Birds from British East Africa and Uganda. 405 



Wing : (^ 92 & 91 mm. ; ? 92 & 89 mm. 



These four specimens are fully adult, are showing signs of 

 wear, and are beginning to moult. 



[Irides red, reddish brown, or brown ; bare skin rouml eyes 

 red; bill red, apical point black ; legs and toes red, dull red, 

 or light claret-colour. Only a small flock seen on the 

 Amala River, which were very wild. More plentiful in 

 Uganda.] 



Through the kindness of Mr. Rothschild and Dr. Hartert, 

 I have been enabled to examine three specimens of C 

 macrourus macrourus from the type locality. These show 

 that the Abyssinian bird is similar to the Senegal race, and 

 therefore that only two races are recognisable as follows : 



CoLIUS MACROURUS MACROURUS. 



Lanius macrourus Linn. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. 1766_, p. 134 : 

 Senegal. 



Colius scnega/ensis Gmel. (Syst. Nat. i. part 2, 1789, 

 p. 842 : Senegal River) is a synonym and cannot be raised 

 to the rank of a race (cf. Colius macrourus senegalensis Gm., 

 Neumann, Journ. fiir Orn. 1900, p. 190), as has already 

 been pointed out by Oberholser in theProc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 

 vol. xxviii. 1905, p. 862. 



As the Abyssinian birds agree perfectly with those from 

 Senegal, UrocoUus macrourus syntactus Oberh. (Proc. U. S. 

 Nat. Mus. vol. xxviii. 1905, p. 863: Abyssinia) becomes a 

 synonym. Apparently neither Neumann nor Oberholser 

 were able to examine specimens from Senegal. 



Generally much paler throughout than C. m. pulcher, 

 lacking the deep ashy tint of the upper surface, especially 

 on the head. Wing-measurements : Senegal, ? (three) 

 90-88 ; Lake Chad and Shari River, S (two) 89 & 88, ? 

 (three) 89-85 ; Kordofan and White Nile, S (three) , 90-89, 

 ? (one) 95, no sex (two) 91 & 86 ; Abyssinia, ^ (four) 

 88-86, one measures 93, no sex (three) 91-87 ; Somaliland, 

 S (six) 92-89, 9 (four) 93-86 mm. 



Range. Senegal and Lake Chad district, eastward to 

 Abyssinia and Somaliland, including Kordofan and Kaka 

 on the White Nile. 



