Birds from British East Africa and Uganda. 311 



can be recognised as a distinct race under the name of 

 T. p. gracilis; they have a wing-measurement of: four 

 unsexed, 135-123 mm., a female from Comoro Islands has 

 a wing of 125 mm. 



168. Micropus sequatorialis. Abyssinian Great Swift. 

 Cypselus cequatorialis Von Miiiler, Naumannia, vol. i. 

 part 4, 1851, p. 27 : Abyssinia. 



a. ^ ad. Narossura, 6400 ft. Nov. 2. 



b. ? ad. Leugototo, 6000 ft. Nov. 10. 



c. ? ad. Kamchuru, 3250 ft. Feb. 12. 



Total length in flesh : S ^h inches ; ? 9| & 9 inches. 

 Wing : S 213 mm.; ? 212 & 204 mm. 



These three specimens appear to be fully adult and are in 

 good clean dress. 



[Irides brown ; bill black ; feet blackish-flesh. These 

 large Swifts were seen more plentifully in Uganda than iu 

 British East Africa.] 



There are in the British Museum collection seven 

 specimens of this Swift as follows : — Abyssinia: Senafe, ? , 

 March, wing 106; Aila(J , Feb., wing 208 ; Lake Tanganyika, 

 $ , December, wing 202 ; Nyasaland, (J ? , no date, wing 

 203 & 201 (types of C. alfredi) ; North Angola, S , August, 

 wing 199; Eastern Rhodesia, ^ , August, wing 198 mm. 



A considerably larger series may show that birds from 

 Nyasaland southwards are on the average smaller than those 

 from British East Africa and Abyssinia; in which case the 

 name, Cypselus alfredi Shelley (Birds Africa, vol. ii. 1900, 

 p. 345 : Mbara, Nyasaland) would be available for them. 



I am strongly of opinion that Micropus aquatorialis should 

 be considered as a subspecies of Micropus barbatus, both 

 birds having a strong resemblance to each other and not, 

 so far as we know at present, overlapping geographically. 



Apus reichenowi Neum. (Bull. B. O. C. vol. xxi. 1908, 

 p. 57 : Doiije Erok, N.W. of Kilimanjaro) is described as 

 being similar to M. cequatorialis, but without white edges or 

 dark subterminal bar to the feathers of the under surface. 



Is not this possibly the young bird or the fully adult of 

 M. cequatorialis ? 



