Birds from British East Africa and Uganda. 421 



Until, however, adults are available from Gaboon, the 

 position of the north-eastern, eastern, and south-eastern 

 forms cannot be accurately determined. 



Attention must be drawn to the fact that Mr. Austin 

 Roberts recently recorded a pair of C. g. cceruleiceps from 

 Sabi, eastern Transvaal {cf. Ann. Trans v. Mus. vol. iv. 

 1914, p. 175) ; considerable confusion is entailed by taking 

 a name, and that only a subspecific (geographical) one, 

 from north-east Africa, and fixing it on to a south African 

 bird, thus defeating the laws governing geographical forms, 

 and creating unnecessary synonyms. 



Mr. Roberts has also remarked that the female differs 

 from the male in being banded ; this is of course the 

 character of the young and immature birds. When adult, 

 the sexes can only be distinguisbed by the female being 

 slightly larger and not by the markings, as is shown by nine 

 sexed birds in the British Museum collection from Natal 

 and Nyasaland in biack and rufous plumage, six of which 

 are females and three males. 



184. Centropus monachus monachus. Pui'ple-headed Lark- 

 heeled Cuckoo. 



Centrojms monachus Riipp. Neue Wirb. 1835, p. 57, pi. 21. 

 fig. 2 : Kulla, North Abyssinia. 



a. ? ad. Kikuyu, 6000 ft. Sept. 23. 



Total length in flesh : 18 inches. Wing : 191 mm. 



[Irides red ; bill, legs and toes black. Quite common.] 



In naming this specimen I have had to examine the whole 

 of this group, and cannot uphold more than two races of 

 this Cuckoo : — 



Centropus monachus monachus. 



Centropus monachus Riipp. op. cit. 



Back uniformly chestnut-brown, dusky on the ends of 

 the inner secondaries and flight-feathers. 



Range. Abyssinia southwards to Kikuyu, British East 

 Africa ; not occurring near Victoria Nyanza or in the Nile 

 Valley, where its place is taken by the following. 



