452 Mr. C. II. B. Grant on a Collection of 



Dr. Sharpe also comments (Ibis, 1902, p. 637) on the 

 variation of this bird, and remarks " that tlie barring of 

 the flanks is more or less a sign of immaturity." With 

 this I do not altogether agree ; though it appears that 

 the majority of young birds aie more spotted on the mantle 

 than barrel 1. 



Throughout its range this AVoodpeeker does not vary 

 in size ; but a pale form and a white-eyebrowed form 

 can l)e recognised ; thus allowing only three races as 

 follows : — 



Campetiiera nubica nubica. 



Picus nubicus Bodd. op. cit. 



Of this 1 consider the following must become synonyms: — 



Picus nubicus Gnielin, Syst. Nat. vol. i. pt. 1, p. 439, 1788 : 

 Nubia, founded on PI. Enlum. no. CG7. 



Dendromus eethiopicus llUpp. Vog. N.O.-Afr. 1815, p. 90 : 

 Nubia, cf. p. 95. 



Dsmlronms so'iptoricauda Reichw. (Orn. Monatsb. 1896, 

 p. 131 : Lamu), the type of which is in the British Museum, 

 agrees well with individual specimens of C. n. nubica in 

 general characters; the throat is certainly very clearly 

 spotted, though indications of this can be seen in one or two 

 specimens of the Abyssinian and Sonialiland forms ; the dark 

 tip to the tail is certainly very clear in this specimen, but 

 indications of this are to be found in many specimens of 

 the Abyssinian form and is therefore not perhaps of any 

 subspecific value. In the spotted throat and dark tail-tip 

 this bird agrees with the Nyasaland form, though it lacks 

 the very distinct white eyebrow. It is not smaller than 

 many Abyssinian females. I consider that it is merely an 

 aberration of C. n. 7iubica and must for the present become 

 synonymous with that race. Hargitt in ' Ibis,' 1883, p. 456, 

 says that Kirk's s])ecimen came from '' Lamo, south of 

 Zanzibar/' and this has been quoted since that date; this is, 

 however, quite wrong, as Lamu is north of Mombasa and was 

 so given in the original record of this specimen by Shelley, 

 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1881. p. 561, where he says "A collection 



