wemberesteppe, German 

 E. Africa. 



Of this, Irrisor erythrorhynchus hrevirostris Gunn. & Rob. 

 (Ann. Transv. Mus. vol. iii. 1911, p. 113 : Villa Pereira, 

 Boror, Portuguese E. Africa, see also Journ. S. A. Orn. Union, 

 vol. viii., 1912, p. 26) becomes a synonym, as birds from 

 Portuguese E. Africa agree perfectly with specimens from 

 the north and south, and the bill is not shorter. 



